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AI P^ c5 " r ‘ • BABCOCK 
























































































































































































AN 


ILLUSTRATED HISTORY 


OF 

THE YELLOWSTONE VALLEY 


EMBRACING 


THE COUNTIES OF PARK, SWEET GRASS, CARBON, 
YELLOWSTONE, ROSEBUD, CUSTER 
AND DAWSON 


STATE OF MONTANA 


WESTERN HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 

SPOKANE, WASHINGTON 


DUPLICATE 
to to kept. 


nrr 




\ 
























t 









By Tranafec- 

DEC 22 1910 








. 



« 










\ 



* * 

* a 

• • a 




* 




* 










































ACKNOWLEDGMENT 


rgsjajT is impossible to mention individually each one who has assisted to 
I produce this book, therefore we make use of this general method of 
extending our thanks to each and every one who have so kindly given 
information or pointed out where we might obtain it. The hearty and 
ready responses to our requests lead us to believe the people are deeply 
interested in having the history correct. To this end we have labored as 
faithfully as as we could do and trust the results will be found worthy of 
approval. 

One of our presidents has said: “ The best heritage the pioneer can leave 
to future generations is the simple yet powerful story of his life; of hardships 
endured, of dangers passed, and the final victory over wilderness and desert 
plain.” In the spirit of this excellent quotation our work has been carried 
forward and we now pass it to a generous and intelligent public. 


The Publishers 

























1 



























I 


































































ENDORSEMENTS 


Livingston, Montana. 

Having read, in manuscript form, the history of Park county, Montana, which is to be a part of the 
volume entitled, “History of the .Yellowstone Valley,” to be published by the Western Historical Publishing 
Company, of Spokane, Washington, we certify that, to the best of our knowledge and belief, the work is sub¬ 
stantially accurate, authentic and complete, forming a standard and reliable record of events from the earliest 
days of exploration and settlement to the present time. As such we endorse it and commend it to the people 
of Park County. 

Signed, 

S. L. Holliday, 

Frank Henry, 

Alfred Myers. 

Big Timber, Montana. 

We, the undersigned, a committee of citizens of Sweet Grass county, have read, in manuscript form, 
that part of the “History of the Yellowstone Valley” relating to .Sweet Grass county, to be published by the 
Western Historical Publishing Company, of Spokane, Washington. The work bears evidence of extensive 
research and a careful compilation of data relating to the history of our county, and is a clear, comprehen¬ 
sive and accurate record of events in this county from the arrival of the first white men to the present time. 
As such we endorse and commend it as substantially aocurate. 

Signed, 

Thos. K. Lee, 

A. G. Yule, 

Mrs. C. T. Busha. 


Red Lodge, Montana. 

We, the undersigned citizens of Carbon county, hereby certify that we have examined with care that 
portion of the “History of the Yellowstone Valley,” that relates to Carbon county, which is to be published 
Z the Western Hrs.orical Publishing Company of Spokane. Washing.on, and we cheerfully endorse .. as 
being a true and comprehensive narration of facts as they occurred, to the best of our knowledge. 

Sinned. 


W. A. Talmage, 
D. G. O’Shea, 

J. E. Mushbach. 







VI 


ENDORSEMENTS 


Billings, Montana. 

The undersigned, a committee of Yellowstone county. Montana, citizens, have examined so much of the 
“History of the Yellowstone Valley” as relates exclusively to Yellowstone county, whioh work is to be 
published by the Western Historical Publishing Company, of Spokane. Washington. We find the history to be 
a substantially accurate and comprehensive record of events of this county- from the time of the earliest ex¬ 
plorers up to the present day, and as such we endorse it. 

Signed, 

Fred H. Foster, 

J. M. V. Cochran, 

J. D. Matheson. 


Forsyth, Montana. 

We, the undersigned citizens of Rosebud county, Montana, having examined that part of the History 
of the Yellowstone Valley,” which relates to Rosebud county, and is to be published by the Western Histor¬ 
ical Publishing Company, hereby certify that it is a true and comprehensive narration of facts, and as such we 
endorse it. 

Signed, 

Jeremiah F. Crimmins, 

T. J. Thompson, 

Thos. Alexander. 

Miles City, Montana. 

We, the undersigned citizens of Custer county, Montana, having been selected as a committee to ex¬ 
amine the manuscript of the history of this county to be published by the Western Historical Publishing 
Company, hereby endorse it as an authentic and comprehensive record of events from the earliest days of set¬ 
tlement of this county to the present time; and we cheerfully commend it as reliable and worthy. 

Signed, 

W. F. Schmalsle, 

H. C. Thompson, 

Mary E. Savage. 


Glendive, Montana. 

We, the undersigned citizens of Dawson county, Montana, certify that we have examined that portion 
of the “History of the Yellowstone Valley,” which relates to Dawson county, and which is to be published by 
the Western Historical Publishing Company, of Spokane, Washington, and we hereby endorse it as an 
accurate and comprehensive record of events as they occurred in this territory. 

Signed, 

D. R. Mead, 

H. S. Davis, 

Henry Dion. 







'I 


TABLE OF CONTENTS 


PART I 

HISTORY OF MONTANA. 

CHAPTER I. 

Dawn of Discovery. 

Spaniards First White Men to Visit Montana—Cabezo de Vaca 1535-36—John of Padilla 1537—Francisco 
Vasquez de Coronado 1541—Juan Roderiquez Cabrillo in the Waters of the Smiling Pacific 1543 —* 
M. de la Verandrye, French Explorer, Penetrates Country to Near Present Site of Helena 1743— 
Pierre Coquard, Historian of Verandrye Expedition—Expeditions of 1752-53—Jonathan Carvers 
Explorations 1766-68 ... 


CHAPTER IT. 

Mississippi to the Coast. 

Personnel of the Lewis and Clark Party—Ascent of the Missouri Begun May 14, 1804—.Wintering at the 
Mandan Village—Sacajawea. the Bird Woman—Ac the Mouth of the Yellowstone—Up the Missouri— 

The Big Muddy—Milk River—The Musselshell—Windsor Creek—First View of the Rockies—Ju¬ 
dith’s River—Slaughter River—Indecision as to the Right Course at the Mouth of Marias River— 
Arrival at the Great Falls of the Missouri—Through the Gates of the Rocky Mountains—At the 
Three Forks—Up the Jefferson—Across the Continental Divide—Find the Headwaters of a Tributary 
of the Columbia—Across the Bitter Roots—To the Pacific Ocean—Return to Travelers Rest June 30, 
1806 —The Return Journey Across Montana.. 4 

CHAPTER III. 

The Indian Wars. 

Most Disastrous Indian Battle on Record, the Custer Massacre—Cause of the War—Force Sent to Sub¬ 
due the Hostiles-Sioux Chiefs Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse,. Gall. Black Moon and Low Dog-General 
Sheridan Conducted All Directions—Plans for the Campaign—General Custer with the Sei enth 
Cavalry Proceeds Against Sitting Bull’s Forces—Fighting by Major Reno—Custer s Entire Command 
Killed—Not One Left to Tell the Story—Lieutenant; Godfrey’s Article on the Battle—Fixing the Re¬ 
sponsibility-General Miles’ Campaign After the Battle of the Little Big Horn—Defeat and Surrender 

.? Hn^hles The Messiah Craze of 1890— Death of Sitting Bull—The Nez Perce War—Cause of 

the Breaking Out of Hostilities-ThirteenSHtlers Killed-Joseph Defeats Colonel Perry m First 

Battle General Howard Engages the Nez Perce in Battle—Joseph s Masterly Retreat He Defeats 

General Gibbon in Big Hole Valley—Captured by General Miles Near Bear Paw Mountains De- ^ 
portation to Indian Territory—Return to Northwest .^ 

r 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Fur Traders. 

«•»”' U- ^ st „t n n, ^ r -T,Te r F,S bSIeS in’ of £hn G^r- 

18 j S , a ^VstoFs^American^Fur Company Begins Operations in Montana 1828-Establ shes Fort 
-John Jacob Astor s Amen can ^ lr ^ oipa ^ k f t > Friendship-Establishment Fort Piegan-At- 

Cheardon Massacres Piegan Indians-Fort Cheardon- 
tacked by B^s-bort^ McKenzie—r■. " Fort Van Buren _ Fort Cass—Fort Alexander—Fort Spary 

— Other'Fur Companies and Trappers— Operations of the Hudson’s Bay Company in Montana . 34 







VIII 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER V. 

From Beaver Pelt to Ballot Box. 

Catholic Missionaries Take Up the Work in Montana— Father P. J DeSmet Visits- the- Flathead Country 
1840—Comes Again Next Year, Accompanied by Fathers Nicholas Point and Gregory Menga 
Establishment St. Mary’s Mission—Fathers Peter DeVoss and Adrian Hoeken Arrive i °43 • 

Mary’s Mission Abandoned 1850—John Owen Purchases the Property and Establishes tort Owen St 
Ignatius Mission Founded 1854—Settlers of the Early Fifties—Life in the Settlements in Bitter Root 
Valley and Hell Gate Ronde During Fifties—The Stuarts Arrive in Montana—Early settlers East 
of Mountains—First Towns—Fort Benton—LaBarge City—Deer Lodge City—Bannack City—\ lrginia 
City—Helena—Butte—Philipsburg—Pioneer-Bozeman—Transportation and Emigration . 47 


CHAPTER VI. 

The Political Divisions. 

Montana Formed From Original Territory of Louisana and the “Oregon Country —Louisiana Pur¬ 
chased by the United States—Territory of Orleans and District of Louisiana—Later Divisions of 
Original Louisiana Territory—Creation of Nebraska Territory, Dakota Territory, Idaho Territory 
West of the Rockies—The Oregon Controversy—Creation of Oregon Territory—'Washington Territory 
—Montana Territory Created May 26 , 1864 —Those Instrumental in Creation of Territory—Bitter Root 
Valley Saved to Montana—Counties Formed by Early Washington Legislatures—Western Montana 

a Part of Clarke, Skamania, Walla Walla, Shoshone, Spokane and Missoula _ Counties—Montana 
Counties Created' by Idaho Legislature—Counties Formed bv First Montana Legislature—Missoula 
Deer Lodge—Beaver Head—Madison—Jefferson—Edgerton (Lewis and Clark)—Gallatin—Choteau— 
Big Horn—Indefiniteness of County Boundaries—Meagher—Dawson—Custer—Silver Bow Yellow¬ 
stone—Fergus—Park—Cascade—Flathead —Valley—Teton—Ravalli—Granite— Carbon—Sweet Grass 
Broadwater—Powell—Rosebud—Sanders . . ... 


CHAPTER VII. 

History of Montana’s Mines. 

Character of Montana’s Mineral Deposits—Coal—Precious Stones—Presence of Precious Metals Known 
at Early Date—“Benetsee” the Discoverer of Gold in Montana—Prospectors of 1856—John Silver- 
thorne, the Mysterious Miner—The Stuart Party—"Gold Tom —Discovery of the Grasshopper Placers 
—Placer Mines Found on Big Hole River, North Boulder Creek, Gold Creek. Deer Lodge—Rush to 
the Grasshopper Diggings and Founding of Bannack—Discovery of the Alder Gulch Placers Ex¬ 
tract from Henry Edgar’s Diary—The Big Stampede—The Most Prolific Placer Ever Discovered on 
—Founding of Virginia City—Population of Ten Thousand Within Ninety Days Other Set- 
tlements in Alder Gulch—More Placer Discoveries in Vicinity—Discovery of Last Chance Gulch- 
Story of the Discovery by R. Stanley—Rush to the New Mines—Rattlesnake District Formed—Found¬ 
ing of Helena—Selection of the Name—Other Gulches—Oro Fino, Grizzly,. Nelson, Confederate. 
Ophir, McClellan, First Chance. New York. Montana Bar—Placer Discoveries in the Butte Neigh¬ 
borhood—German Gulch—Elk Creek, Bear. Lincoln and Highland Gulches—Placers on Cedar Creek 
—Hydraulic Machinery and Ditches—Amounts Taken from Placer Mines—Famous Nuggets— 
Quartz Mining—First Lode Worked—Mines and Mills of Bannack, Helena, Virginia City—Trout 
Creek, Crow Creek. Silver Bow, Blackfoot and McClellan Districts—Silver Mining—First Ex¬ 
periment Near Bannack—First Silver Mill—First SnTelter—Lull in Mining Operations—History of 
the Butte Mines—Other Early Mining Districts—Montana’s Production of Gold and Silver. 71 

. CHAPTER VIII. 

The Reign of Terror. 

Condition of Society in Early Days—Arrival of Vanguard of Desperate Characters, Henry Plummer, 
Charlie Reeves, Cyrus Skinner and Augustus Moore—Organization of Road Agent Band—Personnel 
of the Band—Methods of Operating—Character of Henry Plummer—First Atrocity to Arouse Pub¬ 
lic Indignation to an Extent of Attempting to Mete out Punishment—A Remarkable Trial—Toughs 
Control the Town of Bannack—Plan to Kill All Participating in the Trial—Murder of Dillingham 
—Miscarriage of Justice in Dealing with his Murderers—Graphic Description of Life in Bannack and 
Virginia City—Murder of Nicholas Tbalt by George Ives—Indignation of People Aroused—Trial and 
Execution of Ives—Effect of the Execution.... 93 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Vigilantes. 

\ Reversal in Conditions—List of Men Executed by Vigilantes—Organization of the Vigilance Society- 
Oath Taken—Pursuit of the Murderers Begins—C onfession of Yager (Red)—Execution of George 
Brown and Erastus Yager—Consternation Among the Lawless—Bannack Citizens Co-operate with the 










CONTENTS. 


IX 


Virginia City Organization—Plummer, Ray and Stinson Attempt to Leave the Country—Their Arrest 
and Execution—Public Opinion Approves Work of Vigilantes—Spectacular Execution of Jo Pizan- 
thia—Dutch John Wagner Meets the Fate of His Comrades—Capture and Execution of Jack Galla¬ 
gher, George Dane (Club Foot George), Boone Helm, Frank Parish and Hayes Lyons—Steve 
Marshland Hunted Down and Hanged—Bill Bunton the Next to Suffer the Penalty for his Crimes 
Executions of George Shears, Cyrus Skinner, Alec Carter, Johnny Cooper, Bob Zachary and William 
Graves (Whiskey Bill)—Bill Hunter, the Last Member of Plummer’s Gang, is Dealt with by the Vig¬ 
ilantes—End of the Reign of Terror—Encomiums Due the Vigilantes—Langford’s and Dimsdale’s 
Opinions—Later Work of the Vigilance Organizations. 105 


PART II. 


PARK COUNTY 


CHAPTER I. 


Exploration and Early Settlement— 1806 to 1882. 

Captain William Clark’s Party First White Men in the County—Evidences of White Man’s Occupancy 
_Jim Bridger’s Story of the Elk Horns—Creating the Crow Reservation—Captain Raynolds Expedi¬ 
tion-Discovery of Gold in Montana — Prosp ectors Visit Park County—The James Stuart 

Party—The Discovery of Gold in the Emigrant Gulch—The Opening of Bozeman Route—Boze- 
man and Bridger Emigrant Trains—Other Trains—The Rush to Emigrant Gulch- The Curry 
Mining District Formed—The Shorthill Party—Sharthill District Formed—Laws of the District- 
Founding Yellowstone City—Description of Town—Social Life—Living on ’Meat Straight—P n< - es ot 
Provisions—Gold Found on Shields River—Discovery Hunter’s Hot Springs—Indian Attack-Many 
Leave Emigrant Gulch—Curry District Deserted—Emigrant Gulch Abandoned—All Flee for Safety 
Resumption of Mining—Discovery of Gold in Bear and Creice Gulches—Amount of Gold Taken from 
Emigrant Gulch—First Farming' in Park County—John Bozeman Killed by Indians—Operations of 
Territorial Militia in Park County—The Mutiny—New Boundaries Crow Reservation—Crow Agency 
on Mission Creek—Benson’s Landing—Early Stock Raisers—the Folsom Party—Washburn—Doane Ex¬ 
pedition Through the County —Dr. Hunter Settles at the Hot Springs—Dr Hayden s Expedition- 
Discovery and Early History Clark’s Fork Mines-Murder of Dr. Frost-Dr. Hunters Place At¬ 
tacked—Removal of Crow Agency—James Hughes Killed—Pursuit of the Murderers—Alfred Myer s 
Relief Expedition—Fight With the Indians—Depredations by Nez Perces—Attack on Henderson s 
Ranch—Crows Finally Cede Park County Land'—Rush of Prospectors to Newly Opened Clarks 
Fork Mines—Building the Northern Pacific Railroad . 

CHAPTER II. 

Passing Events— 1883 to 1907. 

Beginning of a New Era-Early County Formations-First Attempt to Create Villard ^ ar !x ) Coutity- 
National Park Branch Completed—Bozeman Tunnel Finished—Congress Asked , l ° Creat , e £ a k 
Countv—Refuses to Act—Plans to Secure the Gallatin County Representation in Legislature of 1885— 
Results in Defeat—Death and a Special Election Give East Siders One Represent:-e-Almost a 
Sectional Feud Over County Division Question—Abortive Attempt of Boze ™£ Tid Defeated— 
County to Yellowstone—Bridger (Park) County Bill Introduced—Stubborn F^—Bill r i vPreoara- 
Rpartinn from Boom Davs—Return of Prosperous Times—Severe Winter of 1886-87—Early Prepara 
tions^for Campaign 0 in legislature of 1887-A Strong Petition-Park County Bill Passes Council and 
House—News in Livingston—Gov. Leslie Signs the Bill—Boundaries of New County—Provisions of 
BiH—Organization of the County Government—The First Assessment—County Seat .Contest—Abortive 
Attempt to Annex Red Lodge Country to Yellowstone County—First Attempt to Build Court House 
Bon ds^E)efeatxd—Censm o{ i&So-Another Attempt to Cut Off Red Lodge Country-Fight for Pos¬ 
session of the Ceded Crow Lands—Park County Bested by Yellowstone—County Grows m Wealth 
and Population—Voters Again Decide Against Building Court House—Attempt to Create Sweet Gras. 
Cmnffy^Defeated—Panic o g f *93 Hits Park County Hard-Every Bank in County 

Paralvzed The Great Railroad Strike—Northern Pacific Completely Tied I p— Stranded Passen 

e-ers \ D Deal to President Debs—And are Refused Relief—Railroad to Hold Park County Responsible 
for Damage to Property—Temporary Mail Facilities—Engine Leaves Livingston for the West—Engin¬ 
eers Go on Strike-Engine Returns to Livingston-Writs Issued Out of United States District Court 
Served on Strikers—Stfikers Withdraw Protection to Company’s Property—Prevent the Pulling Out 
of *aT rain—Failure of the Company to Enlist Deputies-Superintendent Appeals to Park County for 


118 







X 


CONTENTS. 


Protection—Gets Little Satisfaction—Fort Yellowstone Troops Guard Muir lunnel Northwest 
Placed Under Martial Law—Arrival of Train Guarded by Government Troops—Assault by Captain 
Lockwood—Soldiers Patrol the Town—Indignation of Citizens—Protests to War Department and 
Governor of Montana—End of Strike—Whitewashing Captain Lockwood—Execution Robert Ander¬ 
son— : Loss of Territory by Formation Sweet Grass County—Also Carbon County—Desperate Strug¬ 
gle to Defeat These Bills—Court House Litigation—Voters Finally Approve Construction—Building 
Completed—Return of Prosperous Times—Murder of Sheriff Young—The Man Hunt—Census of 
1900—Murderer Martin Zidmair Suicides—The Park County of Today .. I 3 I 

CHAPTER III. 

Livingston. 

Towns and Postoffices of Park County—Location of Livingston—Its Scenery—As a Commercial Cen¬ 
ter—The Advance Guard of Railroad Construction—Benson’s Landing—Founding of Clark City (Liv¬ 
ingston)—Rapid Growth of that Village—Platting of Livingston Townsite—Proves Death Knell of 
Clark City—All Move to New Townsite—Business Enterprises in December, 1882—The Boom Year 
of 1883—Why the Railroad Shops Were Built Here—Active Building Operations—First Business 

Houses—A Fire Company—Education and Religion—Organization Congregational Church—Meth¬ 
odist—Episcopal—Early Secret Societies—Review of the Year’s History—The Reaction of 1884—First 
National Bank Fails—A Year of Fires—Vigilantes Drive Out “Tough” Element—Better Fire Protec¬ 
tion—Another Fire—Rebuilding—Recovery From Hard Times—Prosperous Years—Livingston Ranks 
Seventh Among Cities of Montana—Population in 1888—Incorporated—First Municipal Election—City 
Government Begins—Electric Lights—1889 a prosperous Year—Early Postoffice Business—First Regu¬ 
lar Election—Census of 1890—Waterworks—‘Substantial Improvements in 1891—New School Build¬ 
ing—Other Improvements in 1892—Panic of 1893—Livingston National, Merchants and National 
Park Banks Go Under—Bankruptcy—Business Paralyzed—The Yellowstone Out of Its Banks— 
Cloudburst Brings Disaster—Peoples Party Enters Municipal Politics—Opera House Burned—City 
Hall Built—Livingston Begins Prosperous Era—Census of 1900—Turn Down Municipal Ownership— 
County High School—Election 1900—Improvements by Railroad Company—Great Activity in 1901— 
Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars Invested in 1902—The New Depot—Real Estate Values—More 
Fires—High School Building—Worst Fire in City’s History—Excellent Showing in Census of 1904— 
Carnegie Library—Flood in 1905—Livingston in Late Years—Livingston’s Churches—Secret Socie¬ 
ties—Unions. 149 


CHAPTER IV. 

Other Towns. 

Gardiner—Located at Entrance to Yellowstone National Park—The Name—Why a Town was Built at 
the Mouth of Gardiner River—Its Founding—First Business Houses—Contest for Possession of the 
Townsite—Railroad Does Not Come to Gardiner—Ed Stone Secures Title to Site—Townsite Platted 
—Litigation—Uncertainty as to Title—Expecting Railroad to Extend—During the Eighties Wiped Out 
by Fire—Rebuilding—Activity in 1895—Railroad Extends in 1902—Followed by a Boom—Unsuccess¬ 
ful Attempts to Incorporate—Electric—Formerly Horr—Camp of a Coke Company—-Postoffice Es¬ 
tablished-Early History—Rapid Advancement in 1900—Fire—Name Changed to Electric—Strikes 
—Aldridge—Coal Mining Camp—Founding—Townsite Platted—Cooke—A Mining Camp—-Oldest 
Town in County—Visit of Jay Cooke, Jr., and Associate'—Naming the Camp—Rush to the Camp in 
1882—Rapid Building of the Town—A Typical Mining; Camp—Platted—Town Lot ‘‘Jumping’—Pro¬ 
posed Change in Name—Mining Operations in Middle Eighties—Long and Continued Struggle for 
Railroad—Defeated by Congress—Depressing Effect—Title to Lots Finally Cleared—Quiet for Many 
Years—Mining Resumed in 1905—Present Status of Cooke—Jardine—Gold Mining Camp—Com¬ 
paratively New Town—Rapid Building—Large Sums of Money Expended—Fridley—First Known 
as Emigrant Station—Settled in 1886—Shields—Clydepark — Springdale—Hunter’s Hotsprings—A 
Noted Health Resort—Discovery pf the Springs—Dr. A. J. Hunter Settles There—Building of Sana¬ 
torium—Sale of Property—Improvement in 1886—Platting Mendenhall Townsite—Later History— 
Cokedale—Formerly a Thriving Village—Founded in 1886—A Lively Camp—Townsite Platted—Post- 
office—Census of 1890—Disastrous Fire—Mine Closed—Town Depopulated—Mines Reopened—Again 
a Prosperous Village—Fire Destroys Business Part of Town—Permanent Shutdown of Mine—Death 
Knell of Cokedale—Cinnabar Station—Founding the Town—Slow Growth—Attempt to Boom the 
Town—A Second Attempt—Extension of the Road to Gardiner a Death Blow to Cinnabar—Chico— 

The Warm Springs—Chicory-—Was to Have Been the Site of a City—Looked Fine on Paper—Muir, 
the Tunnel Station—Historic Ground—History of Muir City—The Tunnel Town—Its High Altitude 
—Rockcreek — Myersburg—Lat—Bruffeys—Contact—Pinecreek—Chimneyrock—Miner—Brisben—Trail 
Creek—Daileys—Sphinx — Muhlerin—Coal Spur—Hoppers—Mission— Elton — Maxwell—Hoffman— 
Hicks Crevasse—Cowles—Cleora—Bryan .. 160 

CHAPTER V. 

Political. 

Early Political History—Part of Gallatin County?—First County Officials Named by Legislature—Appoint¬ 
ments Caused by'Resignations—Minor Officers Named—Conventions in 1888—First Election Precincts 
—First Election—Shows Park County Republican-Election of Delegates to Constitutional Conven- 










CONTEXTS. 


XI 


tion—First Election Under State Auspices—Nearly a Clean Sweep for the Republicans—Election 
1890—Democrats Make Showing in 1892 —Republican Landslide Two Years Later—Park County 
Almost ynanimously for Bryan in 1896—County Offices Divided—Four Tickets in Field in 1898— 

All Get a Slice—Campaign of 1900 Most Exciting in History of Park County—Six Tickets to Select 
F rom _Result is Close—Mixed Set of Officers Chosen—Quiet Campaign of 1902—Republicans Get 
Majority of Offices—Republican Landslide in 1904—Roosevelt’s Big Majority—Contest for Office of 
School Superintendent—Democrat Wins—Election of 1906—Number of Votes Cast by Each Precinct— 
Republicans Secure Most of the Offices. *74 


CHAPTER VI. 

Descriptive. 

Location and Boundaries—Geology of the County—The Glacial Period—The Mountain Ranges—Belt— 
Bridger—Crazies — Absaroka—Prominent Peaks—Story of Old Baldy—Cinnabar Mountain—Electric 

p ea k Yellowstone River—Its Tributaries—Shields River and Tributaries—Clark’s Fork—Soda Butte 

Creek_Boulder River and Tributary Creeks—Industries—Mining—Minerals Found in the County— 

Gold and Silver Mining—Report of State Mine Inspector for 1906— Coal Mining—Copper and Iron 
Ores—Farming and Stock Raising—Irrigation—Paradise Valley—Shields Valley—Timber . 183 


PART III. 


SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


CHAPTER I. 


Before County Organization — 1“43 T0 1894. 

The Name Sweet Grass—M. de la Verandrye First White Man to Put Foot on Sweet Grass County 
Soil—Captain Clark’s Trip Through the County—The Fur Traders—Opening of the Bozeman 
Route — Travel Across the Future Sweet Grass County—The Treaty of 1868—The Crow 

Agency The Northern Pacific Survey—First Settler in Sweet Grass County—Settlers of 

Year 1877—Arrivals in 1878—First Voting Precinct—The Bozeman-Miles City Stage Line— 

The Stage Stations—Settlers of 1879 —Drowning of Thompson and Gage—Settlers of Early 
Eighties—The First School—Crows Cede Lands West of the Boulder—Many Settlers in 1882—Build¬ 
ing Northern Pacific Railroad—Railroad Brings New Conditions—Passing of Stage Stations—Kil¬ 
ling of Tohn Brady—First Irrigating Ditch—Park County Created—Crows Cede Last Sweet Grass 
County Lands—Prosperity in 1892—First Attempts to Create S.veet Grass County—Defeated in the 
Senate—How Livingston Received the News—How Big Timber Took the Defeat—Panic of 1893. 190 


CHAPTER II. 

After County Organization —1895 to 1907. 

Divisionists Lay Their Plans—Secure Solid Delegation to the Legislature—The Sweet Grass County Club 
—The Big Timber Convention—The Resolutions—County Officers Selected—Petition Circulated—Liv¬ 
ingston Marshals Its Forces Against Dismemberment—Representative Collins Introduces Bill in House 
—House Committee Favorably Reports Bill—Amendment by Committee—Bill Passes the House- 
Reported in Senate—Passes the Senate 7 to 11—Receipt of the News in Big Timber—Governor Rick¬ 
ards Signs th Bill—A Monster Demonstration—The Boundaries—Provisions of the Bill—County Gov¬ 
ernment Begun—Settlement With Old Counties—Debts of $ 57 , 943-67 Assumed—First Assessment- 
Big Timber Made Permanent County Seat—Census of 1900—Park County Attempts to Get a Slice of 
Sweet Grass County-Tables are Turned at Next Session of the Legislature—Boundaries Are Un¬ 
changed-Current Events of Later Years—Fina ncial Standing of the County—Fight Against 

Formation of Roosevelt County—Opposition Successful... . I 9 » 


CHAPTER III. 


Political. 


Taxation Without Representation—Naming the First Officer*—Change Made by Committee of the House 
of Representatives—Constitutionality of Section of Bill Naming Officers Questioned—County Officers 
Appointed to Remedy the Defect—First Conventions—Republicans Split—Democrats and Silver Re- 








XII 


CONTENTS. 


publicans Fuse—Precincts and Judges for the First Election—Exciting Campaign of 1896—Bryan Car¬ 
ries the County—Standoff on County Ticket—Three Tickets in the Field in 1898—Republicans Gener¬ 
ally Successful—McKinley Carries the County in 1900—Republicans Again Get Majority of Officers 
—Dominant Party Elects Every Candidate in 1902—J. W. Bailey Elected Senator at Special Election 
in 1903—Roosevelt’s Big Majority in 1904—Republicans Take Everything—The Primary Election of 
1906—General Election Names All Republicans. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Descriptive. 

Boundaries—Area—Character of Land—The Mountains—A Well Watered C ount y—The Streams from 
the South—Boulder River—Power Going to Waste—Stillwater River—Streams from the North—■ 
Tributaries of the Musselshell—Relation of Streams to the County’s Prosperity—Irrigation—Valley of 
the Yellowstone—Boulder Valley—In the Valley of the Sweet Grass—Big Timber and Other Valleys 
Fanning on the Stillwater—Prices of Farm Lands—Yields—Stock Raising—The Mineral Resources— 
The Boulder District—Building Stone—Coal—Lime Rock—Iron Ore—Copper—Minerals in the Crazies 
History of Mining Operations in the Boulder District. 

CHAPTER V. 

Big Timber and Other Places. 

Towns and Postoffices of Sweet Grass County—Big Timber—Its Location—The Boulders—As a Busi¬ 
ness Center—The Name—The Big Timber Road House—Is Succeeded by the Bridge Construction 
Camp of Dornix—A Little Village Comes Into Existence—Platting of Dornix—^Business Houses 
of the Little Town—‘Railroad Moves Its Station Up the River—Names the Place Big Timber—Dornix 
Deserted—Everybody Moves to the new Town of. Big Timber—First Business Houses—The Ferry— 
Sunday School and Church Work—A Noted Wool Shipping Point—The Town as Seen by a Living¬ 
ston Editor in 1886—John Anderson Plats Townsite—Additions—The First Fire—Census of 1890— 
Prosperous Times—The First Bank—Building Operations of 1891—First National Bank Started— 
Prosperous Times of 1892—The Panic—Business is Paralyzed—First National Bank Fails—The 
Cause—Reorganizes as the Big Timber National Bank—Series of Disastrous Fires—Work of Incen¬ 
diary—Criterion Building Burned—Mastin & Co’s Feed Barn—Conflagration of March 29. 1894— 
$20,000 Loss the Following Month—Becomes a County Seat Town—Flouring Mill Established—An 
Electric Light Plant—Fire in 1896—First Effort to Bring About Incorporation—Attempt Abandoned 
—Passing of the Hard Times Period—Prosperous Year of 1899—Census of 1900—County High 
School Established—First Woolen Mill in Montana—People Ask for Incorporation—A Hard Fought 
Campaign—^Incorporation Defeated—The Cause—Militia Company Organized—Another Attempt to 
Incorporate—Legal Tangle Over Petition—Commissioners Call, an Election—Incorporation Carries— 
Exciting Campaign for the Selection of First Officers—‘‘Progressive Citizens” Win—Officers Chosen— 
Municipal Government Begun—Old Officers Reelected—Election of 1904—Fire Company Organized— 
Another Disastrous Fire—Elections of 1905 and 1906—Vote to Issue Bonds for Water Works—Prog¬ 
ress During 1906—Big Timber as a Business Center—‘Schools—Churches—Secret Societies—‘Melville— 
Its Location—Its Business Houses—Founding of the Town—The Town in 1888—Later History—Nye 
*—Early Prospectors on the Upper Stillwater—A Minneapolis Company Begins Operations—Found¬ 
ing Nye City—A Big Rush—Townsite Platted—A Flourishing Camp—The Postoffice—Mining Oper¬ 
ations Suspended—The Camp Deserted—Postoffice Moved—Other Places—Grey Cliff—Reed—Howie 
—Formerly Sweet Grass—The Change in Name—McLeod — Wormser—Platting Wormser City— 
MerrilD-Busteed—Reynolds—Manila—Dehart. 


PART IV. 


CARBON COUNTY. 


CHAPTER I. 

Current Events. 

Prior to 1892—Inception of Red Lodge—Development of the Coal Deposits—Agricultural Possibilities At¬ 
tract Early Settlers—Indian Reservation Opened—Settlers Come Rapidly—Some Movement for 
County Organization—Takes Definite Form—Bill For Carbon County Passes—Enabling Act—First 
County Officers—-Early County Business—Prosperity of County in Various Lines—Forest Reserve— 
Assessed Valuation—New Coal Fields—Brilliant Future for Carbon County . 








CONTENTS. 


XIII 


CHAPTER II. 

Cities and Towns. 

Red Lodge—Early Days of the Town—First Business Men—Incorporation of Red Lodge—Early Officers 
—Rapid Growth—First Large Fire—Need of Fire Protection Patent—Moves for This End—Excel¬ 
lent Results of Fire Protection—A City’s Pride—Bonds for Water Supply—Rocky Creek Source of 
Water Supply—Best in the State—Infantry Company Organized—Increased Output in Mines—Catas¬ 
trophe in Mines—Bad Condition of Air in Mines—City Officials—Churches in City—Secret Socie¬ 
ties of City—Advantages of Red Lodge—Bridger —Business Houses, Churches, and Societies— 
Joliet, Location and Advantages—Gebo and other Towns of the County . 234 

CHAPTER III. 

Descriptive. 

Carbon County, the “Gem of the Mountains”—Resources—Place of Former Range—Now Supporting 
Many Agriculturists—Alfalfa a King—Fertility of Soil—Fruit Possibilities—Irrigation—Coal the 
Leader—Bear Creek Company—Amalgamated Copper Company’s Coal Holdings—Butte & Helena 
Parties—Petroleum Fields — Limestone—Cement— Sulphur—Dairying—Honey Product — Thorough¬ 
bred Horse Raising—Altitude and Climatic Conditions.241 

CHAPTER IV. 

Educational. 

Beginning of the Educational History of County—First Log Building—Organization of Districts— 
Numbered from One to Eighteen—Reports of County Superintendent—Rapid Increase in School Pop¬ 
ulation—High School—Curriculum Contains Three Courses .244 

CHAPTER V. 

Political. 

Enabling Act—Officials Take Oath—Precincts Established—First Election—Later Elections—County 

Seat Election—Other Elections in Order—Special Election—Carbon County not Strongly Partisan... 247 


PART V. 


YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 

CHAPTER I. 

Early Exploration— 1743 to 1863. 

The Word “Yellowstone”—Its Derivation—Mi-tsi-a-da-zi—Rouche Jaune—Yellow Stone—Yellowstone 
—Indian Inhabitants of the Yellowstone Valley— Bannacks-Crows—Captain William Clark Passes 
Down the Valley in 1806—Clark’s Description of Pompey s Pillar-^Father P. J. Debmet Passes 
Through the County in 1840—'The Future Yellowstone County Placed 111 Crow Reservation—Cap¬ 
tain Tohn Mullan Carries Survey Through the County in 1853—The Stuart Party of 1863 Enters 
Future Yellowstone County—Adventure With the Thieving Crows—Annihilation of the Party Nar- 
rowly Averted—A Terrible Ordeal. 


CHAPTER II. 

L\ter Exploration and Early Settlement— 1864 to 1882. 

jg 72 _Major Baker Commands the Escort—Colonel Hayden Undertakes the Survey Attac-ed 

hv the Sioux—Baker’s Battle—The Commander’s Conduct—Indians Repulsed—The Losses—The 
Survev Abandoned—Who Was Scared?—Survey Completed in 1873—The Expedition under Colonel 
Survey Abandoned1 wno Yellowstone—Yellowstone Wagon Road and Prospecting Expedition 

•^L^Adve^tures—Results * 1 in Failure^—Horace Countryman the First Settler of Yellowstone County 
—Other Settlers of 1875— Government Expedition Under General Forsyth—The Josephine and Rose- 










XIV 


CONTENTS. 


bud on the Upper Yellowstone—The F. D. Pease Expedition—Plans to Settle the Yellowstone Val¬ 
ley—Building Fort Pease—Relentless War of the Sioux—Garrison Almost Wiped Out—Relief from 
Fort Ellis—The Wolfers and Hunters—Their Adventures—Effect of the Custer Massacre and Sub¬ 
sequent War on the Sioux—Settlers of 1876—The Bozeman-Miles City Stage Line—Settlers of 
I& 77 —The Stage Stations—Cantonment Terry—History of its Establishment by General W. T. Sher¬ 
man —1 he Nez Perce Flight—Whites in Full Possession of the Country—Founding of Towns and 
Trading Posts—Settlers of 1878 and 1879—-Census of 1880—Big Emigration of 1882—Founding of 
Billings—Northern Pacific Enters Future Yellowstone County—Beginning of a New Epoch. 25; 

CHAPTER III. 

Since County Organization—1883 to 1907. 

A Country Irrigated with Human Blood—Wonderful Change in One Decade—A Division of Custer 
County Demanded—Plan of Action Outlined—Campaign for Erection of Yellowstone County 
—Friends of the Movement in Power—Selecting the Name—Little Opposition—The News in Bil¬ 
lings Mass Meetings—Provisions of the Act—First Meeting of the County Commissioners—Unsuc¬ 
cessful Attempt to Make Settlement with Custer County—Court House Purchased—Jail Erected— 
First Tax Levy—First Assessment—-Trouble with Piegans—Progress of the County Shown by 
Assessed Valuations—Railroad Building—A Try for the "Panhandle” of Park County—Poor Show¬ 
ing at the 1890 Census—Struggle Between Park and Yellowstone Counties for Possession of the 
Ceded Crow Lands—Yellowstone County Wins and Extends Its Boundaries—The "Hard Times” Pe¬ 
riod Building the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad—Big Loss of Territory by the Creation 
of Carbon and Sweet Grass Counties—Another Act Giving Yellowstone County Jurisdiction Over 
Portion of Crow Lands—The Census of 1900—Erection of Court House—Opening of Crow Lands 
in 1906—Boundaries Extended—Defeat of the Roosevelt County Bill—Progress During Recent Years 273 

CHAPTER IV. 

Political. 

Politics Before Birth of County—The First Election Precincts—One Thousand Votes Cast at Election 
of 1882—The Vote by Precincts—Yellowstone County Formed—Commissioners Named in the Bill— 
Treasurer Appointed—Preparations for the First County Election—Twelve Precincts Created—Short, 
Active Campaign—First Party Conventions—Democrats Win Everything—Change in County Officers 
Before Next Election—Democrats Sent to Constitutional Convention of 1884—Republicans Elect Every 
Officer in 1884—The ‘Tax-payers” and “Peoples” Tickets—Politics of the Several Precincts—A “Stand¬ 
off” in 1886—Republicans Elect Majority of Officers in 1888—Election of Delegates to Constitutional 
Convention of 1889—Big Majority for Constitution in Yellowstone County—Republicans Make Nearly 
a Clean Sweep at First State Election—Election of 1890—Harrison Carries County over Cleveland in 
Both Parties Represented in Court House—Big Vote in 1894—Republicans Capture County—Ex¬ 
citing Campaign of 1896—Bryan Carries County—Democrats and People’s Party Get Majority of 
Offices—Fusion Again Successful in 1898—Complications in 1900—McKinley Carries the County over 
Bryan—Fusion Forces and Republicans are Both Represented in the Court House—Republicans Win 
in 1902—Exciting Election to Name Representative—Bever Wins by One Vote—The Enormous Vote 
of 1904—Roosevelt Carries the County Over Parker by a Record-Breaking Majority—Three Demo¬ 
crats Elected—Election of 1906 Gives Republicans Most of County Offices—Democrats Elect Three ...279 

CHAPTER V. . 

Billings, the “Magic City.” 

Why Termed the “Magic City”—Location—Occupies a Strategic Position—Railroads—Population—Com¬ 
pared with Other Cities of Montana—Reason of Its Supremacy—Date of Its Birth—Superseded by 
Old Town of Coulson—First Settlers in the Vicinity—Founding of Coulson—Its Early History— 
Townsite Platted — Lively Times in the Spring of 1882—Why Billings Was Not Built at 
Coulson—Coulson in the Fall of • 1882—Slowly but Surely It Moves to New Town—Now 
Only a Memory—Billings a Fiat Town—Minnesota & Montana Land & Improvement Company Or¬ 
ganized-Search for a Townsite—Why It was Decided to Build on Clark’s Fork Bottoms—The Part 
P'ayed by Alkali Creek—Townsite Platted—First Buildings Erected —The Boom —Thirty Days’ 
History—Pace Continues All Summer—Trafficking in Town Lots—The Water Question—Postoffice 
Established—Arrival of the Railroad—Attempt to Incorporate in 1882—First Street Railway in 
Montana—Was a Failure—The Irrigating Canal—Its Effect on Billings—Progress of the Town Dur¬ 
ing Fall of 1882—Business Houses in October—The Depot Controversy—The Land Company Scored 
—Comparative Dull Times in Winter 1882-83—Renewed Activity in the Spring—Artesian Well 
Company—Sinks a Nine Hundred Foot Hole—No Water—Billings Board of Trade Organized In¬ 
corporation Defeated in 1883—A Handsome School Building Erected—Progress During 1883—End of 
the Boom Days—Big Business Done in 1884—Fire of Tuly 14—Proves a Benefit to the Town—Fire 
Company Organized—Territorial Legislature Grants Charter—Adopted bv the People—Beginning of 
Municipal Government—Officers of the City 1885 to 1907—A $60,000 Blaze—Followed by Another 
Fire-Insurance Companies Threaten to Withdraw—Hook and Ladder Company Organized—Condi¬ 
tions of 1885—‘Water Works System Installed—Building Record for 1886—Lighted by Electricity 





CONTENTS 


xv 


Billings Fire Department Organized—Succeeded by the Maverick Hose Company—Conditions Dur¬ 
ing Late Eighties—Census of 1890—Murder and Lynching—Billings Club Organized—Yellowstone 
Fair Association—Re-incorporation Under General Law- 1 —"Hard 1 imes Period-Quick Recovery- 
Events of the Late Nineties—Census 1900 Shows Big Increase—The Library—Marvelous Growth 
Since 1900—Cause of the Growth—Billings’ Manufactories—Its Wholesale Houses—The Tilings o 
Which the City is Proud—Building Operations in 1907—The Churches—History of the Congrega¬ 
tional Church—Methodist Episcopal—St. Luke’s Episcopal— Catholic—Baptist—Secret and Frater¬ 
nal Societies—History of the Masonic Orders—A. O. U. W.—Grand Army of the Republic Odd 
Fellows—Knights of Pythias—Other Early Day S ocieties—Trades and Labor Organizations. 


CHAPTER VI. 1 . j 

Other Towns. 

Columbus—Its Location—Formerly Stillwater—First Settled Portion of Yellowstone County—Stage Sta¬ 
tion and Postoffice—Coming of the Railroad—The Town in 1885-—lownsite Platted—Name Changed 
to Columbus—1899 a Prosperous Year—Census of 1900—-Ambition to be a County Seat Town—-In¬ 
corporation—Laurel—Its Birth—Townsite and Additions—A Growing Town—Park City—Its Busi- 
ness Houses—Its Beautiful Site—Founded by Ri.pon, Wisconsin, Colony—Its Founding as told by a 
Correspondent—First Business Houses—Postoffice Secured—The Town in 1883—In 1885—loday— 
Huntley—Formerly in the Reservation—A Growing Town—The ‘Huntley Project —Old Town ot 
Huntley—Built on Historic Ground—The First Citizens—Postoffice and Stage Station—Named by 
Hunters—Census of 1880—Business Houses in 1885—Junction—Location and Business Enterprises— 
Founding—Formerly Terry’s Landing—Later Junction City—A Lively Town in the Early Days—In 
1880—Townsite Platted—Destroyed by Fire—One Year Later—In 1888—At the Present Time Mus¬ 
selshell—Leading Town of North Yellowstone County—Allendale—Anita—Ballantine—Bull Mountain- 
Clermont—Corinth—Custer — Fattig—Lockwood— Mifflin— Peritsa—Pompey s Pillar—Ronald-Round- 
up—Summit—Toluca—Waco—Wolf Spring—Rapids. 307 

CHAPTER VII. 

Descriptive. 

Boundaries — Area — Topography—Elevation—Soil—Scenic Beauties—Tribute to the County by Fred H. 
Foster—County Well Watered—The Yellowstone and Tributaries—The Musselshell and Tributa¬ 
ries—Creeks of the Lake Basin-Climate-Temperature Statistics—Stockraising 1 »dustry—Cattle 
Horses—Sheep—Poultry—Swine—Bees — The F arming Industry—Corn—Wheat — Barley — Oats 
Flax — Potatoes — Dairying — Garden — Fruits—Sugar Beets—Alfalfa—Irrigation—What it has 
Done—Its Possibilities—History of the First Canal —Comparison of the Principal Ditches—Cre^s 
Under the Big Ditch—Early Day Irrigation Canals—'Work of the Billings Land & Irrigation Com 
pany—What it has Done for Billings and Yellowstone County—Report of the Carey Board The 
Huntley Project—Coal Fields of Yellowstone County . 


312 


PART VI. 


ROSEBUD COUNTY. 


CHAPTER I. 

Current Events. 

Rosebud County Correctly Named '’ c ene of Custer Massacre—First Settjers mJRosebud CounS—North- 

waukee Railroad. 

CHAPTER II. 

Cities and Towns. 

_ .. t->. . Thirst Fire_'Fire of 1901—School Building—Churches 

Fo T« h ^^ - «*-“* As T a ! io UT*”T „ 

Busby—Crow Agency— Other Postoffices. 











XV I 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER III. 

Descriptive. 

Size of Rosebud County—Resources Varied—Population—Productive Valleys — Yellowstone Valley— 

Froze-to-Death Valley—Rosebud Valley—Tongue Valley — Porcupine Bottom — Soil — Irrigation 
Ditches—Stockraising—Sheep and Cattle in County—Railroad Land—Crow Reservation—Crow In¬ 
dians—Climate—Railways—Coal—Development.... 326 

, ' CHAPTER IV. 

Political. 

Appointment of Officers for New County by Governor—County Seat—Election of 1902—Election of 1904 
—Election of 1906—Registry Districts. 328 

CHAPTER V. 

Educational. » 

County's Short Existence Makes Little Educational History—First School in County—First School in 
Forsyth—School Report of 1901—County High School’ Not Decided—New School Building in For- 
s y th ... 330 


PART VII. 


CUSTER COUNTY. 

CHAPTER I. 

Current Events. 

General History in Previous Chapters—Early Partition of Territory Now in Custer County—Early Settle¬ 
ments—Military Forts—Custer County Named—First Tax and Officers—Buffalo Hunting—North¬ 
ern Pacific Railroad—Sheep and Cattle Ranging in the County—Indian Depredations—Mission of 
Bishop Brondel—County Commissioners Discharged by Legislature—Stock Losses in 1886-7—Capt 
Brown Forms Company to Fight Indians—Tribute to Custer and Men—Crow Indians Cede Land- 
Assessed Valuation of Custer County—Financial Statement of County—Stock Industry—Irrigation 
—Fuel—Climatic Conditions. 


CHAPTER II. 

Cities and Towns. 

Miles City—First Merchant—Change of Location—Live Newspaper—Water in Spring of 1881 Railroad 

Reaches Miles City—Exodus of Undesirable Element—Population in 1881—Death of Wm Rigney— 
Incendiary Fire—First Artesian Well—Another Fire—Numerous Fires—Electric Lighting—Bonds 

Voted—Carnegie Public Library—Churches—Officers of the Town — Shipments oi 100c_Other 

Towns. 0 

. 343 


CHAPTER III. 

Descriptive. 

Large Territory—Climate—Thin Population—Streams—Description of Country—Best Horses and Cattle 
in Custer County—County High School .. 


CHAPTER IV. 

Polit ical. 

Political History Romantic—County Board Holds First Session—'Record of Elections—Officers Ousted 
trom Office—Record of other Elections to Date. 

CHAPTER V. 


Educat ional. 

Custer^ Population Wide Awake for Education—Largest School District in the United States—First 

Sc oot School Report for 1879—Other School Reports—Review of the Schools—Other Reports 

Ursulme Convent—Coming of the Nuns—Struggle for the Institution—Progress of the Convent.. .. 363 













CONTENTS 


XVII 


PART VIII. 


DAWSON COUNTY. 


CHAPTER I. 

Current Events. 

Early History—Boundaries of First County—No Organization—Early Encampments—First Settlers— 
Route of Northern Pacific—Re-creation of Dawson County—Passing of the Buffalo in 1883—Small 
Ranching—'Sheep Industry—Dawson County Loses Territory in 1893—Area—Better Facilities for 
Crossing Yellowstone—Bonds Issued—Bridge Built—Irrigation—Government Project—Assessed Val¬ 
uation of Dawson County—Superior Advantages.369 

CHAPTER II. 

Cities and Towns. 

Glendive, “Gateway of Montana”-—First Thought of Building Glendive—Railroad Completed in Spring of 
1881—Early Business Men—Killing Buffalo Principal Industry—Stock Business—First Fire—Dispute 
Concerning Title to Townsite—Glendive Fire Department—Fire in 1903—Water System—Sewerage 
System—Religious Denominations—Fraternal Societies—Wibaux—Tokna—Other Postoffices .372 

CHAPTER III. 

Political. 

Early Political History—First County Commissioners—Successive Elections . 377 

CHAPTER IV. 

Descriptive. 

Prior to the Advent of the Northern Pacific—Early Settlers Change the Scenes—Watered Well—Rich 
Agricultural Lands—Climate Excellent—Paramount Industry is Stock Raising—Bad Lands—Fuel— 
Rich Resources—Excellent Prospects . 382 


PART IX. 


CHAPTER I. 

Press of the Yellowstone Valley. 

Park County—Livingstone Gazette, First Newspaper—Is Succeeded by Livingston Tribune—Birth of the 
Daily Enterprise—Its Suspension—The Weekly Enterprise—Its History—National Park Pioneer— 
Livingston Sentinel—Establishment of the Livingston Post—Its Subsequent History—Livingston 
Herald Has an Existence of Seven Years—Is Sold at Mortgage Sale—Montana Agriculturist—Silver 
Republican—Park County Republican Plays a Part in the Press History of Park County—Wonderland 
—Revived as the Wonderland News. 655 

Sweet Grass County—Only One Paper in the County—Four Started—Big Timber Pioneer—First Printed 
in Livingston—Changes in Proprietorship—In Politics—In Size—Sweet Grass and Boulder Blade— 
Comes to an Untimely End—Big Timber Express—History of That Paper—Its Suspension—Yellow¬ 
stone Leader—Story of Its Birth—Later History—Consolidated with the Pioneer . 659 

Carbon County—Red Lodge Picket, the Pioneer Paper—The Vociferator—The New Idea—Carbon County 
Sentinel—Carbon County Democrat—Carbon County Chronicle—Carbon County Republican—Joliet 
Taxpayer—Later Named Joliet Journal—Bridger Tribune .661 

Yellowstone County—Newspaper History of Over Twenty-five Years—Newspapers of Today—Recollec¬ 
tions of the Early Days—A. K. Yerkes Founds the Coulson Post—Moves to Billings—J. D. Matheson 
Becomes Proprietor—Post Joins the Merger—Bromley & Devine Launch the Billings Herald—Made 












XVIII 


CONTENTS 


a Daily—Changes in Ownership—Suspends Publication to Enter the Gazette Combine—Short Life of 
the Daily Rustler—Gazette Publishing Company Formed—Absorbs All the Billings Papers—All 
Three Plants Destroyed by Fire—The Daily Gazette and Montana Stock Gazette—History of These 
Publications—J. D. Matheson Starts the Billings Times—History of that Journal—Montana Wool 
Journal—The Lurid Montana Vociferator—Its Happy End—-Stillwater Bulletin —\ ellowstone Valley 
Recorder—Brief Existence of the Columbus Express — Billings Republican — Billings News In- 
County News—Laurel Sentinel—Billings Daily Journal—Montana Farm—Editorial Writers of the 

Early Days . 002 

Rosebud County—Dearth of Newspapers—Forsyth Times the First—Rosebud County News Its Sus- 
pension. / 

Custer Countv—Yellowstone Journal, First Newspaper in the Yellowstone Valley—Major McElrath— 
General Nelson A. Miles Interested in its Publication —1 he Daily Journal—History of the Paper 
The Chronicle—Weekly Press—Daily Press—Daily Rustler—Daily Record—Stock Growers Journal— 

Daily Gazette—Miles City Independent . 007 

Dawson County-Glendive Times-Daily Times-Yellowstone Pres^-Glendive Indtfpendent-Dawson 

County Review—Yellowstone Monitor. 009 










INDEX 


Adamson. William C.... 

Albin, Bert R . 

Algaard, Albert . 

Allen, George J .. 

Allen, William A .'. 

Allen, William H . 

Ailing, Ira M . 

Ames, John T. 

Amos, Henry S . 

Anderson, Arthur C.... 
Anderson, August W. T 

Andrew, Robert . 

Arneson, Anthony H... 

Arthun, Martin . 

Arthun, Ole H. 

Ash, George W . 

Austin, Thomas R. 

Awe, Fred . 

Babcock, Albert L. 

Badgett, L. S. 

Ball, William . 

Ballinger, M. S. 

Bamber, John . 

Barley, Matthias . 

Bauman, Herman . 

Bedford, Daniel C . 

Bickerdyke. Hiram B . . 
Bigelow, Deforest W... 

Billman, Andy . 

Birkeland, Ole . 

Bishop, Jerome A. 

Bitle, Arthur . 

Black, Madison M. 

Blair, Ervin G . 

Blair, Harry B. 

Blakesley, Reinza W.... 

Blewett, John . 

Boggio, Charles . 

Bohne. Henry A. 

Bonefield. Peter . 

Bostic, Elmer T. 

Bottler, Philip . .. 

Bowker. Joseph J. 

Brady, Samuel O’N. C. 

Bray, Mon fort . 

Breck, William C. 

Brewer, Isaac W . 

Brewster, George W... 
Brooks, Warren E. ... 

Brown. Joseph . 

Brownlee, Robert . 


PAGE 

• 478 

• 437 

• 439 
. 620 

• 4i9 
. 412 

434 

• 555 

• 447 

• 533 

• • 583 

• 596 

• 39i 

• • 53i 

• • 599 
.. 612 
.. 426 
. . 601 

• • 652 
.. 619 

• 439 

• 549 
. . 480 

•• 543 
.. 602 
. 623 
■ • 592 
. . 5U 

• • 557 
.. 408 

• • 532 
. . 42t 

. . 651 

• • 506 

. . 510 

• • 493 

• • 553 

• • 631 
.. 628 
.. 586 

• • 473 

• • 547 
.. 5i7 
.. 498 
.. 485 
.. 643 

• • 584 

... 400 
.. 582 
.. 521 
,.. 469 


Brown. Joseph T . 

Bruffey, George A. 

Burg, Charles A. 

Burke, J. O. L. 

Burla, Gvyen F. 

Burnett, James M. 

Cahoo, George H. 

Calhoun, James H. 

Camp, Edgar B. 

Campbell, George C... 

Carlson, Charles . 

Carlton, Paul H. 

Carwile, Nathaniel G. 
Cedergren Brothers .. 
Cedergren. Money O. , 
Cedergren, Richard E. 
Chance, Nathan ..... 
Chapman, Henry 
Cheney, William H. .. 

Clark, .John G . 

Clark, Samuel E. 

Cleveland. George W. 
Connell, Merritt E... . 

Cook, J. W. 

Coppedge, John D.... 

Corbin, Harvy A. 

Cowan, Walter O. 

Crawford. A. M. 

Crimmins. Jeremiah F 

Cross, Charles R. 

Cutler, Robert E. 

Damm, John . 

Darroch, John M. 

Dickson. William E. . 

Dow, George R. 

Draper, Frank W.... 
Droste, John 

Duffey, William . 

Duffy, Owen . 

Duffield, Harry . 

Dumont, Charles .... 
Dunning, Grant . 

Edwards, John E. 

Eggen, Ole . 

Eichhorn, Joseph .... 

Ellis, Harry . 

Enochs, W. A . 

Feyler, Samuel . 

Fitzgerald, Selleck M. 


PAGE 

. 387 
. 404 
. 616 
. 464 
. 460 

• 639 

. 647 

• 484 

• 451 

• 525 
. 472 
. 430 

• 429 

■ 444 

• 444 

• • 444 
■ • 415 

• 503 

• • 454 


600 

594 

584 

627 

515 

453 

4 i 7 

556 

524 

519 
623 

565 

5 H 

606 

496 

631 

463 

520 
394 
441 

61 x 


399 

540 


577 

585 

565 


523 

505 


Flanagan, Michael . 

Flynn, John . 

Foster, Fred H. 

Forster. John . 

Fowler, John T. 

Fraser, John .. 

Frost, John H. 

Garrison, Albert T. 

Gass, Alexander S. 

Geisdorff, Fred . 

Goodwin, William E.... 
Goulding, Frederick J.. 

Grant, Charles F. 

Greenway, Henry J. 

Grosfield, Abraham M.. 

Gruel, Louis . 

Gruel. Max . 

Guiler, John L . 

Hall, John H. 

Halvorsen, Hans J. 

Hanning, Emil, . 

Harrington, Abraham . 

Harris, Charles L.. 

Hartley, Jacob M. 

Haskin, Orlando E. 

Hatch, Charles E. 

Hawkins, James B. 

Hayden, Nathaniel . 

Haynes. William N.... 

Helgeland, Sivert . 

Henderson, C. W. 

Hendrickson, Henry C. 

Henry, Frank . 

Herbert, Kirk E. 

Herbert, George . 

Hereim, Osten E. 

Herman, Frank N. 

Hiber, Charles E. 

Hicks, Theron W. 

Hirsch, George . 

Hogan, Ben . 

Hogan. Thomas S. 

Hoines, Gunder I. 

Hollopeter, Beniamin S 

Hooper, John C. 

Hooper, Joseph G. 

Hope, John C. 

Hoppe, Walter M. 

Hopple. Samuel J. 

Horton, W. H. 


PAGE 

. 610 
.. 456 

. 465 

. 453 
. 493 
. 559 

• 459 

• 445 
. 647 
. 620 

• 447 

• • 465 

■ 527 
.. 621 


507 

483 

466 

390 

561 

528 

409 

563 

495 

645 

448 

501 
396 

617 
597 
572 
650 
443 
539 

502 
515 
542 
492 

483 

635 

520 

618 
479 
474 
411 

489 

587 

558 

491 

































































































































































XX 


INDEX 


Howard, A. McC. 

PAGE 

.... 446 

Howard, Henry C. 


Hudson, Claud E. 


Hudson, Robert B. 

.... 486 

Humphreys, Nathaniel J.. 

.... 607 

Hundley, Alexander . 

.... 566 

Hunter, Guy D. 

.... 493 

Huntington, William C... 

.... 623 

Hurley, Michael . 

.... 529 

Hutton, J. W. 

.... 560 

Huxtable, John P. 

Hym, James . 

.... 497 

.... 591 

Indreland, Samuel . 

.... 561 

Itzin, William . 

.... 564 

Jellison, Francis J. 

Tohnson, Albert . 

.... 399 

.... 548 

Johnson, Anton H. 

•••• 435 

Johnston. William B. 

.... 649 

Jones, William C. 

.... 542 

Kaiser, Edward . 

•■•• 525 

Kellett, Frank . 

.... 450 

Kelsev S. Walter . 

.... 490 

Kemmis, Thompson A. ... 

•••• 397 

Kennedy, Edward B. 

.... 450 

Kennedy, Tames . 

•••• 574 

Kennedy, James F. 

.... 403 

Kent, Thomas . 

.... 442 

Kimes, John . 

.... 638 

King, James . 

.... 618 

Kirscher, Peter . 

.... 541 

Knapp. Louis R. 

.... 472 

Knapp, William J. 

.... 467 

Knowles, William E. 

•••• 543 

Koch Charles . 

.... 640 

Krise, John W. 

.... 405 

Kujath, Herman . 

.... 615 

LaMott, Allen B. 

.... 471 

Lande, Jacob T. 

.... 581 

Laney, John W. 

.... 462 

Lantis, Charles D. 

.... 576 

LaRoche, Fernando. 

.... 499 

Larsen, John . 

•••• 53 i 

Lathom, George D. 

•••■ 575 

Lavelle. William . 

.... 484 

Lay, Joseph . 

.... 436 

Lehfeldt, Hermann . 

• • • • 545 

Lehfeldt, Ludwig C. 

•••• 544 

Leimbach, Ferdinand ..... 

.... 567 

Lennon, Martin . 

.... 430 

Leslie. Edward . 

.... 431 

Lindsay, William . 

.... 458 

Logan, Arthur C. 

.... 444 

Logan, John T. 

.... 618 

Lovely, John A. 

. 566 

Lovering, Owen . 

. 422 

Lowe, Milton C. 

.... 488 

Lowe, William . 

. 461 

Lukinbeal. William E. 

.... 588 

Lutzenhiser, J. H. 

. 530 

Mace, George . 

. 523 

MaGee, Elias F. 

. 626 

Mahr, Charles . 

. 598 

Marsh, Jesse . 


Maryott, John L. 

.643 

Mason, Joseph E. 

. 5 i 3 

Mattson, Olaf W. 

. 568 

McCarty, Francis M. 

. 418 


McCune, Mary S. 

McDonald, Hector 
McDonald. Malcolm M. 
McDonald, Richard L.. 
McGehee, Edward .... 

McGirl, Thomas . 

McIntosh, A. W. 

McIntosh, Daniel . 

McKinney, Frank 
Meadors, Annette 

Meadors, John P. 

Melum, B. M. 

Mendenhall, Conway B 
Mendenhall, Cyrus B.. 
Mentch, Alexander ... 

Merritt, Orson . 

Meyer, William F. 

Miles, Arthur W. 

Miller, John A. 

Miller, Soren R. 

Milligan, Grant . 

Morgan, John A. 

Morris, Robert O..... 

Morrison, A. J. 

Morse, Sidney F. 

Moss, Preston B.,. ... 
Myers, Benjamin F. ... 
Myrebo, Betuel . 


PAGE 


58i 


503 

573 


568 

613 


432 

509 

596 

604 


440 

43 i 

455 

583 

413 

585 

437 

624 

614 


595 

608 


634 

564 

600 


57i 

409 

490 

575 

605 


Neilson, Peter . 582 

Nelson, Nels A. 550 

Nelson, Olof . 523 

Nelson, Peter W. 475 

Newman, Edwin M. 630 

Newman, Mark T.625 

Newnes, Sam . 526 

Nichol, John . 591 

Nielsen, Ole C. 519 

Nilson, Olaus. 552 

Nix, William J. 539 

Northway, Joseph Z. 410 

Nutting, William B. 632 


O’Brien, John . 407 

O’Connell, Samuel . s8g 

O’Donnell, Ed. 448 

O’Leary, Albert P. 495 

Olson, Gus . 612 

Osborne, Frank B. 498 

O’Shea, Daniel G. 634 

Ostrum, Gunder . 648 


Padden. Willard B.'. 605 

Palmer, William W. 608 

Peden, David . 406 

Phelps, George H. 598 

Pierce, George W. 346 

Piper, Lewis C. 587 

Potter, Charles J. 401 

Powers, George W. 433 

Powers, Maurice . 379 

Prewett, Silas C. 473 

Pruett, Devi . (jo? 


Rademaker, M. B. 
Ramsey, Charles A 
Randall, James N. 

Rea, James E. 

Reed, George W.. 
Renlund, Sanfrid . 
Reno, Ludlow B.. 
Rich. Albert A.... 
Rife, S. L. 


606 
do2 
504 

537 

550 

637 

427 

415 

610 


PAGE 


Robison, William. 526 

Rowland, Robert B. 535 

Rowland. William . 420 

Russell, David H... . 457 

Russell, Edwin C. 639 

Sample, Henry A. 470 

Sanford. Jacob T. 392 

Schaudel, Julius . 551 

Schmalsle, William F. 434 

Scott, James N. 529 

Scott, William J.424 

Selleck, Charles W. 516 

Selway, J L. 417 

Seupke, Wiillifun . 562 

Shafer, Louis H. 537 

Sickler, Arthur R. 393 

Simpson, Charles M. 569 

Simington, George R. 622 

Simpkins, Joseph T. 558 

Sirrine, Clarence . 425 

Sirrine, Warren 0 . 423 

Solberg, Jacob . 613 

Sorenson, Marce . 560 

Spang, Alban D. 426 

Sproule, George . 595 

Stack, Thomas F.. 506 

Staffek, John C. 403 

Stafford. John M. 548 

Stanbach, Henry J. 494 

Standen, Fred . 527 

Steele, James . 609 

Steele, Robert ... 609 

Stewart, John S. 637 

Stole, Jonas P. 402 

Stone, William B. 389 

Strickland, Benjamin . 570 

Strider, Frank .636 

Strong, William . 579 

Sumer. Rudolph . 509 

Succetti, John . 530 

Swan, Lawrence T. 563 

Teesdale, R. B. 552 

Terrett, William W. 488 

Thompson, Henry C. 540 

Thompson, Iver . 536 

Toliver, Solomon C. 556 

Toston, George . 517 

Town, Annie E. 500 

Tripp. Daniel W.,.. 478 

Troger, Albert . 534 

Tunnell, Sam. P. 508 

Tuttle, Samuel J. 570 

Tyler Riley . 644 

Van Houten, John W. 512 

Volin, Charles E.... . 438 

Wakefield, George W. 393 

Walters, I. W. 562 

Wastpeter, John . 553 

Weast, Jacob P. 534 

Weaver, Chauncey R. 636 

Weaver, J. R. 650 

Welcome, George W. 601 

Wentworth. Maurice S. 646 

Wesch, Philip . 404 

West, James .627 

Westbrook, Walter R. 640 

Whitbeck, James K.. . 632 

White, W. D.. 628 

Whitney, Frank S..... 617 



















































































































































































































INDEX 


XXI 


PAGE 


Wilder, Elmer . 466 

Wolf?, William W. 641 

Wood. G. W. 629 

Woosley, James . 522 


PAGE 


Wright, Eugene P.. 545 

Yegen, Christian . 476 

Yegen, Peter . 476 


PAGE 


Young, George T. 590 

Young, William W. 4 21 

Youngstrom, Swan . 635 

Youst, Claudius D. 468 
















INDEX 


PORTRAITS 


PAGE 

Arch, Entrance to Yellowstone 


National Park . 161 

Babcock, Albert L. 652 

Bickerdyke, Hiram B. 59 2 

Bison, a herd of . 3 X 9 

Brewster, George W. 4 °° 

Brown, Joseph T. 387 

Burke, J. O. L. 464 

Calhoun, James H. 480 

Crawford, A. M. 

Custer Battlefield . 3 J 9 

DeSmet, Father . 48 

Dickson, William E. 5 12 

Draper, Frank W. 496 

Eichhom, Joseph . 576 

Emigrant Peak . 119 

Flanagan, Michael . 608 

Guiler, John L. 480 


PAGE 


Harrington, Abraham . 528 

Hawkins,. James B. 448 

Herman, Frank N. 5 12 

Hirsch, George . 480 

Howard, Henry C. 480 

Hutton, J. W. 560 

Kellett, Frank . 448 

Kennedy, Edward B.. 448 

Koch, Charles . 640 

Lantis, Charles D. 576 

Lantis, Mrs. Charles D. 576 

Lantis, Miss L. E. 576. 

Lehfeldt, Hermann . 544 

Lehfeldt. Ludwig C. 544 

Marsh, Jesse . 4^ 

Maryott, John L. 640 

Mason, Joseph E. 512 

McCarty, Francis M. 416 


PAG 


McGirl, Thomas . 432 

Miller, Soren R. 608 

Meyer, William F. 624 

Montana Haying Scene . 19 1 

O’Donnell, Ed.448 

Palmer, William W. 608 

Palmer, Mrs. William W.608 

Powers. Maurice . 576 

Powers, Mrs. Maurice . 576 

Selway, J. L. 4t6 

Sheep, Band of.233 

Steele, James . 608 

Steele, Robert . 608 

Van Houten, John W. 512 

Westbrook, Walter R. 640 

Wolff, William W. 640 

Wright, Eugene P. 544 

Wright, Mrs. Eugene P. 544 




























































PART I 

HISTORY OF MONTANA 


CHAPTER 1 


DAWN OF DISCOVERY. 


To the Spaniards is due the credit of being 
the-first white men to explore the territory now 
within the confines of the State of Montana, 
and to Cabezo de Vaca should the distinction 
of being the very first be given. He, in 1535* 
with two soldiers and a treacherous Moor, 
Stephen the Moor, left Mexico with the purpose 
of exploring the north, of which they had so 
often heard the Indians speak. They returned 
in 1536, and, while it is not known what terri¬ 
tory they traversed, from their description and 
physical geography, their travels must have led 
them to what is now known as the South 
Saskatchewan and Sun rivers, beyond the Mis¬ 
souri and Yellowstone. 

The first missionary father who visited this 
northern territory was a Franciscan Friar; 
John of Padilla. In the year 1537 he was sent 
by Coronado, then governor of New Gallia, to 
explore the country to the north. The treach¬ 
erous Moor, Stephen, w T as again chosen as 
guide. The Moor with a few followers pre¬ 
ceded the main company and because of many 
attempted depredations was finally killed by the 
native Indians. The party who had accompan¬ 
ied the Moor in the lead now turned back and 
met the priest and his followers, but the priest 
was not to be influenced by this and pushed on 


to the northward, but on sight of the Seven 
Cities he stopped. 

The Cavalier of Salamanca, Francisco Vas- 
quez de Coronado, arrived in Mexico about 
1539, and in 1540 set out in charge of an army 
corps, composed of 800 natives and 300 Span¬ 
ish nobles, and according to the statement of 
Coronado they took possession of the entire 
territory of the Missouri, south and north of 
the 40th parallel of latitude, beyond the domain 
of the Emperor Tartarax in May, 1541. 

On May tenth, 1543, is recorded the first 
discovery of Oregon, of which western Mon¬ 
tana was once a part. Juan Roderiquez Ca- 
brillo, in command of a Spanish squadron, 
came up the coast of California and anchored 
in a bay as far north as 40 degrees of latitude. 

Nothing more was accomplished in the way 
of. explorations in the northwest for two hun¬ 
dred years after the Spaniards made their at¬ 
tempt to find out the nature of the territory 
under their possession. The next explorations 
were made by the French in I 737 " 3 ^ when 
Jean Frederick Philippearin, known as Count 
de Maurepas, was secretary of state in France. 
He sent explorations to the equator, north and 
south pole, and to then imperfectly known 
coasts and countries. In 1738 M. de la Ver- 






2 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


andrye was despatched to America and was 
to make an overland journey to the Pacific 
ocean. To this able explorer we have to look 
for the first authentic history of the state of 
Montana. The traveler, having reached Can¬ 
ada, started with his party from Montreal, 
passed through Lake Superior, and, going as 
far to the westward as possible, passed along 
the foot of Lake Winnipeg, ascended the As- 
siniboine river and directed his course toward 
the Rocky mountains. For many days they 
traveled over large tracts of land free from 
timber but covered with very tall grass. In 
several places where it was known that no 
European had ever traveled, were found great 
pillars of stone leaning upon each other. The 
pillars consisted of one single stone each, and 
sometimes such stones were found laid one 
upon each other, resembling a wall. At one 
place on the prairie several hundred miles west 
of Montreal, the party discovered a large stone, 
like a pillar, and in it a smaller stone about a 
foot long and four or five inches broad, covered 
on both sides with characters unknown. This 
curiosity was separated from the pillar and 
transmitted to the secretary of state at Paris, 
where missionaries conversant with Eastern 
languages affirmed that the inscription was in 
Tartaric characters. Without reaching the 
main range Verandrye was compelled to aban¬ 
don the expedition, his party having got mixed 
up in a war which the Indians of these parts 
were waging against each other. The editor 
of the New York Documents, concludes from 
his analysis of many letters and official docu¬ 
ments bearing on the expedition, that the coun¬ 
try then explored was west and north of Min¬ 
nesota. Three hundred miles west of Lake 
Winnipeg on the Assiniboine, he states, they 
erected Fort La Reine, three others being 
erected further west, the most distant of which 
stood on the bank of the Paskoyac, a fork of 
the Shekatchiak. Against this opinion are 
many references to the waters of the upper 
Missouri, which leave no doubt that the Ver¬ 


andrye party reached many of the valleys of 
Montana. Kalm, the Swedish scholar, who 
met the Verandrye party in Canada in 1749, 
agrees with Garneau that the party did not 
cross the main range; but both are willing to 
concede to its members the honor of entering 
the valleys between the Great Belt and the 
main range. Granville Stuart and his fellow 
members of the Montana Historical Society 
agree in the belief that the explorers left Fort 
La Reine, on the Assiniboine river, went up 
the Mouse river in a southerly direction, and 
then crossed over to the Missouri to a point 
a little below where is now Fort Berthold. 
Then they ascended the Missouri as far as the 
Gates of the Mountains where the river breaks 
through the Belt range (near Helena), and 
ascended those mountains on the first of Janu¬ 
ary, 1743. Thence they passed up Deep or 
Smith’s river, and over to the head of the Mus¬ 
selshell ; thence south to the Yellowstone cross¬ 
ing, through which they went up Pryor’s Fork 
and through Pryor’s gap, to Stinking river, 
which they crossed, and continuing south came 
among the Snake Indians on Wind river, who 
told them that on the south of Wind river 
mountains was Karoskiu, now Green river. 
The Snakes also told them not to go further 
south or they would be killed by the Sans Arcs, 
a branch of the Sioux, who were watching at 
Wind river pass for any parties that might be 
passing that way that they might kill and rob 
them. On the 19th of May, 1744, they re¬ 
turned to the upper Missouri, and in the Petite 
Cerise (choke cherry) country, they planted on 
an eminence a leaden plate bearing the arms c.f 
France, and erected a monument of stones, 
which they called Beauharnois. After erecting 
the monument, they doubtless descended the 
Missouri, to where they first struck it on their 
outward journey. Then they returned by way 
of the Mouse river and the Assiniboine to the 
Lake of the Woods, where they arrived July 
2, 1744, after an absence of about a year. 

It has been asserted, and on good authority, 





HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


that the visit of Verandrye to the country 
which is now known as Montana was brought 
about because of the shining appearance of the 
Rocky Mountains. The Indians of this coun¬ 
try told the natives farther east, and these in 
turn to their eastern neighbors, the rumors of 
the wonderful country finally reaching the 
French in Canada. According to the rumors, 
the shining appearance of the country was sup¬ 
posed to indicate the presence of gold, dia¬ 
monds and other precious stones. It was on 
the first of January, 1743, when Verandrye 
reached the shining mountains. The point at 
which the ascent was made was near the pres¬ 
ent city of Helena. Here the exploring party 
discovered the Prickly Pear river and learned 
of the Bitter Root from the Indians. The 
Bear Tooth mountain near Helena was de¬ 
scribed, and in other ways the party left evi¬ 
dence of the visit. 

The Jesuit, Pere Coquard or Coquillard, 
was one of the party of 1738, and to him is 
given the honor of being the first Christian 
minister to visit the region now called Mon¬ 
tana. To him must be given the credit for 
nearly all the records of the expedition. While 
he was neither laudatious nor severe in his crit¬ 
icisms, he gave a just and plain statement of 
facts. He was Verandrye’s oldest friend and 
an associate in the expedition and had much 
better opportunities of observation than the 
chief. For this reason if no other, his state¬ 
ments must be accepted as correct and the fol¬ 
lowing dates and events taken in history 
Fort La Reine on the Assiniboine erected Oc¬ 
tober 3, 1738; the Mandan country explored 
by Verandrye, Jr., and the Chevalier Veran¬ 
drye, sons of the Sieur de la Verandrye; Belt 
mountains reached January 1, 1743; Monu¬ 
ment erected bearing French coat-of-arms in 
upper Missouri country on May 12, 1744; re¬ 
turn to the Lake of the Woods July 2, 1744; 
Sieur de la Verandrye died in Canada Decem¬ 
ber 6, 1749; Chevalier Verandrye lost in the 




wreck of the Auguste on the ocean in Novem¬ 
ber, 1761; the Sieur Jules Verandrye and Pere 
Coquard returned to France. From their story 
and the writings of Carver and others many 
stories of their discovery were told. 

In a letter from Mr. Upham, of the Minne¬ 
sota Historical Society, to the Montana His¬ 
torical Society, in regard to the Verandrye ex¬ 
pedition, he says in part: “I believe Veran¬ 
drye’s camp of January the eighth, 1743, was 
in the south edge of Montana or on the north 
edge of Wyoming, not far northeast of the Big 
Horn mountains, and near the southeast corner 
of the present Crow Indian reservation. The 
part of Montana which this expedition crossed 
was only its southeast corner, south of the Yel¬ 
lowstone river.” The location of the lead 
plate and cairn, mentioned above, he says “was 
close to the fort of the Choke Cherry Indians 
on the Missouri, somewhere in the region of 
the line between South Dakota and Nebraska.” 

For many years after the Verandrye ex¬ 
ploration this country was absolutely aban¬ 
doned by the military and as a consequence the 
French traders worked themselves into the 
good graces of the Indians. In 1752 and 1753, 
two expeditions were sent out by Governor 
Jonquierre-Lamarque de Martin in charge of 
the Missouri division and Jacques Logardeurde 
St. Pierre and Boucher de Niverville in com¬ 
mand of the Saskatchewan division. These 
expeditions met with little success, but the re¬ 
sults were beneficial in that many men of each 
expedition remained in the country. They 
established Fort Jonquierre, Fort Bourbon and 
a number of temporary forts on the Missouri 
river. 

Jonathan Carver, a soldier, is also sometimes 
credited with having crossed the continent, cer¬ 
tain authorities stating that he left Boston June 
6, 1766, crossed the continent to the Pacific 
and returned in October, 1768. This view is 
not held by any of the historians of the present 
day, however. 





CHAPTER II 


MISSISSIPPI TO THE COAST. 


Louisana had become a part of the terri¬ 
tory of the United States, by treaty of Paris, 
April 30, 1803. In the meantime the Lewis 
and Clark expedition had been organized. 

That portion of Lewis and Clark’s expedi¬ 
tion with which this history concerns itself 
must relate chiefly to the achievements of these 
intrepid captains after they had entered the ter¬ 
ritory known as Montana. 

Aside from Captains Clark and Lewis, the 
party of the expedition consisted of nine young 
men from Kentucky, fourteen United States 
soldiers, who had volunteered their services, 
two French watermen (an interpreter and 
hunter), and a black servant employed by Cap¬ 
tain Clark. Before the close of 1803 prepara¬ 
tions for the voyage were all completed, and 
the party wintered at the mouth of Wood river, 
on the east bank of the Mississippi. 

The following is President Jefferson’s opin¬ 
ion of Captain Lewis: 

Of courage undaunted; (possessing a firmness and 
perseverance of purpose which nothing but impossi¬ 
bilities could divert from its direction; careful as a fa¬ 
ther of those committed to his charge, yet steady in the 
maintenance of order and discipline; intimate with In¬ 
dian character, customs and principles; habituated to 
the hunting life, guarded by exact observation of the 
vegetables and animals in his own country, against 
losing time in the description of objects already pos¬ 
sessed; honest, disinterested, liberal, of sound under¬ 
standing, and a fidelity to trust so scrupulous that 
whatever he should report would be as certain as if 
seen by ourselves; with all these qualifications, as if 
selected and implanted by nature in one body for this 
express purpose, I could have # no hesitation in confiding 
this enterprise to him. 

July 5, 1803, Captain Lewis left Washing¬ 
ton, D. C., and was joined at Louisville, Ken¬ 
tucky, by Captain Clark, and proceeded on to 
St. Louis, where they arrived in December. 


The Spanish officers were still in possession 
of the forts at St. Louis, not having been offi¬ 
cially notified of the transfer to France and 
back to the United States. The expedition 
camped at the mouth of the Wood river on the 
east bank of. the Mississippi river out of the 
jurisdiction of the Spanish. The winter was 
spent here in preparation for setting out early 
in the spring. They broke up their winter 
quarters on May 14, 1804, and began the as¬ 
cent of the Missouri river. This was practi¬ 
cally an unexplored country. On October 27, 
1804, they arrived at the Mandan village, re¬ 
maining here during the winter. Here they 
were apprised of the French traders from the 
British possessions, who had made overland 
trips to this territory. But further west than 
these villages the country was practically un¬ 
known to the white race. The vast country of 
the Platte, the Little Missouri, the Yellowstone 
and the head waters of the Missouri had never 
been penetrated by civilized man. 

It was here in the winter of 1804 that a 
Frenchman named Charbineau joined the party 
with his wife, Sacajawea, or “Bird Woman,” 
Sacajawea was a woman of the Snake Indian 
tribe who had been captured in war by the 
Minnetarees, of whom she was purchased by 
Charbineau. Brackenridge’s Journal says: 
“We had on board a Frenchman named Char¬ 
bineau, with his wife, an Indian woman of the 
Snake nation, both of whom accompanied 
Lewis and Clark to the Pacific, and were of 
great service. The woman, a good creature, 
of a mild and gentle disposition, much attached 
to the whites, whose manners and dress she 
tries to imitate; but she had become sickly and 
longed to visit her native country; her husband 
also, who had spent many years among the In- 






HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


5 


dians, had become weary of civilized life.” 
Clark said of Charbineau: “A man of no pecu¬ 
liar merit. Was Useful as an interpreter only, 
in which capacity he discharged his duties with 
good faith from the moment of our departure 
from the Mandans on the 7th of April, 1805, 
until our return to that place in August last. * 

* * He would have been a minus function 
in comparison with his wife, Sacajawea, the 
wonderful ‘Bird Woman,’ who contributed a 
full man’s share to the success of the expedi¬ 
tion, besides taking care of her baby.” 

Orin D. Wheeler in his “Trail of Lewis 
and Clark,” says that Sacajawea was called 
the “Bird Woman” of the Minnetarees, who 
uncomplainingly bore her burdens with as 
much fortitude as the male members of the 
party and withstood the same hardships, be¬ 
sides taking care of her child. Many times in 
their travels and meetings with other tribes, 
she was able to act as interpreter when her 
husband failed, and many times her advice was 
asked for by the captains and was always given 
true weight. Sacajawea was never remuner¬ 
ated for her trip with the expedition and it 
should be the purpose of the government to 
perpetuate the memory of this noble woman 
with a statue in some conspicuous place. The 
United States Geological Survey recently fit¬ 
tingly named a peak in the Bridger range of 
mountains, Sacajawea Peak, on the sight of 
the place where she was captured as a child 
by the Minnetarees, and where she pointed out 
the pass over the mountains to Captains Lewis 
and Clark. 

Sacajawea was of the royal blood of the 
Shoshoni, her brother, Cameahwait, being a 
noted chief of that tribe. While her husband, 
Charbineau, has not been very well spoken of 
by historians, we must give him credit for do¬ 
ing an honorable act in marrying her after he 
had purchased her from the Minnetarees. 

Dr. J. K. Hosmer-, the well known histor- 

• ical writer, in speaking of Sacajawea. says: 
“Her doings were of such a character as to 


make it quite right to claim for her a place 
among heroines; in the whole line of Indian 
heroines, indeed, from Pocahontas to Romona, 
not one can be mentioned whose title to hon¬ 
ored remembrance is any better than hers.” 

Not much can be learned of the infant who 
traveled so many miles with his parents on 
this expedition. In regard to this Ferris, in 
speaking of a trapping party, says: “The 
party was enroute from the falls of the Snake- 
Shoshone falls to the Miladi river in southern 
Idaho, and after nearly perishing from thirst 
on the desert, finally found the river. We 
spent the night carrying water to our enfeebled 
companions who lingered behind, and to horses 
left on the way. All were found except Char¬ 
bineau and his animals who was supposed to 
have wandered from the trail and got lost.” 
He was afterward found among a party of 
the Hudson’s Bay company, where he had 
strayed. In a footnote Ferris says: This was 
the infant, who together with his mother, was 
saved from a sudden flood near the walls of the 
Missouri by Captain Lewis —vide Lewis in 
Lewis and Clark Journals.”—(It was Clark, 
however, and not Lewis who saved their 
lives.) 

It is impossible to determine the time, place 
or manner of the death of Charbineau and wife, 
but it is supposed that they were the victims of 
a small-pox epidemic that killed so many In¬ 
dians in the years 1838 and 1839. 

On the opening of spring the party contin¬ 
ued up the Missouri, reaching the confluence 
of the Yellowstone and Missouri, April 26, 
1805. This was a great hunting ground, 
abounding in buffalo, deer, elk, antelope, and 
other small game. Timber was abundant, and 
grew to a greater size than in most places on 
the Missouri. The timber consisted principally 
of cottonwood, box-alder, elm and ash. 

In describing the two rivers at the mouth 
of the Yellowstone, the journals give the width 
of the Yellowstone, including a sandbar, as 858 
yards, with 297 yards of water; the Missouri 






6 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


with a bed 520 yards and the water occupying 
330 yards with a deep channel. Continuing 
up the Missouri, the country was found to be 
uneven and broken; the timber was not as 
heavy; the woods were green; two small 
streams flowed from the north; game was 
abundant. 

Early the next morning, the wind being 
favorable, they proceeded up the river, cover¬ 
ing twenty-five miles during the day, and in 
the evening camped at the mouth of Martha’s 
river, now known as the Big Muddy. Lewis, 
who was on shore with a hunter, met two white 
bears. We must not confound these bears with 
the polar bear, as they have never been found 
in this latitude. The probability is that they 
were of a light shade, and belonged to the same 
species as the bear commonly known in these 
parts. The Indians spoke of the white bear as 
a ferocious animal. On approaching these 
two, Captain Lewis and the hunter fired, each 
wounding a bear. One escaped, the other 
turned upon Captain Lewis, followed him 
about eighty yards, and was brought down by 
the third shot from his gun. It weighed about 
300 pounds. The Martha’s river was de¬ 
scribed as being fifty yards wide, with water 
for fifteen yards. Captain Clark ascended 
the river for three miles and reported the width 
to vary but little from what it was at the 
mouth, that the banks were steep, but not deep, 
and that the bed was muddy. 

The following day they passed some lodges 
of driftwood, which, from all appearances, had 
not been inhabited lately. On the approach of 
evening, after having traveled a distance of 24 
miles, they camped on a sand island. Farther 
on a curious collection of bushes was observed, 
about thirty feet in height, and from ten to 
twelve inches in diameter, tied together at the 
top, which was supposed to have been left as a 
religious sacrifice by the Indians. 

With game of all sorts in abundance they 
went on, and on May the eighth, reached a 
stream of a peculiar whiteness, which they 


named from the milky color of its water, Milk 
river, which name it still retains. On the 
following day they passed a most ex¬ 
traordinary river, which was called Big 
Dry. Like many mountain streams it is 
a raging torrent when the snow is melting and 
at other times completely dry. At this time 
there was no water in the stream, hence the 
name. 

On the nth of May, one of the party who 
had been permitted to walk on shore had an ad¬ 
venture worthy of mention here: “About five 
in the afternoon, one of our men who had been 
afflicted with the piles and suffered to walk on 
shore, came running to the boat with loud cries 
and every symptom of terror and distress; for 
some time after we had taken him on board he 
was so much out of breath as to be unable to 
describe the cause of his anxiety, but at length 
told us that about a mile and a half below he 
had shot a brown bear, which immediately 
turned and was in close pursuit of him; but the 
bear being badly wounded could not overtake 
him. Captain Lewis with seven men went in 
search of him and having found his track, fol¬ 
lowed him by his blood for a mile, and found 
him concealed in some thick brush wood, and 
shot him with two balls through the skull. * 
* Our man had shot him through the lungs, 
yet he had pursued him furiously for half a 
mile, then returned more than twice that dis¬ 
tance, and with his talons had prepared for 
himself a bed in the earth two feet deep and 
five feet long, and was perfectly alive when 
they found him, which was at least two hours 
after he had received the wound.” 

May 14th was a notable day for the explor¬ 
ers. We read in the journals of two remarka¬ 
ble incidents that occurred on this day. “To¬ 
wards evening the men in the hindmost canoes 
discovered a large brown bear; * * * six 

of them, all good hunters, concealing them¬ 
selves by a small eminence, came unperceived 
within forty paces of him. Four of the hunt¬ 
ers now fired, and each lodged a ball in his 








HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


7 


body, two of them directly through his lungs. 
The furious animal sprang up and ran open- 
mouthed upon them; as he came near, the two 
hunters who had reserved their fire gave him 
two rounds, one of which, breaking his should¬ 
er, retarded his motion for awhile, but before 
they could reload he was so near that they 
were obliged to run to the river. * * * 

Two jumped into the canoe; the other four 
separated, and concealing themselves in the wil¬ 
lows, fired as fast as each could reload. * * 

* At last he (the bear) pursued two of them 
so closely that they threw aside their guns and 
pouches and jumped down a perpendicular 
bank of twenty feet into the water. The bear 
sprang after them, and was within a few feet 
of the hindmost when one of the hunters on 
shore shot him in the head and finally killed 
him. They dragged him to the shore, and 
found that eight balls had passed through him 
in different directions.” 

In camp an accident was barely escaped 
which would have meant much to the progress 
of the party. One of the canoes, containing all 
the papers, instruments, medicine and other in¬ 
dispensable articles, being under sail when a 
sudden squall of wind came up, was almost lost. 
Had not the accident been averted when it was 
three of the men on board might have been 
lost,' they being unable to swim. This incident 
was due to Charbineau, who was at the helm, 
and who instead of doing the right thing at the 
right time lost his head, and by so doing al¬ 
most lost the boat; and not until the bowsman 
threatened to shoot him did he do his duty. 
All credit is due Sacajawea, who calmly con¬ 
ducted herself and saved many of the articles 
that would have been lost but for her. The 
next day was spent in drying the goods. The 
greatest loss sustained was the loss of 
medicines. 

On the 17th the party started early and pro¬ 
ceeded very well. The banks being firm and 
the shores bold, they were enabled to use the 
towline, which, whenever the banks would per¬ 


mit it, proved to be the safest and most expedi¬ 
tious mode of ascending the river, except under 
sail with a steady breeze. The country in gen¬ 
eral was found to be rugged, the hills high, 
with their sides and top covered with timber. 
The lower part of the hills was a rich dark 
loam. The timber on the river consisted of 
scarcely anything more than a few scattered 
cottonwood trees. The game abounded in 
great quantities, but the buffalo were not so 
numerous as they were some days before; two 
rattlesnakes were seen that day, and one of 
them killed. It resembled those of the middle 
Atlantic states. 

The next day nineteen miles were covered. 
Weiser’s creek was discovered and named after 
Peter Weiser, one of the privates of the com¬ 
pany. The towline was used this day and the 
following to good advantage, the shores being 
clear. 

Of May 20th the journals say: “As usual, 
we set out early, and the banks being 
convenient for that purpose, we used the tow- 
line. The river is narrow and crooked, the 
water rapid, and the country much like that 
of yesterday. At a distance of two and one- 
fourth miles we passed a large creek from the 
south with but little water, to which we gave 
the name of Blowing-fly creek, from the quan¬ 
tity of those insects found in this neighborhood. 
They are very troublesome, infesting our meat 
while we are cooking, and our meals. After 
making seven miles we reached by eleven 
o'clock the mouth of a large river on the south 
and camped for the day at the upper point of 
its junction with the Missouri. 

“This stream, which we suppose to be that 
called by the Minnitarees (Mahtush-ahzhah) 
the Muscleshell (Musselshell) river, empties 
into the Missouri 2,270 miles above the mouth 
of the latter river, in latitude 47 north. It is 
no feet wide, and contains more water than 
streams of that size usually do in this country; 
its current is be no means rapid, and there is 
every appearance of its being susceptible of 




8 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


navigation by canoes for a considerable dis¬ 
tance. Its bed is chiefly formed in coarse sand 
and gravel, with an occasional mixture of black 
mud; the banks are abrupt and nearly twelve 
feet high, so that they are secure from being 
overflowed; the water is of a greenish yellow 
cast and much more transparent than that of 
the Missouri, which itself, though clearer than 
below, still retains its whitish hue and a portion 
of its sediment. Opposite the mouth of the 
junction the current of the Missouri is gentle, 
and 222 yards in width; the bed is principally 
of mud, the little sand remaining being wholly 
confined 10 the points, and the water is still too 
deep to use the setting pole. 

“If this be, as we suppose, the Musselshell, 
our Indian information is that it rises in the 
first chain of the Rocky mountains not far 
from the sources of the Yellowstone, whence 
in its course to this place it waters a high 
broken country, well timbered, particularly on 
its borders, and interspersed with handsome 
fertile plains and meadows. We have reason, 
however, to believe, from their giving a sim¬ 
ilar account of the timber where we now are, 
that the timber of which they speak is similar 
to that which we have seen for a few days past, 
which consists of nothing more than a few 
straggling small pines and dwarf cedars on the 
summits of the hills, nine-tenths of the ground 
being totally destitute of wood, and covered 
with short grass, aromatic herbs, and an im¬ 
mense quantity of prickly pear; though the 
party who explored it eight miles represented 
the low grounds on the river to be well sup¬ 
plied with cottonwood of a tolerable size and 
of an excellent soil. They also report that the 
country is broken and irregular, like that near 
our camp; and that about five miles up, a hand¬ 
some river, about fifty yards wide, which we 
named after Charbineau’s wife, Sacajahweah’s 
or the Birdwoman’s river, discharges into 
the Musselshell on the north or upper side. 

“Another party (i. e. John Shields) found 
at the foot of the southern hills, about four 


miles from the Missouri, a fine bold spring, 
which in this country is so rare that since we 
left the Mandans we have found only one of a 
similar kind. That was under the bluffs on 
the south side of the Missouri, at some dis¬ 
tance from it, and about five miles below the 
Yellowstone. With this exception, all the 
small fountains, of which we have met a num¬ 
ber, are impregnated with the salts which are 
so abundant here, and with which the Missouri 
is itself probably tainted, though to us, who 
have been so much accustomed to it, the taste 
is not perceptible. 

“Among the game we observed today were 
two large owls, with remarkably long feathers 
resembling ears on the sides of the head, 
which we presume are hooting owls, though 
they are larger and their colors are brighter 
than those common in the United States.” 

During the next few days several small 
streams were found, each being named after 
some of the men of the party. The buffalo, 
were scarce; beaver, bear, antelope, and deer 
not as plentiful as farther down the river. 

On the 26th Windsor creek was discovered. 
A few miles beyond they came to another creek 
flowing from the north. It was from here, 
after ascending to the topmost hills, that Cap¬ 
tain Lewis first got a view of the Rockies. 
Four and a half miles beyond this creek they 
came to the upper point of a sand island. Says 
the journal: “At a distance of five miles be¬ 
tween high bluffs, we found a very difficult 
rapid, reaching quite'across the river, where 
the water is deep, the channel narrow, and 
gravel obstructing it on each side; we had great 
trouble in ascending it, although we used both 
the rope and the pole and doubled the crew. 
This is the most considerable rapid on the 
Missouri, and in fact, the only place where 
there is a sudden descent; as we were laboring 
over them a female elk with its fawn swam 
down through the waves, which ran very high, 
and obtained for the place the name of Elk 
Rapids.” 





HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


9 


Wednesday, the 29th was an eventful day: 
“Last night we were alarmed by a new sort of 
enemy,” reports the journal. “A buffalo swam 
over from the opposite side to the spot where 
lay one of our canoes, over which he clamb¬ 
ered to the shore; then taking fright he ran 
full speed up the bank toward our fires, and 
passed within 18 inches of the heads of some 
of our men, before the sentinel could make 
him change his course. Still more alarmed, 
he ran down between our fires and within a 
few inches of the heads of the second row of 
men, and would have broken into the lodge if 
the barking of the dog had not stopped him. 
He suddenly turned to the right, and was out 
of sight in a moment, leaving us all in confu¬ 
sion, everyone seizing his rifle and inquiring 
the cause of alarm. On learning what had hap¬ 
pened, we had to rejoice at suffering no more 
injury than the damage to some guns which 
were in the canoe which the buffalo crossed. 

“In the morning early we left our camp, 
and proceeded as usual by cord. We passed 
an island and two sandbars; at the distance of 
two and one-half miles came to a handsome 
river which discharges on the south, and which 
we ascended to the distance of a mile and a 
half. We called it Judith’s river. It rises in 
the Rocky mountains, in about the same place 
with the Musselshell, and near the Yellow¬ 
stone. Its entrance is ;oo yards wide 1 from 
bank to bank, the water occupying about 75 
yards, and in greater quantity than that of the 
Musselshell river; though more rapid, it is 
equally navigable, there being no stones or 
rocks in its bed, which is composed entirely 
of gravel and mud with some sand. The water 
is clearer than any which we have yet seen; 
and the low grounds, as far as we could dis¬ 
cern, are wider and more woody than those of 
the Missouri. Along its banks we observed 
some box-elder intermixed with cottonwood 
and willow, the undergrowth consisting of 
rose bushes, honey-suckles and a little red 
willow. There was a great abundance of 


the argali, or big-horned animal, in the high 
country through which it (Judith’s river) 
passes, and a great number of beaver in its 
waters. 

“Just above the entrance of it we saw the 
fires of 126 lodges, which appeared to have 
been deserted about 12 or 15 days; and on the 
other side of the Missouri' a large camp, ap¬ 
parently made by the same nation. On exam¬ 
ining some moccasins which we found here, 
our Indian woman said that they did not be¬ 
long to her own nation, the Snake Indians, but 
she thought that they indicated a tribe on this 
side of the Rocky mountains, and to the north 
of the Missouri; indeed it is probable that these 
are the Minnetarees of Fort de Prairie. At the 
distance of six and one-half miles the hills 
again approach the bank of the river, and the 
stones and rocks washed down from, them 
form a very bad rapid, with rocks and ripples 
more numerous and difficult than those we 
passed on the 27th and 28th. Here the same 
scene is again renewed, and we had again 
to struggle and labor to preserve our small 
craft from being lost. Near this spot are a few 
trees of ash, the first we have seen for a great 
distance and from which we named the place 
Ash Rapids. On these hills there is but little 
timber, but the salts, coal and other mineral 
appearances continue. 

“On the north we passed a precipice about 
130 feet high, under which lay scattered the 
fragments of at least 100 carcases of buffaloes, 
although the water which washed away the 
lower part of the hill must have carried off 
many of the dead. These buffaloes have been 
chased down the precipice in a way very com¬ 
mon on the Missouri, by which vast herds are 
destroyed in a moment. The mode of hunting 
is to select one of the most active and fleet 
young men, who is disguised by a buffalo skin 
around his body; the skin of the head with the 
ears and horns being fastened on his own head 
in such a way as to deceive the buffalo.- Thus 
dressed, he fixes himself at a convenient dis- 






le 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


tance between the herd of buffalo and any of 
the river precipices, which sometimes extend 
for some miles. His companions in the mean¬ 
time get in the rear and side of the herd, and 
at a given signal show themselves and advance 
toward the buffaloes. These instantly take 
the alarm, and finding the hunters beside them, 
they run toward the disguised Indian or decoy, 
who leads them on at full speed toward the 
river; when, suddenly securing himself in some 
crevice of the rock which he had previously 
fixed on, the herd is left on the brink of the 
precipice. It is then in vain for the foremost 
buffaloes to retreat or even to stop; they are 
pressed on by the hindmost rank, which, see¬ 
ing no danger but from the hunters, goad on 
those before them until the whole are precipi¬ 
tated, and the shore is strewn with dead bodies. 
Sometimes in this perilous seduction, the In¬ 
dian is himself either trodden under foot by the 
rapid movements of the buffaloes or missing 
his footing in the cliff is urged down the preci¬ 
pice by the falling herd. The Indians then se¬ 
lect as much meat as they wish; the rest is 
abandoned to the wolves, and creates a dread¬ 
ful stench. The wolves which had been feed¬ 
ing on these carcasses were very fat, and so 
gentle that one was killed with an espontoon. 

“Above this place we came-to for dinner 
at the distance of 17 miles (from camp), oppo¬ 
site a bold running river, 20 yards wide, fall¬ 
ing in on the south. From the objects we had 
just passed we called this river Slaughter river. 
Its low grounds are narrow, and contain 
scarcely any timber. Soon after landing it 
began to blow and rain, and as there was no 
prospect of getting wood or fuel farther on, 
we fixed our camp on the north, three quar¬ 
ters of a mile above Slaughter river. After 
the labors of the day, we gave each man a 
dram, and such was the effect of long absti¬ 
nence from spirituous liquors that, from the 
small quantity of half a gill of rum, some of 
the men were considerably affected, and all 


very much exhilarated. Our game today con¬ 
sisted of an elk and two beaver.” 

The next day they passed several places 
where Indians had been camped not many 
weeks previously, who were supposed to be 
moving slowly up the river. From where they 
left the Minnetarees there had been no sign of 
permanent abodes of Indians, although no 
place was exempt from occasional visits. 

The next day, May 31, after having as¬ 
cended nine miles: “We came to a high wall 
of black rock rising from the water’s edge on 
the south, above the cliffs of the river; this 
continued about a quarter of a mile, and was 
succeeded by a high plain, till three miles 
farther a second wall 200 feet high, rose 
on the same side. Three miles farther a 
wall of the same kind, about 200 feet 
high and 1,200 feet in thickness, appeared 
to the north. These hills and river cliffs ex¬ 
hibit a most extraordinary and romantic ap¬ 
pearance; they rise in most places nearly per¬ 
pendicular from the water, to the height of 
200 and 300 feet, and are formed of very 
white sandstone. In trickling down the cliffs, 
the water has worn the soft sandstone into a 
thousand grotesque figures, among which with 
a little fancy may be discerned elegant ranges 
of freestone buildings, with columns variously 
sculptured, and supporting long and elegant 
galleries, while the parapets are adorned with 
statuary; on a nearer approach they represent 
elegant ruins; columns, some with pedestals 
and capitals entire, others mutilated and pros¬ 
trated, and some rising, pyramidally, over each 
other till they terminate in a sharp point. In 
the midst of this fantastic scenery are vast 
ranges of walls, which seem the productions 
of art, so regular is the workmanship.” 

On the first of June, they dragged along 
against a contrary wind for twenty-three miles. 
During this day, chokecherries, yellow and red 
currant bushes, and wild roses and prickly pear, 
were observed. The wild roses were in bloom. 





HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


ii 


Game was very abundant through this section, 
and they spoke of the necessity of beginning 
a collection of hides for the purpose of making 
a leather boat, the same having been under 
consideration. 

The hunters, on the second, brought in six 
elk, two buffaloes, two mule deer and a bear. 
During thfe day several islands were passed, 
most of them containing some timber. After 
having traveled 18 miles, they camped on the 
south side of the Missouri, opposite the mouth 
of a large river. Here our explorers were at a 
loss. They had gathered all the information 
they could from the Indians, but this river had 
not been mentioned, so the expedition was in 
absolute ignorance as to this body of water. 
Before proceeding, these streams must be ex¬ 
plored, and accordingly, as narrated in Coues 
journals, we have the following examination: 
“Monday, the third, we crossed and fixed our 
camp at the point formed by the junction of 
this river with the Missouri. It now became an 
interesting question, which # of these two 
streams is what the Minnetarees call Ahma- 
teahza, or Missouri, which they describe as ap¬ 
proaching very near the Columbia. On our 
right decision much of the fate of the expedi¬ 
tion depends; since if, after ascending to the 
Rocky mountains or beyond them, we should 
find that the river we were following did not 
come near the Columbia, and be obliged to re¬ 
turn, we should not only lose the traveling 
season, two months of which has already 
elapsed, but probably dishearten the men so 
much as to induce them to abandon the enter¬ 
prise, or yield us a cold obedience, instead of 
the warm and zealous support which they have 
hitherto afforded us. We determined, there¬ 
fore, to examine well before we decided on our 
future course. For this purpose we dispatched 
two canoes with three men up each of the 
streams, with orders to ascertain the depth, 
width, and rapidity of the current, so as to 
judge of their comparative bodies of water. 
At the same time parties were sent out by land 


to penetrate the country, and discover from the 
rising grounds, if possible, the distant bearing 
of the two rivers; and all were directed to re¬ 
turn toward evening. 

“While they were gone we ascended to¬ 
gether the high grounds in the fork of these 
two rivers, whence we had a very extensive 
prospect of the surrounding country. On 
every side it was spread into one vast plain, 
covered with verdure, in which innumerable 
herds of buffaloes were roaming, attended by 
their enemies, the wolves; some flocks of elk 
also were seen, and the solitary antelopes were 
scattered with their young over the face of the 
plain. To the south was a range of lofty (up 
to about 6,000 feet; Highwood) mountains, 
which we supposed to be a continuation of the 
south (i. e. Judith) mountain, stretching from 
southeast to northwest and terminating ab¬ 
ruptly about southwest of us. These were 
partially covered with snow; but at a great ,dis- 
tance behind them was a more lofty ridge (Lit¬ 
tle Belt mountains), completely covered with 
snow, which seemed to follow the same direc¬ 
tion as the first, reaching from west to north¬ 
west, where their snowy tops were blended with 
the horizon. The direction of the rivers could 
not, however, be long distinguished as they 
were soon lost in the extent of the plain. On 
our return we continued our examination; the 
width of the north branch (Marias river) is 
200 yards and that of the south 372. The 
north, although narrower and with a gentler 
current, is deeper than the south branch, its 
waters are of the same whitish brown color, 
thickness, and turbidness, and run in the same 
boiling and rolling manner which has uniform¬ 
ly characterized the Missouri; the bed is com¬ 
posed of some gravel, but principally mud. 
The south fork (i. e. the Missouri itself) is 
deeper, but its waters are perfectly transparent; 
its current is rapid, but the surface smooth and 
unruffled; and its bed is composed of round and 
flat smooth stones like those of rivers issuing 
from a mountainous country. 





12 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


“The air and character of the north fork 
so much resembles those of the Missouri that 
almost all the party believe that to be the true 
course to be pursued. We, however, though 
we have given no decided opinion, are inclined 
to think otherwise; because, although this 
branch does give the color and character to 
the Missouri, yet these very circumstances in¬ 
duce an opinion that it rises in and runs through 
an open plain country, since if it came from the 
mountain it would be clearer, unless, which 
from the position of the country is improbable, 
it passed through a vast extent of low ground 
after leaving them. We thought it probable 
that it did not even penetrate the Rocky moun¬ 
tains, but drew its source from the open coun¬ 
try toward the lower and middle parts of the 
Saskaskawan, in the direction north of this 
place. What embarrasses us most is that the 
Indians, who appeared to be well acquainted 
with the geography of the country, have not 
mentioned this northern river; for ‘the river 
that scolds at all others,’ as it is termed, must 
be, according to their account, one of the rivers 
which we have passed; and if this north fork be 
the Missouri, why have they not designated 
the south branch, which they must also have 
passed in order to reach the great falls which 
they mention on the Missouri. 

“In the evening our parties returned, after 
ascending the rivers in canoes 'for some dis¬ 
tance and then continuing on foot, just leaving 
themselves time to return by night. The north 
fork was less rapid, and therefore afforded the 
easiest navigation; the shallowest water of the 
north was five feet deep, that of the south six 
feet. At two and one-half miles up the north 
fork is a small river (Teton) coming in on" 
the left or western side, 60 feet wide, with a 
bold current three feet in depth. The party 
by land had gone up the south fork in a straight 
line somewhat north of west for seven miles, 
where they discovered this little river (Teton) 
came within ioo yards of the south fork; and 
on returning down it, found it a handsome 


stream, with as much timber as either of the 
large rivers, consisting of the narrow and wide 
leaved cottonwood, some birch and box-elder, 
with an undergrowth of willows, rosebushes 
and currants. They also saw on this river a 
great number of elk and some beaver. 

“All these accounts were, however, very 
far from deciding the important question of 
our future route. We therefore determined, 
each of us, to ascend one of the rivers during 
a day and a half’s march, or further if neces¬ 
sary for our satisfaction. Our hunters killed 
two buffalo, six elk, and four deer today. 
Along the plains near the junction are to be 
found the prickly pear in great quantities; the 
chokecherry is also very abundant in the river 
low grounds, as well as the ravines along the 
river bluffs; the yellow and red currants are 
not yet ripe; the gooseberry is beginning to 
ripen, and the wild rose which covers all the 
low grounds near the river is in full bloom. 
The fatigues of the last few days have occa¬ 
sioned some falling off in the appearance of 
the men; who, not being able to wear mocca¬ 
sins, have had their feet much bruised and 
mangled in passing over the stones and rough 
ground. They are, however, perfectly cheer¬ 
ful, and have an undiminished ardor for the 
expedition.” 

On the morning-of the fourth, Captain 
Lewis and Captain Clark, set out to explore 
the two streams. Captain Lewis crossed the 
north fork and explored this river. He pro¬ 
ceeded in a northerly direction until the sixth 
when he decided to return, having convinced 
himself that this stream pursued a direction too 
far north for the route to the Pacific. He 
waited until noon to take a meridian altitude 
and then returned, arriving at the camp at the 
confluence of the two rivers on the eighth. “I 
determined to give it a name,” he said, “and in 
honor of Miss Maria Wood, called it Maria’s 
river.” 

Captain Clark explored the south branch 
for a distance of forty-five miles, and returned, 





HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


13 


arriving at camp on the evening of the sixth 
Here he remained until the arrival of Captain 
Lewis on the eighth. Captains Lewis and Clark 
compared their observations and concluded 
that the south branch must be the stream which 
leads well into the mountains.. They had been 
apprised by the Indians of the clear water of 
the river at the falls. This was true of the 
water of the south branch. It seemed to them 
that this must be the right course to take, for 
were it not the Indians would certainly have 
made mention of a stream of this size flowing 
from the south. 

The conclusions were communicated to the 
party, who to a man, was of a contrary opin¬ 
ion. However, they were willing to abide by 
the conclusions as arrived at. 

It was agreed that one of them (Lewis or 
Clark) should ascend by land and the other 
take the river. In the meantime, in order to 
lessen their burdens as much as possible, they 
determined to leave one of their periogues and 
all the baggage not absolutely needed. This 
they did, securely fastening the periogue on 
an island near the mouth of the Maria, and se¬ 
creting the baggage that could be dispensed 
with. 

On the morning of the eleventh, Lewis, 
with a party of four men, set out by land. Two 
days later they heard the sound of a fall of 
water. As they drew nearer the sound became 
too tremendous to be anything else than the 
water pouring over the Great Falls of the 
Missouri. 

Captain Lewis describes the river at this 
point in a very graphic way as follows: “The 
river immediately at this cascade is 300 yards 
wide, and is pressed in by a perpendicular cliff 
on the left, which rises to about 100 feet and 
extends up the stream for a mile; on the 
right the bluff is also perpendicular for 300 
yards above the falls. For 9° or 100 y ar< is 
from the left cliff, the water falls in one smooth 
even sheet, over a precipice of at least 80 feet. 
The remaining part of the river precipitates 


itself with a more rapid current, but being re¬ 
ceived as it falls by the irregular and project¬ 
ing rocks below, forms a splendid prospect of 
perfectly white foam, 200 yards in length and 
80 in perpendicular elevation. This spray is 
dissipated into a thousand shapes, sometimes 
flying up in columns 15 or 20 feet, which are 
then oppressed by larger masses of white foam, 
on all which the sun impresses the brightest 
colors of the rainbow. As it rises from the 
fall it beats with fury against a ledge of rock 
which extends across the river at 150 yards 
from the precipice. From the perpendicular 
cliff on the north, to the distance of 120 yards, 
the rocks rise only a few feet above the water; 
when the river is high the stream finds a chan¬ 
nel across them 40 yards wide and near the 
higher parts of the ledge, which then rise about 
20 feet and terminate abruptly within 80 or 90 
yards of the southern shore. Between them 
and the perpendicular cliff on the south the 
whole body of water runs with great swiftness. 
A few small cedars grow near this ridge of 
rocks, which serves as a barrier to defend a 
small plain of about three acres, shaded with 
cottonwood, at-the lower extremity of which 
is a grove of the same tree, where are several 
Indians’ cabins of sticks; below the point of 
them the river is divided by a large rock, sev¬ 
eral feet above the surface of the water, and ex¬ 
tending down the stream for twenty yards. At 
the distance of 300 yards from the same ridge 
is a second abutment of solid perpendicular 
rock about 60 feet high, projecting at right 
angles from the small plain on the north for 
134 yards into the river. After leaving this, 
the Missouri again spreads itself to its usual 
distance of 300 yards, though with more than 
its ordinary rapidity.” 

Several days were spent in working their 
way up the succession of falls. The most re¬ 
markable of these they called Crooked Falls. 
While viewing this romantic fall, Captain 
Lewis heard a loud roar from above them. 
Crossing over the point, which lay between 






14 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


them and the noise of rushing water, they came 
in sight of one of nature’s grandest scenes. 
Captain Clark described it in the following 
picturesque language: “The whole of the Mis¬ 
souri is stopped by one shelving rock, which, 
without a single niche, and with an edge as 
straight and regular as if formed by art, 
stretches itself from one side of the river to the 
other for at least a quarter of a mile. Over 
this the water precipitates itself in an even, 
uninterrupted sheet, to the perpendicular depth 
of fifty feet, whence dashing against the rocky 
bottom, it rushes rapidly down, leaving behind 
it a spray of the purest foam across the river.” 

The journal tells us that “Just below the 
falls is a little island in the middle of the river, 
well covered with timber. Here on a cotton¬ 
wood tree an eagle had fixed her nest, and 
seemed the undisputed mistress of the spot, to 
contest which dominion, neither man nor beast 
would venture across the gulfs that surround 
it.” The story of the eagle’s nest had been 
related to the party by the Indians at a much 
earlier date and this helped to impress upon 
their minds the fact that they could not be mis¬ 
taken in the course. 

After Captain Lewis departed Captain 
Clark remained in the camp one day to secrete 
the articles which could be dispensed with, and 
on the 12th started up the river. Navigation 
was slow and difficult, due to the rapidity of the 
current. On the 13th they reached the spot 
where Captain Clark had encamped on the 
fourth. At this place they were met by one of 
Lewis’s men who came with the welcome intel¬ 
ligence that Lewis had discovered the falls. By 
noon of the 16th they had approached within 
five miles of the falls, having crossed one con¬ 
siderable rapids in the morning. Lewis joined 
them here, having come down from the falls, 
and they discussed the most feasible method of 
crossing over the falls. It was decided that 
Clark make a tour of the country up the river 
and locate a route by which the baggage could 
be most easily transported. After the most 


feasible route had been determined upon the 
men were put to work transferring it to where 
the river was navigable above the falls, a dis¬ 
tance of some seventeen miles. They again 
deposited part of the baggage before beginning 
the trip around the falls. 

Anticipating the need of a light boat that 
could be easily carried where the stream was 
not navigable, the explorers brought with them 
an iron frame from which to construct a boat. 
Skins of buffalo and elk were stretched over 
this skeleton, making it the lightest possible. 
“The boat was complete^” says the journal, 
“except what is in fact the most difficult part, 
the making her seams secure.” 

To use the words of the journal, “We had 
intended to dispatch a canoe with part of our 
men to the United States early this spring; but 
not having yet seen the Snake Indians, or 
knowing whether to calculate on their friend¬ 
ship or enmity, we had decided not to weaken 
our party which is already scarcely sufficient 
to repel any hostility. We were afraid, too, 
that such a measure might dishearten those 
who remained; as we have never suggested to 
them, they are all perfectly and enthusiastically 
attached to the enterprise, and willing to 
encounter any danger to insure its success.” 

On the fifth the boat was elevated so that a 
fire could be kindled under it, in order that it 
might be dried more rapidly. A composition of 
powdered charcoal with beeswax and buffalo- 
tallow was used to prevent it from leaking. 
The journal says: “Besides the want of tar, 
we have been unlucky in sewing the skins with 
a needle which had sharp edges instead of a 
point merely. Although a long thong was 
used in order to fill the holes, yet it shrinks in 
drying and leaves them open, so that we fear 
the boat will leak.” A few days later we read: 
“The boat having now become sufficiently dry, 
we gave her a coat of the composition, which 
after a proper interval was repeated, and the 
next morning she was launched into the water, 





HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


15 


and swam perfectly well. The seats then were 
fixed and the oars fitted; but after we had 
loaded her, as well as the canoes, and were on 
the point of setting out, a violent wind caused 
the waves to wet the baggage, so that we were 
forced to unload the boats. The wind con¬ 
tinued high until evening, when to our great 
disappointment we discovered that nearly all 
the composition had separated from the skins 
and left the seams perfectly exposed; so that 
the boat now leaked very much. To repair this 
misfortune without pitch is impossible, and as 
none of that article is to be procured, we there¬ 
fore, however reluctantly, are obliged to aban-. 
don her, after having so much labor in the con¬ 
struction.” 

Now that the boat had proved a failure, 
they must construct others to take its place. 
The timber was very scarce throughout the 
upper course of the river—timber large enough 
for their purpose. The country was searched 
for trees large enough and at about eight miles 
distant they found two cottonwoods, which 
when fallen, did not prove to be very well 
suited for the purpose, but as nothing better 
was attainable they were used. 

These boats being constructed, the party 
continued on to the three forks of the river, 
reaching there in ten days. During this time 
the journal makes mention of observing many 
wild roses, sage, box-elder, service berries, 
chokecherries, black, yellow, red and purple 
currants, wild onions, garlic, abundance of sun 
flowers, aspen, and a few species of trees, but 
none of large dimensions; elk, deer, otter, black 
snakes, beaver, sand hill cranes, pheasants, 
wild geese and ducks, a few bear and buffalo. 
The buffalo were not so numerous as at points 
down the river, neither were other game 
animals found in such great numbers. 

A few miles distant from the falls a large 
Indian lodge was passed which evidently had 
been designed as a great council fire, but in 
construction it differed from any the party had 
seen further down the river. It was built in 


the form of a circle, 216 feet in circumference 
at its base. It was composed of 16 cottonwood 
poles the thickness of a man’s body and about 
fifty feet long, which converged to a point and 
were tied together with withes of willow brush. 
On the 16th 40 little booths were passed. The 
journal says: “These seemed to have been 
deserted about ten days, and as we supposed by 
the Shoshonees or Snake Indians, whom we 
hoped soon to meet, as they appeared, from 
their tracks, to have a number of horses with 
them.” 

During the same day they passed on the 
left side of the river a frame of a large lodge, 
which was 60 feet in diameter, around which 
was the remains of 80 leather lodges, all of 
which seemed to have been built during the last 
fall. On the 18th the journal says: “Being 
very anxious to meet with the Shoshonees or 
Snake Indians for the purpose of obtaining the 
necessary information of our route, as well as 
to procure horses, it was thought best for one 
of us to go forward with a small party and 
endeavor to discover them, before the daily 
discharge of our guns, which is necessary for 
our subsistence, should give them notice of our 
approach. If by accident they hear us they 
will most likely retreat to the mountains, mis¬ 
taking us for their enemiies, who usually 
attack them on this side.” 

Accordingly Captain Clark with three men 
followed the course of the river on the north 
bank until well in the afternoon, when he cross¬ 
ed over a mountain to the river beyond, thus 
cutting off several miles. In so doing he dis¬ 
covered an Indian trail, which he followed. 

The Gates of the Rockies, a remarkable 
canyon of the Missouri, results from the con¬ 
finement of the Missouri by a spur of the Big 
Belt mountains, and is described by Captain 
Lewis in the following manner: 

A mile and a half 'beyond this creek (now the Cot¬ 
tonwood), the rocks approach the river on both sides, 
forming a most sublime and extraordinary spectacle. 
For five and three-quarter miles these rocks rise per- 





i6 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


pendicular from the water's edge, to the height of 
nearly 1,200 feet. They are composed of a black gran¬ 
ite near the base, but from their lighter color above, 
and from the fragments, we suppose the upper part to 
be flint, of a yellowish brown or flint color. Nothing 
can be imagined more tremendous than the frowning 
darkness of these rocks, which project over the river 
and menace us with destruction. The river, 150 yards 
in width, seems to have forced its channel down this 
solid mass; but so reluctantly has the rock given away 
that, during the whole distance, the water is very deep 
even at the edges, and for the first three miles there is 
not a spot, except one of a few yards, in which a man 
could stand between the water and the towering per¬ 
pendicular of the mountain. The convulsion of the pas¬ 
sage must have been terrible, since at its outlet are 

vast columns of rock torn from the mountain, which 

are strewn on both sides of the river—the trophies, as 
it were, of a victory. Several fine springs burst out 
from the chasms of the rocks, and contribute to in¬ 
crease the river, which has now a strong current; but 
very fortunately we are enabled to overcome it with 
our oars, since it would be impossible to use either 
the cord or the pole. We were obliged to go on some 
time after dark, not being able to find a spot large 

enough to camp on; but at length about two miles 

above a small island in the middle of the river, we met 
with a spot on the left side, where we procured plenty 
of light wood and pitch pine. This extraordinary range 
of rocks we called the Gates of the Rocky mountains. 

t 

Continuing the account of the journey, the 
journal says: 

“At a mile from the Gates a large creek 
comes clown from the mountains and empties 
behind an island in the middle of a bend to 
the west. To this stream, which is 15-yards 
wide, we gave the name of Pott’s creek, after 
John Potts, one of our men. 

“Up this valley about ten miles we discov¬ 
ered a great smoke, as if the whole country had 
been set on fire; but were at a loss to decide 
whether it had been done accidentally by Cap¬ 
tain Clark’s party, or by the Indians as a sig¬ 
nal on their observing us. We afterward 
learned that this was the fact; for they had 
heard a gun fired by one of Captain Clark’s 
men, and believing that their enemies were ap¬ 
proaching, had fled into the mountains, first 
setting fire to the plains as a warning to their 
countrymen.” 

On July 22 after the party had passed sev¬ 


eral small islands and a creek that flowed from 
their right as they ascended, we read from the 
journal as follows: “We were delighted to 
find that the Indian woman recognized the 
country; she tells us that to this creek her coun¬ 
trymen make excursions to procure white paint 
on its banks, and we therefore call it White- 
earth creek. She says also that the Three Forks 
of the Missouri are at no great distance—a 
piece of intelligence that has cheered us all, as 
we hoped soon to reach the head of that river.” 

On Thursday, July 25, Captain Clark ar¬ 
rived at the Three Forks of the Missouri, the 
Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin. After exam¬ 
ining the three rivers he found that the right 
branch contained the most water, and that it 
bore further to the west. Having this knowl¬ 
edge he determined to ascend it. He left a 
note informing Captain Lewis of his intention, 
and then ascended that stream, proceeding up 
the stream to his right. They camped for the 
night, having cut off 25 miles. The next morn¬ 
ing the party, except Charbineau and one of 
the men left with him, the former being una¬ 
ble to accompany them, advanced up the river 
and to the top of a mountain where he had a 
splendid view of the surrounding country. No 
signs of the Indians were to be seen. They 
returned to the camp where they left Charbi¬ 
neau. Captain Clark having decided to cross 
over to the Madison and examine it, they 
crossed over to the east side of the Jefferson 
and then to a branch of it that empties into it 
a few miles above the Three Forks. In the 
meantime, while crossing the Jefferson Charbi¬ 
neau was swept off his feet, and being unable 
to swim, would have lost his life had not Clark 
rescued him. They camped for the night about 
four miles distant from their last encamp¬ 
ment. Captain Clark was well worn out and 
during the night had quite a fever. The next 
day, however, he was able to resume his route 
for eight miles to the middle branch, the Madi¬ 
son. From here he proceeded down the stream 
to the forks and joined Lewis and his party. 






HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


During this time Captain Lewis had ad¬ 
vanced to the confluence of these rivers and 
made some explorations. 

After speaking of the unknown country, of 
not having seen the Indians, of the fear that 
game would be scarce, of the possibility of not 
finding a passage across the. mountains that 
would lead to the Columbia, the journal con¬ 
tinues : “Our consolation is that this south¬ 
west branch can scarcely head with any other 
river than the Columbia; and that if any nation 
of Indians can live in the mountains we are 
able to endure as much as they can; and have 
even better means of procuring subsistence.” 

On the 30th of July the canoes were loaded, 
and they moved forward from the Three Forks 
of the Missouri up the Jefferson river. Near 
fioon they reached the spot where the Bird- 
woman had been made a prisoner. Her story 
was that the men being too few to contend 
with the Minnetarees, mounted their horses 
and fled as soon as the attack began. The 
women and children dispersed, and Sacajawea, 
as she was crossing a shoal place, was over¬ 
taken in the middle of the river by her pursuers. 

Captain Clark being unwell, Lewis took the 
advance. August the fourth he reached the 
mouth of a river which flows from the south¬ 
west, the Wisdom. This stream is now known 
as the Big Hole, or Wisdom, river. The party 
marched up this stream to a point near where 
it issues from the mountains. Here they went 
into camp for the night. In the morning Lewis 
and Drewyer continued up the river to a nar¬ 
row canyon, from which place they ascended a 
mountain. From this eminence they were in 
full view of the valleys of both the Jefferson 
and Wisdom. 

In the meantime, before leaving the mouth 
of the Wisdom, Lewis left a note for Clark, 
instructing him to ascend the Jefferson. Clark 
reached the confluence of these streams Au¬ 
gust 6th, “but unluckily Captain Lewis’s note 
had been left on the green pole which the 
beaver had cut down and carried off with the 


17 


note.” Clark was now at a loss to know which 
branch to ascend; but decided on the right, 
which stream he ascended for several miles, 
until he met one of the hunters of Lewis’s party, 
who was coming down the river, who apprised 
him of his mistake. Clark returned to the 
forks of the river. 

Before Clark reached the Jefferson he was 
overtaken by Captain Lewis, who accompanied 
him down the stream. Having reached the 
confluence of the rivers, they went into camp 
for the night, intending to ascend the Jefferson 
in the morning. 

Immediately after breakfast in the morn¬ 
ing, August the 9th, Captain Lewis took three 
men, “and set out with a resolution to meet 
some nation of Indians before they returned, 
however long they might be separated from the 
party.” He did not follow the course of the 
river, but took his course across the country. 
By the next evening they had come to a beauti¬ 
ful cove, which he called Shoshone cove. They' 
spent the night here and early the next morn¬ 
ing they started up the river. Scarcely had 
they advanced five miles when Captain Lewis 
perceived a man on horseback. He was at a 
distance of two miles and was approaching 
them. When within one mile distance of Cap¬ 
tain Lewis he observed him and suddenly 
stopped. Captain Lewis employed the signs of 
friendship most common among Indian tribes 
and at the same time calling to him, repeating 
the words, “tabba bone,” which means in the 
Shoshonean language, white man. But the In¬ 
dian did not approach any nearer, but remained 
in the place where he had stopped. Lewis 
advanced towards him until he had approached 
within one hundred yards, when he “suddenly 
turned his horse, and giving him the whip, 
leaped across the creek and disappeared in an 
instant among the willow bushes. With him 
vanished all hopes which the sight of him in¬ 
spired, of a friendly introduction to his coun¬ 
trymen.” 

On the morning of the 12th of August they 





i8 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


continued up the main stream on their right. 
The stream gradually became smaller, till, after 
going two miles, it had so greatly diminished 
that one of the men in a fit of enthusiasm, with 
one foot on each side of the river, thanked God 
that he had lived to bestride the Missouri. They 
had now reached the hidden source of the river, 
which had never yet been seen by civilized 
man. They then crossed the continental di¬ 
vide and “followed a descent much steeper than 
that on the eastern side, and at a distance of 
three-quarters of a mile reached a handsome, 
bold creek of cold, clear water, running to the 
westward. They' stopped to taste for the first 
time the waters of the Columbia; and after a 
few minutes followed the road across the steep 
hills and low hollows, till they reached a spring 
on the side of the mountain.” 

The next day they discovered two women, 
a man, and some dogs. They were at the 
distance of a mile and fled at the approach of 
the party. Continuing their journey the party 
had not gone more than a mile when they saw 
three more Indian women. Lewis and his 
party were not' observed until within thirty 
paces of them. “One of them, a young woman, 
immediately took flight, the other two, an eld¬ 
erly woman and a little girl, seeing they were 
too near for them to escape, sat on the ground, 
and holding down their heads seemed as if re¬ 
conciled to the death which they supposed 
awaited them.” Lewis repeated to them the 
words “tabba bone” and at the same time strip¬ 
ping up his shirt sleeves to prove that he was a 
white man. This relieved them from their 
alarm. Lewis informed them by signs that he 
desired to go to their camp to see the chiefs. 
While being directed in the direction of the 
camp, they were met by sixty warriors, all 
mounted. The women, who had gone in ad¬ 
vance, informed the warriors that they were 
white men; and when they approached each 
other, they were given a warm welcome. Cap¬ 
tain Lewis lighted a pipe and offered it to the 


Indians, who had now seated themselves in a 
circle around the party. When the smoking 
was concluded, the warriors and the party 
moved on to the camp of the Indians, which 
was four miles distant. Here Lewis informed 
them of his mission. After spending some time 
time with the chiefs he walked down to the 
Lemhi river. “The chief informed him that this 
stream discharged at a distance of a half day’s 
walk, into another (Salmon river) of twice 
its size—and that it was rocky, rapid, and so 
closely confined between mountains that it was 
impossible to pass down it by land or water 
to the great lake (Pacific ocean) where, as 
he had understood, the white man lived.” 

Captain Lewis, having secured the good 
will of Cameahwait, the chief, informed him of 
his party at the forks of the Jefferson, and en¬ 
deavored to engage him and a number of his 
men to accompany him, and assured them they 
should be rewarded for their trouble. Many 
of them were skeptical, fearing that they might 
be enemies. After the chief and a few of the 
men started, nearly all the warriors followed. 
After reaching the main party they were given 
many little trinkets and clothing. Here 
Sacajawea, while acting as interpreter, recog¬ 
nized, in the person of Cameahwait, her broth¬ 
er. “She instantly jumped up, and ran and em¬ 
braced him, throwing over him her blanket 
and weeping profusely,” in the language of the 
explorers. 

Ten horses were purchased and paid for in 
merchandise. At noon August 24, they were 
all ready and started for the Shoshone camp. 
The Indians were paid to assist in transporting 
the baggage across the mountains to the other 
side. 

The Indians informed them that the river 
was very rapid and rough, and that it was im¬ 
possible to descend it. The explorers, how¬ 
ever, advanced down the river for about thirty 
miles, only to learn that it would be impossible 
to continue further. When with the Shoshones 







HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


19 


at the Lemhi camp, they secured the services 
of an old Indian guide, which were found to 
be very valuable to them. 

After a few days observation, they decided 
to advance farther to the north. On the fourth 
of September they crossed the Bitter Root 
mountains and followed down a stream for 
three miles to where it joined with a larger 
stream, the Ross fork. In the valley at the 
junction of the streams they found an Indian 
encampment. These were the Ootloshoots, or 
Flatheads. They numbered thirty-three lodges, 
or 400 souls, eighty of which were men. They 
purchased from the Indians a number of horses, 
which, with the ones brought along with them 
from the Shoshones, made fifty in all. 

After leaving the Indian village, they con¬ 
tinued in a northerly course down the Bitter 
Root valley, reaching Travelers-rest creek, 
now the Lolo, September 9th, where they re¬ 
mained two days. On the afternoon of the 
eleventh, the expedition left Travelers-rest, 
turning to the west, and advanced up the 
stream—which country was found to be very 
rough and hard to travel over. 

The Indians had informed them of the 
scarcity of game when near the top of the 
mountains and on the west side, which state¬ 
ments they found to be true. The Indians of 
this region depended for sustenance, to a great 
extent, on berries and various roots. We read 
from Gass’s journal of the twelfth, that after 
“having traveled two miles we reached the 
mountains which are very steep; but the road 
over them very good, as it is traveled much by 
the natives, who come across to the Flathead 
river to gather cherries and berries.” 

During the two days following the depart¬ 
ure of the party from Travelers-rest the moun¬ 
tains were crossed and the descent of the west¬ 
ern slope was made. It is not within our pro¬ 
vince to here relate the interesting story of the 
trip from this point to the Pacific ocean. We 
have told in detail of the trip across the great 
state of Montana. From the point the Lewis 


and Clark party traveled in a general western 
direction to the Clearwater, to the Snake, tJ 
the Columbia, to the Pacific ocean. Wintering 
on the coast, they started back early in the 
spring of 1806, and in June we find them again 
in the Bitter Root mountains. 

They arrived back at their old camp on 
Travelers-rest creek June 30, 1806, without the 
loss of a man. From the time the party started 
out until this time they had never been separ¬ 
ated for any great length of time. Now they 
were to be separated, and we let the journal 
tell of their plans and separation. 

We now formed the following plan of operations: 
Captain Lewis, with nine men, is to pursue the most 
direct route to the falls of the Missouri, where three 
of his party are to be left to prepare carriages for 
transporting the baggage and canoes across the portage. 
With the remaining six he will ascend Marias river to 
explore the country, ascertain whether any branch of 
it reaches as far north as the latitude 50 degrees, after 
which he descends the river to its mouth. The rest 
of the party will accompany Captain Clark to the head 
of Jefferson river, which Sergeant Ordway and a party 
of nine men will descend with the canoes and other 
articles deposited there. Captain Clark’s party, which 
will then be reduced to ten men (besides himself 
and Sacajawea), will proceed to the Yellowstone at its 
nearest approach to the three forks of the Missouri. 
There he will build canoes and go down that river with 
seven men of his party, and wait at its mouth till the 
rest of the party joins him. Sergeant Pryor with two 
others will then take the horses by land to the Mandans. 

On July third, we read from the journal 
that, “All preparations being completed, we 
saddled our horses, and the two parties who had 
been so long companions, now separated with 
an anxious hope of soon meeting, after each 
had accomplished the purpose of his destina¬ 
tion.” 

Captain Lewis followed down the left bank 
of Clark’s river to its junction with the “east¬ 
ern branch.” This stream is now known as 
Hellgate river. A short distance below this 
branch they constructed rafts and crossed over to 
the other side, the horses swimming the river. 
Lewis then proceeded up the Hellgate to the 
mouth of the Cokalahishkit (now Big Black- 




20 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


foot) river, advanced up it eight miles and 
camped for the night. This was the trail taken 
by the Indians to the buffalo country. By the 
seventh they had reached the divide. We quote 
the record of this day from the journal of Gass: 
“Having gone about five miles, we crossed the 
main branch of the river, which comes in from 
the north, and up which the road goes five 
miles further and then takes over a hill towards 
the east. On the top of this hill there are two 
beautiful ponds, of about three acres in size. 
We passed over the ridge and struck a small 
stream, which we at first thought was of the 
headwaters of the Missouri, but found it was 
not. Here we halted for dinner, and after stay¬ 
ing three hours, proceeded on four miles up 
the branch, when we came to the dividing 
ridge between the waters of the Mis¬ 
souri and the Columbia, passed over the 
ridge and came to a fine spring, the waters of 
which run into the Missouri. We then kept 
down this stream or branch about a mile; then 
turned a north course along the side of the di¬ 
viding ridge about eight miles, passing a num¬ 
ber of small streams or branches, and at nine 
o’clock at night encamped after coming thirty- 
two miles.” 

Here they abandoned the trail and pro¬ 
ceeded north to the Medicine, or Sun, river, 
following the course of this stream to its 
mouth, arriving there July eleventh. After 
spending a few days here Lewis departed on 
the exploration to the headwaters of the Marias 
river. He took with him three men, leaving 
the others of the party to construct boats and 
bring the baggage they had deposited on the 
west bound trip, to the mouth of the Marias 
river where they had been instructed to wait 
his arrival. They crossed from the great falls 
to the Teton river. Here they noticed the 
fresh tracks of a bleeding buffalo, which pre¬ 
sumably had been injured by Indians. This 
created a feeling of uneasiness, for the Minne- 
tarees, a very treacherous tribe, were supposed 
to be in this country. This scare proved to be 


a false alarm and the next day they continued 
their journey to the Marias river, crossing six 
miles above the point where Lewis had as¬ 
cended the previous fall. After having com¬ 
pleted their explorations of the river, and on 
their return, they met with a band of Indians 
who proved to be Minnetarees. They all 
camped together for the night. During the 
early morning the Indians stole some of their 
guns and part of their horses. This resulted 
in one of the Indians being stabbed by one of 
the party, and in Captain Lewis shooting one 
who was making away with the horses. After 
being shot he took aim at Captain Lewis, the 
ball passing within a few inches of his head. 

During the evening they were apprised of 
the fact that to the west and north, at a dis¬ 
tance of some 30 miles, a large band of Indians 
were camped. Fearing that the news would be 
carried to them, and that the whole tribe would 
pursue them, they traveled with the utmost 
speed to the Missouri. They did not go direct 
to the mouth of the' Marias, but kept to the 
west, where the country was not so broken, 
and came to the Missouri above the mouth of 
the Marias. Here they met the party coming 
down the river. The horses were turned loose 
and the party embarked in the boats, and 
hastened to the mouth of the Marias. After 
loading their boats with the baggage, deposited 
the year previous, they, on July 28, embarked 
down the river, reaching the junction of the 
Missouri and Yellowstone on August 7. Here 
they found a note left by Clark, showing that 
he had passed this point several days previous, 
and had advanced down the river and would 
wait at some convenient place. 

For convenience we have followed Captain 
Lewis from Travelers-rest creek to the mouth 
of the Yellowstone. Now we return to this 
same place and trace Clark’s party as they 
journey across to the Yellowstone and down its 
course to its confluence with the Missouri. 

On the same day, July 3, that Lewis set 
out in an easterly direction, Captain Clark with 




HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


21 


the remainder of the party, started up the 
river, crossed the mountains and through Ross’ 
hole and camped on Camp creek. They ad¬ 
vanced up the creek three miles, leaving to the 
right the trail by which they had crossed the 
mountains the fall before, “and pursued the 
road taken by the Ootloshoots, up a gentle 
ascent to the dividing mountains which separ¬ 
ates the waters of the middle fork of Clark’s 
river from those of the Wisdom and Lewis 
rivers.” Turning eastward they were once 
more on the headwaters of the Wisdom river. 
The course from here was in a southeasterly 
direction across the divide between the Wis¬ 
dom and the Jefferson rivers, and down Grass¬ 
hopper creek to the Jefferson. 

On July io the party began their journey 
down the Jefferson. The boats were now load¬ 
ed, and Captain Clark divided his men into 
two bands, one to descend the river with the 
baggage, while he, with the other, proceeded' 
on horseback to the Rochejaune. 

The two divisions reached the three forks 
at about the same time, July 13. The same day. 
Ordway and nine men, with six boats, sailed 
down the Missouri to the great falls, where he 
was to meet Lewis and party, which was suc¬ 
cessfully accomplished. Captain Clark at the 
same time struck out in an easterly direction 
with eleven men and Sacajawea and her child. 
Here Sacajawea was found to be of great 
value, as she had been over the country when a 
child and knew just where to direct the party. 

On the 15th of July they crossed the divide 
between the Gallatin and Yellowstone rivers, 
and on descending the ridge they discovered 
a stream flowing into the Yellowstone, which 
course they pursued. Nine miles from the top 
of the ridge they reached the Yellowstone itself, 
about a mile and a half below where it issues 
from the Rocky mountains. It now appeared 


that the communication between the two rivers 
was short and easy. From the head of the 
Missouri at its three forks to this place is a dis¬ 
tance of 48 miles, the greater part of which is 
through a level plain; indeed, from the forks of 
the eastern branch of the Gallatin river (near 
Bozeman), which is there navigable for small 
canoes, to this part of the Yellowstone, the dis¬ 
tance is no more than 18 miles, with an excel¬ 
lent road over a high, dry country, with hills 
of inconsiderable height and no difficulty in 
passing. 

They immediately descended the river and 
on July 18, “a smoke was descried to the 
south-southeast, towards the termination of the 
Rocky mountains, intended most probably as a 
signal by the Crow Indians.” On the follow¬ 
ing day, another or the same smoke was seen 
“on the highlands on the opposite side of the 
river.” During the same day, “Captain Clark 
determined to make two canoes which, being 
lashed together, might be sufficient to convey 
the party down the river, while a few men 
might lead the horses to the Mandan nation.” 

On the 22nd, “at noon the two canoes were 
finished. They' are 28 feet long, 16 or 18 
inches deep, and from 16 to 24 inches wide, 
and being lashed together, everything was pre¬ 
pared for setting out tomorrow.” The boats 
having been completed, they, on the 24th, pro¬ 
ceeded down the river. The trip down the 
river was uneventful, the journal for these days 
simply mentioning the character of the country, 
animals, and birds that were found. 

About 2 o’clock on August the 23rd, they 
reached the junction of the Yellowstone with 
the Missouri, and formed a camp at the same 
place where they hacl camped on the 26th of 
April, 1805. On the 23rd of September, at 
12 o’clock, noon, they reached St. Louis, their 
starting point. 




CHAPTER 111 


THE INDIAN WARS. 


During the whole of Montana’s early his¬ 
tory Indian troubles of a more or less serious 
nature were almost constantly annoying the 
white settlers. It would be impossible for us, 
in a work of this kind, to treat of all the many 
little wars and skirmishes which took place be¬ 
tween the white settlers and volunteers and the 
red men. We shall confine ourselves to the 
two greatest events—the Custer battle of 1876 
and the Nez Perce war of the year following, 

Of the many battles fought with the In¬ 
dians none proved more disastrous than the 
battle of the Little Big Horn, where Gen. Cus¬ 
ter and all his command were surrounded by 
the hostile Indians and killed. This battle is 
remarkable in so far that not one escaped to 
relate the story. The simple fact that all per¬ 
ished upon the battle field, not one being alive 
when the other columns came up the third day 
after the battle, has made an accurate descrip¬ 
tion of the battle impossible; but the move¬ 
ments as traced by Colonel Reno together with 
the information gathered from the Indians en¬ 
gaged in the battle has brought to light enough 
information that writers are enabled to give 
almost an accurate statement of the posi¬ 
tions of the different troops and the methods 
pursued by the Indians and a general descrip¬ 
tion of the battle. 

The Sioux Indians, after having relin¬ 
quished their rights in the state of Minnesota, 
gradually drifted westward into the Dakotas 
and made the Black Hills their stronghold. In 
the early seventies gold was discovered in the 
Black Hills. Many of the gold seekers were 
killed and commerce and travel was impeded. 
All efforts on the part of the government to 
pacify the Indians having failed, force was sent 
to subdue them. 


The Indians causing the trouble were 
known as the hostiles. The hostiles were made 
up of Indians from the various agencies who 
were not content to stay in the territory as¬ 
signed them. Chief among these was Sitting 
Bull. Other prominent chiefs were Crazy 
Horse, Gall, Black Moon, and Low Dog. In 
reality there was no chosen leader of these 
various tribes, but Sitting Bull was looked up 
to by all bands as their leader and his councils 
were heeded. 

Sitting Bull first became famous in the 
Sully and Sibley expeditions of 1863 and 1864. 
He engaged Sully north of the Black Hills and 
defeated him, forcing him through the Bad 
Lands beyond the Powder river. 

Order had gone forth to all the hostile In¬ 
dians that they should be on their agencies by 
January 31, 1876, and if not, that armed force 
would be sent to subdue them. 

Lieutenant General Sheridan conducted all 
directions. The headquarters of General Sher¬ 
idan was in Chicago. He sent orders to Gen¬ 
eral Crook, who was located at Fort Fetter- 
man, to march against Crazy Horse and di¬ 
rected Terry to send a mounted column under 
General George A. Custer to move against Sit¬ 
ting Bull. Crazy Horse was located on Pow¬ 
der river in Wyoming and Sitting Bull on the 
Little Missouri in Dakota. Sheridan divided 
the forces into three columns; one under Gen¬ 
eral Crook, consisting of fifteen companies of 
cavalry and five companies of infantry (1,049 
men), who was located at Fort Fetterman, was 
ordered to march north May 29; one column 
under General Terry, comprising the seventh 
cavalry, consisting of twelve companies (600 
men), and six companies of infantry, three of 
which were to be sent on the supply steamer, a 





HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


23 


battery of Gatling guns, and forty Indian 
scouts, was to move westward from Fort Abra¬ 
ham Lincoln in Dakota May 17; a third under 
General Gibbon, consisting of four companies 
of cavalry and six companies of infantry (in all 
450 men), was to march from Fort Ellis, in 
Montana, eastward and meet General Terry 
on the Yellowstone river June 21. 

Gibbon was under the command of Terry, 
but Crook and Terry were independent of each 
other. Knowing that Sitting Bull was south 
of the Yellowstone, General Sheridan’s object 
was to have the three forces each coming in a 
different direction, surround Sitting Bull and 
Crazy Horse, thus to prevent their escape. 

According to orders General Custer moved 
westward to the Little Missouri river. He 
divided his command into three columns, the 
right wing commanded by Major Marcus Reno j 
the left by Captain T. W. Benteen, and Custer 
himself having charge of the center column. 
On the 30th of May, Custer was sent with four 
troops to scout up the Little Missouri for a dis¬ 
tance of twenty miles and to return the same 
day. He did not find any sign of the Indians. 
From the Little Missouri the command passed 
over to the Powder river. Here Terry left Cus¬ 
ter and went to the Yellowstone to communi¬ 
cate with the supply steamer, and thence up the 
Yellowstone to communicate with General Gib¬ 
bon. Upon returning he ordered Reno to scout 
up the Powder river, taking with him twelve 
days’ rations. If he found no sign of the In¬ 
dians he was to cross over to the Tongue river, 
scout up that stream and return and join the 
regiment at the mouth of Tongue river by the 
time his supplies were exhausted. Custer 
marched across country to the mouth of the 
Tongue river, remaining there until the 19th 
of June, awaiting news from Reno. On the 
19th of June Reno arrived and reported having 
found a trail that led up the Rosebud river. 
They first discovered the trail on the Tongue 
river, followed it over to the Rosebud, and up 
this stream for forty miles. 


In the meantime General Crook had 
marched north and met Crazy Horse and was 
badly defeated on the 17th of June. Neithei 
officer knew of the nearness of the other al¬ 
though they were less than forty miles apart 
when Reno returned. 

Gibbon, Terry and Custer held a conference 
and it was decided that Custer should follow 
the trail reported by Reno. On the morning 
of the 23rd Custer with his command, consist¬ 
ing of twelve companies of the seventh cavalry, 
moved across to the Rosebud and up that 
stream to follow the trail reported by Reno. 
After Reno’s report Terry concluded that the 
Indians must be camped somewhere in the 
valley of the Little Big Horn, and by sending 
the two forces, one under Custer to attack from 
the south, one under Gibbon to attack from the 
north, that if they were in the Little Big Horn 
valley, there would be no possible chance of 
escape. During the 23rd and 24th several 
traces of the Indians were discovered on the 
Rosebud river. The scouts located the trail of 
the Indians over the hill on the afternoon of the 
24th, so Custer decided to march to the top of 
the hill that night that he might be able to lo¬ 
cate the village in the morning if the hostiles 
should be camped in the valley beyond. Dur¬ 
ing the early morning the scouts brought tid¬ 
ings that the village was about twelve miles 
distant in the valley. During the middle of 
the day they marched to the divide. The ad¬ 
vance column under Major Reno consisted of 
troop “M,” Capt. French; troop “H,” Capt. 
Maylan and Lieut. DeRudio; troop “G,” 
Lieuts. McIntosh and Wallace; Indian scouts 
under Varnum and Hara, and interpreter Gir¬ 
ard; Lieut. Hodgson acting adjutant, and Doc¬ 
tors DeWolf and Porter, medical officers. 
Custer’s battalion was composed of troop “I,” 
Captain Keough and Lieutenant Porter; troop 
“F,” Captain Yates and Lieutenant Reily; 
troop “C,” Captain Custer and Lieutenant 
Harrington; troop “E,” Lieutenants Smith and 
Sturgis; troop “L,” Lieutenants Calhoun and 




24 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


Crittendon; Lieutenant Cook adjutant and Dr. 
Lord medical officer. Captain Benteen’s col¬ 
umn consisted of troop “H,” Captain Benteen 
and Lieutenant Gibson; troop “D,” Captain 
Weir and Lieutenant Edgerly; troop “K,” 
Lieutenant Godfrey. The pack train was un¬ 
der the escort of troop “D,” Captain Mc- 
Dougall, and managed by Lieutenant Mathey. 

After having reached the divide, Benteen’s 
force was ordered to a line of high, ragged 
bluffs to the south and west with instructions 
to send a messenger to Custer immediately if 
he came in sight of the Indians. Reno’s battal¬ 
ion marched down a small valley towards the 
river. Custer’s command followed Reno’s for 
a few miles, then turned north. Reno con¬ 
tinued on down to the valley, crossed the river 
to the west side, finding but little resistance 
until his troop had almost reached the village. 
At this point the Indian warriors seemed to 
spring from all directions and Reno was forced 
to retreat. His efforts to recross at the same 
ford were made impossible by a band of the 
Indians who circled to the south of him, so 
he marched a little to the south of where he 
had advanced and made the ford some distance 
down the river from where he first crossed. A 
messenger sent to carry the news to Custer 
found his way cut off and returned to his com¬ 
pany. After having gained the east side of 
the river he was joined by Benteen and Mc- 
Dougall. The Indians pursued him to this 
side of the river and beseiged him until nine 
o’clock that evening; then quietly withdrew. 
Not having heard from Custer the general 
opinion was that he must have been driven 
across the hills or down the river. No assist¬ 
ance could be expected from this source and 
with a fear of an early attack in the morning 
the night was spent in digging gun pits and 
building breastworks as best they could for 
protection. Just at break of day June 26th, 
the attack was renewed and with more vigor 
than the day previous. The entire band was 
now gathered around the command and heavy 


firing was kept up all through the day until the 
middle of the afternoon. Reno’s command had 
the advantage of position, being located be¬ 
tween the bluffs and having rifle pits to fire 
from. Having the superior advantage their 
loss was not very heavy, although surrounded 
by the entire hostile band. 

Between two and three o’clock in the after¬ 
noon the grass was set on fire by the Indians 
and smoke filled the air to such an extent that 
it was impossible to see the village or the move¬ 
ments made by the Indians. However, just 
about dusk they were seen crossing over the 
hills in the direction of the Big Horn river. 
The grass was set on fire to cover up their 
movements that Reno would not know in which 
direction they were retreating. Their scouts 
had reported the coming of Terry and his com¬ 
mand which were only a few miles distant 
down the river. Had they stood their ground 
they would have been subjected to a cross fire, 
Terry from the north and Reno from the 
south. Terry’s force would have arrived in 
the morning. The Indians, knowing this, 
thought best to make good their escape before 
his arrival. 

On the 26th the Crow scouts brought tid¬ 
ings to Terry that Custer’s command had met 
the Indians and were all killed. Immediately 
he advanced up the river and found that all the 
command were dead upon the field. Word 
was then carried to Reno’s line, the first in¬ 
formation they had of the disastrous defeat. 

Nearly all the bodies were stripped of their 
clothes, and nearly all scalped and mutilated. 
A notable exception was the body of Custer 
which had been left on the field as it fell. He 
was shot in two places, one taking effect in his 
side, the other passing through his temple. 

As there was not a survivor of the battle no 
definite report could be made, and the only in¬ 
formation attainable, as has been heretofore 
mentioned, was that gathered from the field 
after the defeat and the description given by 
the Indians who were engaged in the battle. 





HISTORY OF MONTANA 


25 


From these sources Lieutenant E. S. Godfrey 
has written an extended article which is the 
best information attainable. From this article 
we quote the following description: 

Keogh and Calhoun’s troops were dismounted to 
fight on foot. These two troops advanced at double 
time to a knoll. The other three troops, mounted, 
followed them a short distance in the rear. The led 
horses remained where the troops dismounted. When 
Keogh and Calhoun got to the knoll the other troops 
marched rapidly to the right; Smith’s troops deployed 
as skirmishers, mounted, and took position on a ridge, 
which on Smith’s left ended in Keogh’s position and 
on Smith’s right ended at the hill on which Custer took 
position with Yates and Tom Custer’s troop, now 
known as Custer hill, and marked by the monument 
erected to the command. Smith’s skirmishers holding 
their gray horses remained in groups of fours. The 
line occupied by Custer’s battalion was the first con¬ 
siderable bluff back from the river, the nearest point 
being about half a mile from it. His front was ex¬ 
tended about three-fourths of a mile. The whole vil¬ 
lage was in full view. A few hundred yards from his 
line was another but lower ridge, the further slope of 
which was not commanded by his line. It was here 
that the Indians under Crazy Horse, from the lower 
part of the village, among whom were Cheyennes, 
formed for the charge on Custer’s hill. All the In¬ 
dians had now left Reno. Gall collected his warriors 
and moved up a ravine south of Keogh and Calhoun. 
As they were turning this flank they discovered the led 
horses without any other guard than the horse holders. 
They opened fire upon the horse holders, and used the 
usual devices to stampede the horses—that is, yelling 
waving blankets, etc.; in this they succeeded very soon, 
and the horses were caught up by the squaws. In this 
disaster Keogh and Calhoun probably lost their reserve 
ammunition, which was carried in the saddle bags. 
Gall’s warriors row moved to the foot of the knoll 
held by Calhoun. A large force dismounted and ad¬ 
vanced up the slope far enough to be able to see the 
soldiers when standing erect, but were protected when 
squatting or lying down. By jumping up and firing 
quickly, they exposed themselves for only an instant, 
but drew the fire of the soldiers, causing a waste of 
ammunition. In the meantime Gall was massing his 
mounted warriors under the protection of the slope. 
When everything was in readiness, the dismounted 
warriors arose, fired, and every Indian gave voice to 
the war-whoop; the mounted Indians put whip to their 
ponies and the whole mass rushed upon and crushed 
Calhoun. The maddened mass of Indians was carried 
forward by its own momentum over Calhoun and 
Crittendon down into the depression where Keogh was, 
with over thirty men, and* all was over on that part of 
♦he field. 

In the meantime the same tactics were being pur¬ 


sued and executed around Custer hill. The warriors 
under the ieadership of Crow-King, Crazy Horse, 
White Bull, Hump, and others, moved up the ravine 
west of Custer hill, and concentrated under the shelter 
of the ridge on the right flank and back of his posi¬ 
tion. Gall’s bloody work was finished before the anni¬ 
hilation of Custer was accomplished, and his victorious 
warriors hurried forward to the hot encounter then go¬ 
ing on, and the frightful massacre was completed. 

Smith’s men had disappeared from the ridge, but 
not without leaving enough dead bodies to mark their 
line. About 28 bodies of men belonging to the troops 
and other organizations were found in one ravine near 
the river. Many corpses were found scattered over the 
field between Custer’s line of defense, the river, and 
the direction of Reno’s hill. These, doubtless, were of 
men who had attempted to escape; some of them may 
have been sent as couriers by Custer. One of the first 
bodies I recognized and one of the nearest to the ford 
was that of Sergeant Butler, of Tom Custer’s troop. 
Sergeant Butler was a soldier of many-years’ experience 
and of known courage. The indications were that he 
had lost his life dearly for near and under him were 
found many empty cartridge shells. 

All the Indian accounts that I know of, agree that 
there was no organized close-quarters fighting, except 
on the two flanks; that with the annihilation at Cus¬ 
ter’s hill the battle was virtually over. It does not 
appear that the Indians made any advance to the at¬ 
tack from the direction of the river; they did have a 
definite force along the river, and in the ravines which 
destroyed those who left Custer’s line. 

Two Moon, a chief of the Cheyennes, in de¬ 
scribing the battle, states that they surrounded 
Custer from all sides and kept “swirling and 
swirling around the soldiers.” “Once in a 
while,” he says, “a soldier would break out 
and run toward the river, but never would 
reach it. At last about a hundred men and five 
horsemen stood on the hill and bunched to¬ 
gether. All along the bugler kept blowing his 
commands * * *. Then a chief was killed. 

I heard it was Long Hair (Custer), and then 
the five horsemen and the bunch of men, maybe 
some forty, started toward the river. All the 
soldiers were killed and stripped.” He states 
that they counted the dead and they numbered 
388, and that 39 Sioux and 7 Cheyennes were 
killed and about 100 wounded. From the best 
authority we are acquainted with Custer s abil¬ 
ity. He had served in the war of the rebellion 






26 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


with destinction and honor, and had taken part 
in many engagements with the Indians. No 
one who is at all familiar with his career 
doubted his ability. General Terry had no ex¬ 
perience in Indian warfare. Then, would it 
not be natural that he should leave Custer to 
his own judgment as far as possible under the 
circumstances? The following written instruc¬ 
tions were given Custer on the 22nd: 

Camp at Mouth of Rosebud River. 

Montana Territory, June, 22, 1876. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Custer, 7th Cavalry, 

Colonel:—The Brigadier-General commanding di¬ 
rects that as soon as your regiment can be made ready 
for the march, you will proceed up the Rosebud in pur¬ 
suit of the Indians whose trail was discovered by Ma¬ 
jor Reno a few days since. It is, of course, impossible 
to give you any definite instructions in regard to this 
movement, and were it not impossible to do so, the 
Department Commander places too much confidence in 
your zeal, energy, and ability to wish to impose upon 
you precise orders which might hamper your action 
when nearly in contact with the enemy. He will, how¬ 
ever, indicate to you his own views of wdiat your 
actions should be, and he desires that you should con¬ 
form to them unless you shall see sufficient reason for 
departing from them. He thinks that you should pro¬ 
ceed up the Rosebud until you ascertain definitely the 
direction in which the trail above spoken of leads. 
Should it be found to turn towards the Little Horn, he 
thinks that you should still proceed southward, per¬ 
haps as far as the head waters of the Tongue, then 
turn towards the Little Horn, feeling, however, con¬ 
stantly to your left, so as to preclude the possibility of 
the escape of the Indians to the south or southeast by 
passing along your left flank. The column of Colonel 
Gibbon is now in motion for the mouth of the Big 
Horn. As soon as it reaches that point it will cross 
the Yellowstone and move up as far as least as the 
forks of the Little and Big Horns. Of course its fu¬ 
ture movements must be controlled by circumstances 
as they arise, but it is hoped that the Indians, if upon 
the Little Horn, may be so nearly encircled by the two 
columns that the escape will be impossible. The De¬ 
partment Commander desires that on your way up the 
Rosebud you should thoroughly examine the upper part 
of Tullock’s creek, and that you should endeavor to 
sent a scout through to Colonel Gibbon’s column, with 
information of the results of your examination. The 
lower part of the creek will be examined by a detach¬ 
ment from Colonel Gibbon’s command. 

Very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

E. W. Smith, 

Captain 18th Infantry, Acting Assistant Adjutant-Gen. 


In accordance with Terry’s instructions, as 
given above, Custer and Gibbon were to meet 
on the Little Big Horn on the 26th, the pre¬ 
sumption being that the Indians were camped 
in this valley, that they might make a joint 
attack and if possible surround and capture the 
hostiles. We also note on previous pages that 
Custer did not wait until the 26th, but on 25th 
made attack. Was he justified in making this 
early attack ? Some writers say he was; others 
say he was not. Those who say he was, con¬ 
tend that the instructions were not binding, 
that it was not the intention of Terry that 
Custer shuld not be permitted to vary from the 
instructions if he thought best, and in proof of 
their contention they cite from the instructions 
given Custer the following sentences: “It is im- 
posible to give you definite instructions in re¬ 
gard to this movement. * * * The Department 
Commander places too much confidence in 
your zeal, energy and ability to wish to impose 
upon you precise orders which might hamper 
your action when nearly in contact with the 
enemy.” They further infer that these instruc¬ 
tions were not definite orders, but simply a 
guide, and that if Custer thought best after 
overtaking the enemy, he was to exercise his 
own judgment as to what he should do under 
the circumstances. 

The other writers contend that the instruc¬ 
tions were definite orders and, that under no 
circumstances should he have varied from 
them. They contend that a request from a mil¬ 
itary officer is a command and that Custer 
should under no circumstances have varied 
from the written instructions. 

One writer says, that “Custer might have 
been prompted to immediate action fearing that 
the enemy might abandon the village after 
learning the position of the soldiers, and thus, 
in order to prevent their abandoning the vil¬ 
lage made the attack on the day previous to the 
appointed time of the meeting of the two 
forces.” 

Had Custer ascertained the position of the 




HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


27 


enemy, giving orders for a simultaneous attack 
from the right (Custer), from the left (Ben- 
teen), and from the upper end of the village 
(Reno), the advantage would all have been in 
favor of the soldier. The Indians not know¬ 
ing the strength of the' soldiers and being sub¬ 
jected to a cross fire from the three different 
columns, would no doubt have abandoned the 
village. 

From information gathered from the chiefs 
who took part in the battle we must credit them 
with some very skillful moves. Their plan for 
surrounding Reno was tactful and had it been 
carried out Reno’s forces would have been sur¬ 
rounded and met the same fate as Custer and 
his men. 

Reno found but little interference until he 
reached nearly the upper end of the village. 
In the meantime, the Indians had circled 
around him to the south with the expectation 
of preventing his return across the same ford 
by which he crossed to the west side, thus sur¬ 
rounding him. They did not know that there 
was a ford farther north where he could retreat 
to the east side of the river. Their plan to sur¬ 
round him having failed, and he having gained 
the east side, they now planned to surround his 
force before it could ascend to the high bluffs. 
In order to do this the force of Indians south 
of Reno crossed the same ford where Reno 
crossed to the west side, and another detach¬ 
ment of the warriors was sent across at a ford 
farther north. The Indians arrived just a few 
minutes too late to accomplish their designs, 
and Reno was well on his way up the bluff be¬ 
fore they arrived. 

The number of warriors taking part in the 
battle has been variously estimated, military 
officers placing the number at about 2,500. 
General Sheridan estimates the number of 
hostile band at from 500 to 800. Major James 
McLaughlin, U. S. Indian Agent at Devils 
Lake, N. D., for many years, has made an esti¬ 
mate of the number engaged, in which he 
states that one-third of the Sioux Indians, in¬ 


cluding the Cheyennes and Arapahoes, were 
present at the battle; that the entire band to¬ 
gether numbered about forty thousand, and 
that there must have been from twelve to 
fifteen thousand assembled in the valley at this 
time, one-fourth of which should be counted 
in estimating the number of warriors, which 
would make a fighting force of twenty-five 
hundred to three thousand men. Dr. Charles 
Alexander Eastman, a full blood Sioux, has 
made a very careful study of the number of 
warriors who were in the Little Big Horn at 
this time. He bases his estimate on the number 
of Indians in the different agencies, the number 
absent from the agencies, and also upon infor¬ 
mation gathered from his own people who were 
of the hostile tribes at this time. Below we 
quote from an article published in the Chautau¬ 
qua Magazine in the year 1900 by Dr. East¬ 
man. He says: 

The camp was in the following order from south 
to north down the river: Hunkpapaws, 224 tepees; 
Sans Arc, 85 tepees; Inkpadutas, 15 tepees; Brules, 140 
tepees; Minneconjus, 190 tepees; Ogallallas, 240 tepees;. 
Cheyennes, 55 tepees; making a total of 949 tepees. 
If we allow five persons to the tepee, we 'have 4,945 In¬ 
dians, and counting one-quarter of this number war¬ 
riors (which is allowing too large an estimate), there 
will be 1,211 warriors. Suppose we add to this num¬ 
ber 200 warriors who may possibly have come from 
the various agencies in Dakota, the number of fighting 
men all told will be 1,411. This will bring it within 
the number that General Custer expected to meet. In 
fact, if we exclude She 'boys under 18 years of age, and 
the old men over 70 (a number of whom did not have 
sufficient weapons), the number of warriors would be 
about 800 or 900, and that was about the estimate 
General Sheridan made before the expedition was 
sent out. 

After the battle of the Little Big Horn the 
hostiles divided into two bands, Sitting Bull ? 
Indians remaining in the west, Crazy Horse s 
moving towards the east. In October Sitting 
Bull, having given up hopes of accomplishing 
anything during the winter, came to General 
Miles with propositions of peace. His terms 
of peace embodied the following clauses; He 
and his followers were to be left to roam and 








28 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


hunt over unoccupied territory; they were 
to live the free life of the Indian; they 
were not to be supplied with rations 
or annuities. General Miles sent them 
word that there was only one proposition— 
they must accept terms of peace and move to 
the agencies. Sitting Bull would not accept 
General Miles’ terms so the hostilities con¬ 
tinued. Shortly after this Miles surprised the 
Indians, defeated them, and captured 400 of 
their lodges. Sitting Bull escaped to the north 
and was here joined by a few small bands. 
Early in December Lieutenant Baldwin at¬ 
tacked Sitting Bull, driving him across the Mis¬ 
souri. At this time Sitting Bull was reduced 
to 190 lodges. About the middle of the month 
Baldwin again surprised their camp, captured 
sixty horses and nearly all their food supplies. 
Having lost their food supplies, they were now 
in almost destitute circumstances. 

Crazy Horse, learning of the reverses of 
Sitting Bull, of his defeat and of having lost 
his supplies, sent word to him to join his camp 
as he had plenty of men and provisions for the 
winter. General Miles, however, learned of 
this through his spies and kept a force between 
the two hostile bands, thus preventing them 
from uniting forces. Crazy Horse was camped 
on the Tongue river. On December 29th Miles 
Started with 436 men and two cannons against 
.Crazy Horse. The Indians, learning of his 
coming, abandoned their quarters. Miles fol¬ 
lowed in rapid pursuit, capturing one warrior 
and seven women and children. The captives 
were relatives of one of the Cheyenne chiefs. 
That evening desperate efforts were made to 
recover them, but not succeeding, the attempt 
was renewed in the morning by the full force 
of the warriors. They were defeated and suf¬ 
fered heavy loss. Communications were 
opened through the captives. On February 
first, Miles sent word to them that they must 
surrender, and if they did not he would attack 
with renewed force. Their strength being 
much reduced, being unable to unite with Sit¬ 


ting Bull, and their supplies becoming scarce, 
they sent word to Miles that they would con¬ 
clude terms of surrender. 

Three hundred Indians under Two Moon, 
Hump and other chiefs surrendered on April 
22; two thousand under Crazy Horse surrend¬ 
ered at Red Cloud and Spotted Tail agencies in 
May. 

Sitting Bull, finding it impossible to join 
forces with Crazy Horse, his force being 
greatly reduced, realized the uselessness of 
further resistance with the troops and fled into 
British Columbia. In British Columbia he was 
joined by Chief Gall. The only remaining hos- 
tiles now were a few of the Minneconjous, who 
broke off from Crazy Horse’s band when he 
surrendered. They did not exceed in numbers 
fifty lodges. General Miles surprised and 
routed them on the Rosebud. They lost four¬ 
teen killed, all their supplies and 450 ponies. 
The remaining few scattered in different di¬ 
rections and finally surrendered to the various 
agencies. 

In September, 1876, the Sioux concluded a 
treaty by which they surrendered the Black 
Hills and Powder river country. In lieu of 
this they were to receive rations from the gov¬ 
ernment until such time as they could become 
self-supporting. 

Sitting Bull and his followers soon become 
tired of living under Canadian rule. Under 
this government they did not receive rations; 
the hunting was not the best, and they were 
kept under a strict watch. Protection was all 
that was assured them, and if they expected 
protection they were obliged to remain peace¬ 
able, not only in Canada, but also on this side 
of the line. Tiring of this method of living, 
small bands would leave, cross to this side and 
surrender to the agencies. After nearly all his 
followers had deserted him, Sitting Bull, 
realizing the uselessness of further resistance, 
surrendered to the authorities at the Standing 
Rock agency. 

Sitting Bull, the acknowledged leader of 





HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


29 


the Indians in the Custer fight, met his death 
sixteen years later. After that fight he conduc¬ 
ted himself in a very peaceable manner until 
the summer of 1890, when the Indians at the 
agency were becoming imbued with the “Mes¬ 
siah Craze.” Possessed of a personality re¬ 
markably striking, he had a powerful influence 
over his people, and in this craze they were 
easily influenced by the teachings of Sitting 
Bull, who now called himself the High Priest. 
He promised them that the white race would 
be exterminated, that the white man’s gun 
would be no longer a deadly weapon, but that 
the ball would drop from it harmlessly, that 
their ancestors would return to the earth, that 
their hunting grounds would again be re¬ 
stored, that the former wild life of the Indians 
would be enjoyed by all Indians in the future, 
and that, should any be killed in obeying this 
call of the Messiah, they would immediately 
join their ancestors, who at this time had been 
restored to some distant part of the country. 
Fearing the outcome of Sitting Bull’s teachings, 
Major James McLaughlin, the Indian agent, 
notified the Indian department of Sitting Bull’s 
conduct and asked what should be done under 
the circumstances. In response to the above 
message from Major McLaughlin the follow¬ 
ing telegram was sent to the commanding of¬ 
ficer at Fort Yates, the nearest fort to this 
agency: 

The division commander has directed that you 
make it your special duty to receive the person of Sit¬ 
ting Bull. Call on the Indian agent to co-operate and 
render such assistance as will best promote the pur¬ 
pose in view. By command of General Ruger. 

(Signed) M. Barber, 

Ass’t. Adjutant-General. 

Troops were sent from the fort to the 
agency to quell any disturbance. In order that 
the Indians might not know of their coming, 
they kept well back of the hills from the village. 
At the same time a number of police, most of 
them Indians, were sent to Sitting Bull’s cabin 
to arrest him. Early in the morning the police 


entered the house and made the arrest. The 
chief accepted the arrest quietly, but his son, 
Crowfoot, commenced upbraiding him for go¬ 
ing with the police, upon which Sitting Bull 
became obstinate and refused to go. He was 
removed from the house, and no sooner were 
they outside that they were surrounded by the 
ghost dancers, frenzied with rage. Sitting Bull 
called on the Indians to release him. The po¬ 
lice kept the Indians driven back, and had it 
not been for Sitting Bull’s appeal to them, there 
might not have been any trouble. But his fol¬ 
lower believing in his teachings, thought no 
harm could come to them by resisting and that 
they must obey the command -of Sitting Bull, 
According they opened fire on the police, kill¬ 
ing and wording several. Bull Head, an 
Indian policeman, was severely wounded by 
the first fire. No sooner was he wounded than 
he shot Sitting Bull. The fight now became 
general. The police gained the house and sta¬ 
ble from which they fired, driving the ghost 
dancers to the timber. The troops, who were 
stationed some distance away, approached and 
opened fire on the Indians. Soon everything 
was quiet. Sitting Bull now being killed, the 
Indians, having no leader, returned to their 
homes &nd no further disturbance was created. 

One of the most remarkable campaigns 
ever carried on by an Indian against United 
States troups was that of Joseph, in the Nez 
Perce war of 1877. For months that astute 
chieftain waged war—and all but a successful 
one—against a larger force of United States 
troops. The war started in Idaho and ended 
in Montana, Joseph having retreated several 
hundred miles, carrying with him all his tribe 
and belongings. 

In speaking of the Upper and Lower Nez 
Perce we do not refer to distinction of tribe, 
but to destinction of land, of territory. The 
Lower Nez Perce, under the chieftainship of 
Joseph, were considered to own the country 
south and east of the Blue Mountains, and west 
of the Snake River south of Powder River, a 






30 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


tributary of the Snake. The Upper Nez Perce 
were extended the privilege of hunting on this 
territory, but were not supposed to have any 
control over it. 

The treaty of 1855 set aside for these peo¬ 
ple a large reservation in western Idaho and 
eastern Oregon, and declared that, “no white 
man shall be permitted to reside on said reser¬ 
vation without permission of the tribe and the 
superintendent and agent.” The Nez Perce 
were peaceable, and settlers came in and took 
up land in the valleys granted them by the 
treaty. Their policy was peace and confidence 
in the Great Father that he would see that their 
lands would not be taken away from them. The 
whites came in and took up land in nearly all 
the fertile valleys. What must be done? 
Another treaty was decided upon. In 1863 the 
chiefs were called together. The Upper Nez 
Perce accepted the present reservation of Lap- 
wai, in western Idaho, the Lower Nez Perce 
refusing to join in the treaty. A peculiar pro¬ 
cess of reasoning, the one adapted, by which the 
non-treaty Indians were to be removed to the 
Lapwai reservation. In the treaty of 1855 
Joseph joined in the sale of part of their lands, 
thereby recognizing himself and his followers 
as part of the tribal organization, and now, the 
majority of the chiefs having joined in the 
sale, they sold Joseph’s land with the land of 
the Upper Nez Perce. 

Joseph died in 1871, and his son, Young 
Joseph, commonly known as Chief Joseph, be¬ 
came leader of the Lower Nez Perce. His dy¬ 
ing words were: “Always remember that 
your father never sold his country. A few 
years more and the white man will be all 
around you. They have their eyes on this land. 
My son, never forget my dying words. This 
country holds your father’s body. Never sell 
the bones of your father and mother.” 

These were peaceable people; they were 
never known to shed white man s blood; they 
refused aid to hostile tribes; they kept at peace 
with those who encroached upon their grounds; 


they cared for the horses of the Lewis and 
Clark expedition during the winter, and when 
they returned in the spring they refused to take 
pay; they called for missionaries; they raised 
great herds of cattle; they committed no 
crimes; they loved the land of their fathers i 
they loved the beautiful Wallowa Valley in 
northeastern Oregon, the valley of their homes; 
but the government demanded their removal to 
the Lapwai reservation. They pleaded; they 
counseled, but all in vain. All their efforts to 
retain their native home having failed, they, 
true to their principles of peace, made ready 
to depart for the reservation, and on the date of 
departure, after everything had been packed 
and ready and the little band was on the way, 
trouble arose between a division of the band 
and the settlers in which several of the settlers 
were killed. 

The commission that met from day to day 
to treat with the Indians found many objec¬ 
tions to meet. Joseph argued at length and 
met the various reasons advanced by the com¬ 
mission for their removal to the reservation. 
After all efforts on the part of the commission 
had failed Joseph was told that there was but 
one course to pursue, and that, that they must 
abandon the valley. They were given thirty 
days after May 14th to gather their stock to¬ 
gether and vacate the land. Joseph’s advice 
to his people was to leave peaceably. They 
went out to the range to gather in their cattle 
and horses and found many of them missing. 
They could not be found. Learning this the 
hot headed among the Indians became desper¬ 
ate; Joseph counselled peace, but was unable 
to overcome the infuriated warriors. 

The thirty days passed; the soldiers had 
not come. The loss of their stock bore heavily 
on their minds, and then the Indians, hereto¬ 
fore unknown to have taken white man’s blood, 
turned from their pathway of peace. On 
Salmon river an old hermit by the name of 
Divine was killed. This deed was committed 
on the 13th of June, the day, according to the 








HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


3i 


command of the commission, on which the 
Indians were to remove to the Lapwai reserva¬ 
tion. On the 14th they killed four more. Their 
savage nature which had been pacified these 
many years burst forth at the sight of human 
blood. Mounting the horses of their victims 
they hastily rode to Camas Prairie where the 
greater portion of the Indians were camped. 
Riding through the camp they displayed the 
spoils of their deeds, and called upon all who 
were present in the camp to assist, and at the 
same time asserting their determination to re¬ 
turn and kill the other settlers in that locality. 
Seventeen warriors joined them and eight 
more settlers lost their lives. 

, Chief Joseph was not in the camp at the 
time these deeds were being planned. His wife 
was sick and he had moved her to a tepee some 
distance away, that she would not be disturbed 
by noise and conversation of those who might 
be angered because they were forced to leave 
their homes. 

Colonel Perry, who was stationed at Lap¬ 
wai, hurried down with ninety men. Ten set¬ 
tlers joined them, making in all one hundred 
men. In order to intercept the retreat of the 
Indians and prevent their crossing the river, 
Colonel Perry marched to the White Bird can¬ 
yon, and' thence up it, reaching the head of the 
canyon by daylight of the 17th. They ex¬ 
pected to give the Indians a surprise, but 
Joseph had learned of their coming and was 
waiting for them. The attack was a signal 
failure, and 35 of the hundred men were killed. 
Joseph pursued them for 12 miles, then con¬ 
tinued his retreat. This was Joseph s first 
battle, and being a complete victory gave his 
men courage. 

General Howard with a batallion of 400 
men, was crossing over the country to en¬ 
counter the Indians. Not until the nth of 
July did he come in sight of Joseph. On the 
above date Joseph was camped on the Clear¬ 
water, and was waiting for Howard to come 
up. In number of fighting men Joseph was 


outnumbered, and while slightly worsted in 
the battle which ensued, still he was able to 
effect a retreat and gain the Lolo Trail. While 
not a victory for Joseph, it could not be termed 
a defeat, for General Howard was not able to 
head him off, and he retreated to the Bitter 
Root. After having reached the Bitter Root 
he retreated south up the valley and into the 
Big Hole river valley. He thought he was well 
in advance of the soldiers and camped in this 
valley to rest his men and their families. 

Joseph had but one means of knowing of 
the approach of soldiers, the scouts who were 
sent out. Through this means he would not 
likely learn of an approaching enemy many 
hours in advance of its approach. He was not 
aware that there were any other soldiers with 
whom he must contend at this camping place 
other than the force of General Howard. But 
the telegraph wires had been working and Gen¬ 
eral Gibbon, who at this time was stationed 
at Helena, had crossed to Fort Missoula to in¬ 
tercept him. He, however, arrived too late 
to intercept the Indians, so pursued them up the 
valley, and on August 9th, just at break of day, 
made a furious charge and surprised them 
where they were camped in the valley of the 
Big Hole. The surprise was complete and the 
Indians lost many of their horses. They were 
driven from their position and General Gibbon 
thought he had made a successful surprise, 
but Joseph after having been driven from his 
position, rallied his warriors, and made a des¬ 
perate attack on the soldiers, defeating them 
and driving them back to a wooded country, 
where they took refuge. The victory was com¬ 
plete, Gibbon’s command being so crippled that 
it could not pursue the Indians. Gibbon was 
wounded in the engagement. Howard crossed 
the country and joined Gibbon here. The Ban- 
nack scouts scalped the dead Indians, a barbar¬ 
ous custom not resorted to by the Nez Perce 
during the entire retreat. 

From the valley of the Big Hole Joseph 
crossed over the continental divide and camped 






32 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


on Camas Prairie in Idaho. Howard’s com¬ 
mand was one day behind and camped on the 
same prairie. Joseph was retreating towards 
Yellowstone park. In order to intercept him 
a detachment had been sent ahead under Lieu¬ 
tenant Bacon. The most accessible way to the 
Yellowstone National Park was through 
Thatcher’s pass. This pass was to be guarded by 
Bacon. Howard knowing that it would be al¬ 
most impossible for Joseph to cross the moun¬ 
tains in any other place, thought by guarding 
this pass that the Indians would be held at bay 
until the main force would come up, and thus 
possibly force a surrender. But Joseph was 
not yet ready to cross the divide into the park. 
During the stillness of the night he returned 
over the same trail and made a night attack 
upon the troops. The attack was very suc¬ 
cessful and they captured the greater number 
of Howard’s horses. Howard rallied his men, 
pursued the Indians, and was able to recapture 
part of the horses. Later in the evening the 
Indians made another successful attack, and so 
complete was the surprise that they captured 
nearly all the remaining horses of Howard’s 
command. Joseph had accomplished all he de¬ 
sired and continued his retreat. There was no 
danger of pursuit now as the soldiers could not 
follow them until horses could be obtained 
from Virginia City. In Joseph’s retreat 
through the pass he was not intercepted by 
Bacon, who had been sent to head him off, 
Bacon having lost the trail. 

After reaching the park they passed down 
by Yellowstone lake, over the Yellowstone 
river, crossing Baronet’s bridge, burning the 
bridge behind them; thence to Clark’s fork, and 
down it to the Yellowstone. By so doing they 
avoided Colonel Sturgiss, who had come over 
from Powder river with three hundred and 
fifty soldiers and some friendly Crows. On the 
13th of October, Sturgiss overtook Joseph at 
the mouth of canyon creek. The Indians were 
divided into guards, one detachment remaining 
at the mouth of the canyon, the other taking 


position some distance up the canyon. Here 
they were so completely surrounded that they 
lost four hundred ponies. From here they re¬ 
treated to the Musselshell river, crossed the 
river and marched in a northerly direction, 
striking the Missouri at Cow island on the 
23rd. 

Cow island was the limit of low water navi¬ 
gation on the upper Missouri, 125 miles below 
Fort Benton. There was a landing here but 
no settlement. The landing was guarded by 
twelve soldier and four citizens. The Indians 
attacked it but at night drew off. They burned 
all the freight at the landing. A detachment 
came down from Fort Benton and followed the 
Indians for a couple of days, but abandoned 
the pursuit after a skirmish in which they were 
defeated. 

From Fort Keogh on the Yellowstone, Col¬ 
onel Miles was marching across the country 
with nine companies of mounted men, a com¬ 
pany and a half of infantry, a company of 
white and Indian scouts, a breech loading 
Hotchkiss gun and a twelve pound Napoleon. 
After reaching Cairo on the Missouri, below 
Cow island, Miles learned of the event at the 
latter place, and on the 25th three hundred and 
seventy-five men began the march to cut off 
the retreating Nez Perce. 

In the meantime the - Nez Perce had 
marched north and taken position in the Bear 
Paw mountains, camping on Smoke creek, a 
tributary of the Milk river. Joseph was now 
within fifty miles of the British line, and not 
knowing of the approach of Colonel Miles, he 
went in camp here, expecting after a day’s rest 
to continue their retreat into the British Pos¬ 
sessions. 

On the morning of the 30th, the camp was 
attacked, the Indians knowing nothing of the 
approach of Colonel Miles until within a few 
miles of where they were camped. The Indians 
took position in a raving which led into the 
creek valley along the bluffs. They were com¬ 
pletely surrounded and 800 of their cattle cap- 







HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


33 


tured. The fighting continued for four days 
and nights. The Indians were well located in 
the ravine but completely surrounded by the 
troops, making their escape almost impossible, 
Colonel Miles did not deem it wise to capture 
the camp by storm as it would necessitate the 
loss of a great many men. Having the Indians 
surrounded and damaging them with shell he 
felt sure that they must eventually surrener. 

Sitting Bull was in Canada not many miles 
distance from the boundary. Besides Sitting 
Bull there were bands on various reservations 
which could be depended on by Joseph to 
render him assistance. Joseph says that he 
could have held out until such time as he could 
have gotten assistance from these bands. But 
during the four days he was being besieged he 
was negotiating with Miles. Several times 
during these days he sent messengers to Miles, 
asking upon what terms Miles would accept a 
surrender. After having received satisfactory 
terms upon which he was to surrender, Joseph 
says that, “on the fifth day (October 4th) I 
went to General Miles and gave him my gun, 
and said ‘From where the sun now stands, I 
will fight no more; my people need rest; we 
want peace.’ ” 

General Howard had arrived and was on 
the ground at the surrender. Joseph held out 
for five days against great odds. The troops 
were fresh; his people were worn and tired 
from many miles of travel. White Bird es¬ 
caped during the night with 105 warriors, and 
fled into Canada. Joseph contends that he, 
with the men, could have effected a retreat, had 
they left the wounded, the children and the old 
women, but he preferred to surrender rather 
than do this. 

Chief Joseph upon his surrender left this 
very pathetic message for General Howard: 
“Tell General Howard I know his heart. What 
he told me before I have in my heart. I am 
tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed. Look¬ 
ing Glass is dead. Toohul-hul-sote is dead. 
The old men are all dead. It is the young men 


who say yes or no. He who led on the young 
men is dead. It is cold and we have no blank¬ 
ets. The little children are freezing to death. 
My people, some of them, have run away to the 
hills and have no blankets, no food; no one 
knows where they are, perhaps freezing to 
death. I want to have time to look for my 
children and see how many of them I can find. 
Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear 
me, my chiefs. I am tired; my heart is sick 
and sad. From where the sun now stands I 
will fight no more forever.” 

The day of the surrender, under a flag of 
truce, Joseph was informed through General 
Miles that so far as he knew that he was to 
be returned to Lapwai reservation. General 
Miles’ understanding was that this was the 
course to be pursued, and so expressed himself 
to the Indian leader. This seemed to be an ab¬ 
solute guarantee to Joseph that he would be 
sent to the Idaho reservation. 

The saddest page in all their history is the 
record showing the government’s intention to 
establish them in the Indian territory. They 
were accustomed to a northern climate, to the 
invigorating air of the mountains; and when 
subjected to the warm southern country the 
little band rapidly decreased. Public clamor 
demanded their removal. The commissioner 
of Indian affairs reports that: 

These Indians are in some respects superior to 
those of any other tribe connected with the agency. 
They are unusually bright and intelligent; nearly one- 
half of them are consistent members of the Presbyte¬ 
rian Ghuroh. They meet regularly for weekly services 
in the school house, and so. far as dress, deportment, 
propriety of conduct are concerned, they could not be 
distinguished from an ordinary white congregation. 
The entire band, with probably one of two exceptions, 
are quiet, peaceable, and orderly people. They are ex¬ 
tremely anxious to return to their own country. They 
regard themselves as exiles. The climate does not 
seem to agred with them, many of them having died, 
and there is a tinge of melancholy in their bearing and 
conversation that is truly pathetic. I think they should 
be sent back, as it seems clear that they will never take 
root and prosper in this locality. 


3 







34 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


In 1895 there were 268 of Chief Joseph’s 
band still living, and it was decided to send 
them back into a colder climate, one better 
suited to their health and prosperity. One 
hundred and eighteen were brought to the Nez 


Perce reservation in Idaho, the remainder, 150, 
to the Colville reservation in Washington. 
Among the latter was Chief Joseph. He died 
in September, 1904, and departed for the 
happy hunting grounds. 


CHAPTER IV 


THE FUR TRADERS. 


The vast stretch of country between the 
Mississippi river and the Pacific coast, which 
had been truly a terra incognito before the ex¬ 
pedition of Lewis and Clark in 1804-6, was not 
long to remain so. The knowledge of the coun¬ 
try which these intrepid explorers gained and 
disseminated throughout the country awak¬ 
ened an active interest in the Northwest. Trap¬ 
pers, adventurers and fortune hunters were not 
slow to penetrate the country about which the 
Lewis and Clark party told in such glowing 
words. The next period of Montana’s history 
has to deal with the adventures of the hardy 
trappers and traders, who almost immediately 
after the return of the successful exploring 
party set out for the upper Missouri. 

Manuel Lisa, quick to grasp the informa¬ 
tion gained from the Lewis and Clark expedi¬ 
tion, was the first to fit out a trading expedition 
for this far away country. In the spring of 
1807 he left St. Louis for the upper Missouri, 
intending to establish trading posts with the 
Indians of that countyr. The Sioux, Aricaras 
and Mandans were visited, the latter two tribes 
showing signs of hostility; but without serious 
resistance the expedition was privileged to con¬ 
tinue its course up the river. 

It seems to have been the original intention 
of Lisa to establish a fort near the mouth of the 
Yellowstone, or at some convenient place 
farther up the Missouri, for the purpose of 


trading with the Blackfeet. This he did not 
do, but after having reached the confluence of 
these rivers, he ascended the Yellowstone. The 
only assignable reason for this move is the in¬ 
formation Lisa received from John Colter, 
who had become a member of the party at the 
mouth of the Platte, concerning whose move¬ 
ments this history will treat later. 

At the mouth of the Big Horn river a fort 
was established. This fort, or trading post, 
consisted of two buildings, one on the right 
bank of the Big Horn and the other on the 
right bank of the Yellowstone, directly opposite 
the mouth of the Big Horn river. This fort 
has been known by different names—Fort Lisa, 
Fort Manuel and Manuel’s Fort. These two 
buildings erected by Manuel Lisa enjoy the dis¬ 
tinction of being the first buildings erected 
within the limits of the state of Montana. No 
trace of the old fort now remains. 

We have noted above that Lisa diverged 
from his original plan of building the fort at 
the mouth of the Yellowstone. The Crows and 
Blackfeet were deadly enemies, and the estab¬ 
lishment of a trading post in the country of 
the Crows would be sufficient cause for the 
Blackfeet to consider the traders in league with 
their old-time enemy and to arouse their jeal¬ 
ousy. Whatever the future results of this 
move may have been can not be estimated, but 
the immediate outcome was an unfriendly re- 









HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


35 


lationship with the Blackfeet. Trade was 
opened with the Crows and many valuable 
furs secured. Lisa and his party spent the 
winter of 1807-8 at the post, and the next 
spring returned to St. Louis, elated with 
success. 

While Manuel Lisa had been the first to 
organize an expedition to penetrate the upper 
Missouri country, there was one who was a 
year ahead of that bold trapper in exploring 
portions of the Montana country. This one 
was John Colter, who was a private soldier 
with Lewis and Clark during the memorable 
expedition of 1804-6. When that party ar¬ 
rived at Mandan on the homeward journey 
in 1806 Colter asked to be granted a discharge 
that he might remain in the upper country to 
trap and hunt, and his request was granted. 
We have nothing definite as to where he passed 
the winter of 1806-7, but most writers credit 
him with having visited the Yellowstone river 
country and having passed the winter there. 

The next spring he set out for St. Louis 
in a small canoe. He descended the Missouri 
as far as Platte, where he met the party under 
Manuel Lisa on its way up the river. Colter 
was prevailed upon to join the expedition and 
thenceforth became one of Lisa’s most active 
workers. Lisa, of course, was not acquainted 
with the country and he knew that Colter would 
be of great value to him. However important 
an event the acquisition of Colter to the party 
was, we find no mention of him in the journal 
of the expedition from the point where he 
joined the party until the confluence of the 
Yellowstone and the Big Horn rivers was 
reached. 

The party having reached the Big Horn, 
Colter was dispatched to notify all the Indians 
in the surrounding country that a trading post 
had been established at the mouth of the Big 
Horn river. This brave explorer at once set 
out on his perilous mission. Loaded down 
with a pack of thirty pounds weight, besides 
carrying his gun and ammunition, Colter made 


a trip upwards of five hundred miles alone and 
on foot through an unknown and trackless 
country, notified the Crows of the establishment 
of the post and then endeavored to carry the 
news farther into the interior. The Crows 
were supposed to be somewhere on the Big 
Horn river, but it seems that they were at this 
time camped on the Wind river. Proceeding 
westward from here, accompanied by a num¬ 
ber of Crow guides, he advanced to Pierre 
Hole, where he and his guides were attacked 
by a party of Blackfeet. The attacking party 
was repulsed, but Colter was wounded in the 
leg. The Crow guides then left him and re¬ 
turned to their camps, leaving Colter entirely 
alone. Without guides or escorts of any kind 
this brave man then worked his way back to 
the establishment, several hundred miles. Hav¬ 
ing had a skirmish with the Blackfeet he be¬ 
lieved it would be folly to go on the three 
forks of the Missouri to inform the Blackfeet 
of the establishment of the post. He crossed 
from Pierre Hole in a northeasterly direction 
to what is now the Yellowstone National park, 
thence in an almost northeasterly direction 
through it to the Yellowstone river, which 
stream he followed to where it bends to the 
northwest. Here he took an east branch, fol¬ 
lowed its course a few miles, then advanced in 
a northeasterly course to Lisa’s fort. 

The winter was spent at and near the fort. 
When spring opened Colter, accompanied by 
one Potts, was again sent out with instructions 
to meet the Blackfeet at the three forks. Ar¬ 
riving there they found no Indians, and so en¬ 
gaged in trapping until such time as the In¬ 
dians should put in an appearance. The story 
of the adventures of these two men on this 
trip reads like a romance. We leave its telling 
to the able pen of Washington Irving: 

They were on a branch of the Missouri called Jef¬ 
ferson’s Fork, and had set their traps at night about 
six miles up a small river that emptied into the fork. 
Early in the morning they ascended the river in a 
canoe to examine the traps. The banks of each side 




HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


were high and perpendicular and cast a shade over the 
stream. As they were softly paddling along, they heard 
the tramping of many feet upon the banks. Colter im¬ 
mediately gave the alarm of “Indians 1 ” and was for 
instant retreat. Potts scoffed at him for being scared 
at the trample of buffaloes. Colter checked his un¬ 
easiness and paddled forward. They had not gone 
much further when frightful whoops and yells burst 
forth from each side of the river and several hundred 
Indians appeared on either bank. 

Signs were made to the unfortunate trappers to 
come on shore. They were obliged to comply. Before 
they could get out of their canoes a savage siezed the 
rifle belonging to Potts. Colter sprang on shore, 
wrested the weapon from the hands of the savage, and 
restored it to his companion, who was still in the 
canoe, and immediately pushed into the stream. There 
was a sharp twang of a bow and Potts cried out that 
he was wounded. Colter urged him to come on shore 
and submit as his only chance for life; but the other 
knew there was no prospect of mercy and determined to 
die game. Leveling his rifle, he shot one of the savages 
dead on the spot. The next moment he fell himself, 
pierced with innumerable arrows. 

The vengeance of the savages now turned upon 
Colter. He was stripped naked, and, having some 
knowledge of the Blackfeet language, overheard a con¬ 
versation as to the mode of dispatching him, so as to. 
derive the greatest amount from his death. Some were 
for setting him up as a mark and having a trial of 
skill at his expense. The chief, however, was for nobler 
sport. He seized Colter by the shoulder and demanded 
if he could run fast. The unfortunate trapper was too 
well acquainted with Indian customs not to comprehend 
the drift of the question. He knew he was to run for 
his life, to furnish a kind of human hunt to his perse¬ 
cutors. Though in reality he was noted among his 
brother hunters for swiftness of foot, he assured the 
chief that he was a very bad runner. His strategem 
gained him some vantage ground. He was led by the 
chief into the prairie, about four hundred yards from 
the main body of savages, and then turned loose to 
save himself if he could. A tremendous yell let him 
know that the whole pack of bloodhounds was off in 
full cry. Colter fled rather than ran; he was as¬ 
tonished at his own speed; but he had six miles of 
prairie to travel before he should reach the Jefferson 
fork of the Missouri; how could he hope to hold out 
such a distance with the fearful odds of several hun¬ 
dred to one against him! The plain, too, abounded 
with the prickly pear, which wounded his naked feet. 
Still he fled on, dreading each moment to hear the 
twang of a bow, and to feel an arrow piercing his 
heart. He did not even dare to look around, least he 
should lose an inch of the distance on which his life 
depended. He had run nearly half way across the 
plain when the sound of pursuit grew somewhat fainter, 
and he ventured to turn his head. The main body of 


his pursuers was a considerable distance behind, sev¬ 
eral of the fastest runners were scattered in advance; 
while a swift-footed warrior, armed with a spear, was 
not more than one hundred yards behind. 

Inspired with new hope, Colter redoubled his ex¬ 
ertions, but strained himself to such a degree that the 
blood gushed from his mouth and nostrils and streamed 
down hi9 breast. He arrived within a mile of the river. 
The sound of footsteps gathered upon him. A glance 
behind showed his pursuer within twenty yards, and 
preparing to launch his spear. Stopping short he 
turned around and spread out bis arms. T he savage, 
confounded by this sudden action, attempted to stop 
and hurl his spear, but fell in the very act. His spear 
struck in the ground and the shaft broke in his hand. 
Colter plucked up the pointed part, pinned the savage 
to the earth, and continued his flight. The Indians, as 
they arrived at their slaughtered companion, stopped to 
howl over him. Colter made the most of this precious 
delay, gained the skirt of cottonwood bordering the 
river, dashed through it, and plunged into the stream. 
He swam to a neighboring island, against the upper 
end of which driftwood had lodged in such quantities 
as to form a natural raft; under this he dived, and 
swam below water until he succeeded in getting a 
breathing place between the floating trunks of trees, 
whose branches and bushes formed a covert several 
feet above the water. He had scarcely drawn breath 
after all his toil when he heard his pursuers on the 
river bank, whooping and yelling like so many fiends. 
They plunged into the water and swam to the raft. 
The heart of Colter almost died within him as he saw 
them through the chinks of his concealment, passing 
and repassing, and seeking for him in all directions. 

They at length gave up the search and he began to 
rejoice in his escape, when the idea presented itself 
that they might set the raft on fire. Here was a new 
source of horrible apprehension, in which he remained 
until'nightfall. Fortunately the idea did not suggest 
itself to the Indians. As soon as it was dark, finding 
by the silence around that his pursuers had departed, 
Colter dived again and came up beyond the raft. He 
then swam silently down the river for a considerable 
distance, when he landed, and kept on all night to get 
as far as possible from this dangerous neighborhood. 
By daybreak he had gained sufficient distance to re¬ 
lieve him of the terrors of his savage foes. 

From here Colter made his way to the trad¬ 
ing post on the Yellowstone, where he remained 
until 1809, when he returned to St. Louis. 

Lisa’s report of the great wealth to be ob¬ 
tained in the upper Missouri country aroused 
the enthusiasm of the merchants of St. Louis 
and of the trappers and traders throughout the 
Missouri and Mississippi river points. So 














HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


37 


strong an impression did the news make that 
the Missouri Fur company, sometimes called 
the St. Louis-Missouri Fur company, was in¬ 
corporated with a capital of forty thousand 
dollars. The organization was effected during 
the winter of 1808 and 1809, and was to ex¬ 
pire at the end of three years. Manuel Lisa 
was made head of the new company and that 
gentleman turned over to the new organization 
all the equipment of the expedition of 1807, in¬ 
cluding the post established at the mouth of 
the Big Horn river. The members of the Mis¬ 
souri Fur company were Manuel Lisa, Benja¬ 
min Wilkinson, Pierre Chouteau, Sr., Augus¬ 
tin Chouteau, Jr., William Clark, Reuben 
Lewis, Sylvester Labadie, Pierre Menard, Wil¬ 
liam Morris, Dennis Fitz Hugh and Andrew 
Henry. 

The expedition organized by the company 
left St. Louis in the early spring of 1809. It 
consisted of about one hundred and fifty men 
and merchandise sufficient to supply half a 
dozen posts and equip as many small outfits 
as it might be found necessary to send out. 
The main part of the merchandise was to be 
taken to Lisa’s fort on the Yellowstone, where 
the party intended to spend the winter. Several 
posts were to be established at various places 
along the Missouri below the Yellowstone. 
These ports were established; then the main 
party went on to the mouth of the Big Horn, 
arriving there some time in October. 

Headquarters were made at Fort Lisa un¬ 
til spring, trade being carried on with the 
Crow Indians during the winter months. Early 
in the spring of 1810 a strong party set out 
for the three forks of the Missouri to trap and 
to open relations with the Blackfeet. Cap¬ 
tains Lewis and Clark had made mention of 
the great number of beaver to be found in this 
country; also had Colter. The establishing of 
a post here, then, was for a double purpose— 
the Indian tradfe and the trapping of beaver. 
In the party who went to the three forks were 


Andrew Henry and Pierre Menard, two of thf 
partners. 

The post was erected on the neck of lam 
between the Jefferson and Madison rivers 
Lieutenant James H. Bradley describes it anu 
its location as follows: “It was a double 

stockade of logs set three feet deep, enclosing 
an area of about 300 square feet, situated upon 
the tongue of land (at that point only half a 
mile wide) between the Jefferson and Madison 
rivers, about two miles from their confluence, 
upon the south bank of the channel of the 
former stream called Jefferson slough.” Trap¬ 
ping was begun at once and every day’s catch 
showed that they were in the midst of a great 
harvest. The territory was virgin, and, the 
old trappers stated, the greatest they had ever 
seen for beaver. 

But in the midst of their glowing success 
a black cloud of disaster broke upon them; the 
Blackfeet swept down upon the trappers while 
tending their traps ancl several lost their lives. 
This was the first seen of the Indians and the 
introduction was disheartening. No opportun¬ 
ity had presented itself by which the Indians 
could be informed of the intention of the trad¬ 
ers. Depredations continued at intervals oi 
every few days. One thing must be done—the 
Indians informed of the purposes of the fort. 

It will be remembered that this was the 
place where Potts killed an Indian of the 
Blackfeet and where Colter made his remarka¬ 
ble escape from the same people. These inci¬ 
dents the Indians no doubt remembered. They 
also knew of the post on the Yellowstone, 
where their enemies, the Crows, were receiv¬ 
ing merchandise for their furs. Considering 
the newcomers in the light of enemies, and be¬ 
ing jealous because the Crows had been fav¬ 
ored with a trading post, they determined to 
intercept the white trappers on all sides. In 
order that the Blackfeet might be informed of 
the true purpose of the post, Menard proposeJ 
to visit the Flathead and Snake Indians with .1 





38 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


view of getting them to assist in a war against 
the Blackfeet. His purpose was to take a pris¬ 
oner, and after having informed him. of the 
friendly intentions of the whites and their de¬ 
sire to trade, to release him and let him return 
to his people.. But before this scheme could be 
carried out the Blackfeet fell upon then again 
with more fury than before. 

Disheartened with these experiences, Men¬ 
ard with the greater part of the men, most of 
them unwilling to remain longer, started for 
St. Louis. Henry with the few remaining men 
stayed at the fort for some time, then crossed 
over the continental divide and established him¬ 
self on the north fork of the Snake, where he 
spent the winter. Game was very scarce and 
many hardships were endured before the open¬ 
ing of spring. Recrossing the continental di¬ 
vide in the early spring of 1811, he set out for 
St. Louis. Whether he descended the Yellow¬ 
stone or Missouri on this trip out of the coun¬ 
try is not known. He reached the Mandan 
village in July and here met Lisa, who was re¬ 
turning from St. Louis. 

Because of the hostility of the Indians the 
Missouri Fur company had not proved a finan¬ 
cial success, and the company went out of 
business. 

It was not until the spring of 1822 that 
another fur company began operations on an 
extensive scale in the territory which is now 
known as the state of Montana. That year 
William H. Ashley, a trader, business man and 
politician, organized the Rocky Mountain Fur 
company, which during the years of its exist¬ 
ence became one of the most powerful concerns 
engaged in the fur trade in the Rocky moun¬ 
tains south of the British possessions. Asso¬ 
ciated with Ashley was Andrew Henry, who 
has been mentioned in these pages in connection 
with the operations of the Missouri Fur com¬ 
pany. 

Two expeditions, consisting of one hundred 
men each, were equipped, one under Henry, 
the other under Ashley. The expedition com¬ 


manded by Henry left St. Louis in April, 1822; 
the one commanded by Ashley did not depart 
until March 10 of the following year. 

The plan was to establish trading posts as 
far up the Missouri as the three forks, thus 
making it possible to trade with all the tribes 
of the upper Missouri country. The country 
around the upper waters of this river was 
known to abound in beaver, and the trapping 
of these was another coveted object of the or¬ 
ganizers of the company. 

Henry left St. Louis with two keel-boats 
loaded with merchandise, trapping equipment 
and such utensils as would be useful to the 
party. On the way up the river the party pur¬ 
chased horses. The expedition’s progress was 
net impeded until it ascended to or near the 
mouth of the Little Missouri. Here the land 
party was attacked by a party of the Assini- 
boine Indians, who got possession of the horses. 

It was the object of this party to ascend as 
far as the falls and establish a fort there, but 
the loss of the horses prevented the carrying 
out of this object. A post was built at the 
mouth of the Yellowstone and the party win¬ 
tered there. The men engaged in hunting and 
trapping during the winter, and in the spring 
of 1823, having secured a fresh supply of 
horses, they set out for the country of the 
Blackfeet. Having ascended as far as the great 
falls, they were attacked by the Blackfeet. 
Four men lost their lives and the party was 
driven out of the country. The return was 
then made to the fort at the mouth of the 
Yellowstone. 

In the meantime General Ashley had as¬ 
cended the Missouri from St. Louis. He was 
fiercely attacked by the Aricaras and driven 
down the river. Henry, anticipating his ar¬ 
rival, had descended the Missouri from the 
fort on the Yellowstone and brought the win¬ 
ter’s catch with him. He was not molested by 
the Indians and passed through their village, 
joining General Ashley at the mouth of the 
Cheyfenne river. 






HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


39 


The attack on General Ashley was reported 
to the United States troops, and in the com- 
paign which followed the Indians were badly 
defeated and taught a severe lesson. 

The road being again clear for the traders, 
Ashley, after securing the required number of 
horses from the Indians, sent Henry with eighty 
men across to the post at the mouth, of the 
Yellowstone, where twenty men had been left. 
This place was abandoned and the party as¬ 
cended the Yellowstone as far as Powder river. 
Henry here organized a party which was sent 
toward the southwest, while he with the main 
body went on to the confluence of the Big Horn 
and Yellowstone and there established a post. 
Trapping parties were sent out in different di¬ 
rections, and when they met the next year they 
had collected a great number of beaver furs, 
which Henry took to St. Louis in the spring. 
The expedition was a success and Henry re¬ 
turned the next year. 

Jedediah S. Smith was one of the leading 
employes of the Rocky Mountain Fur company. 
From the post at the mouth of the Big Horn he 
crossed over to the west side of the continental 
divide, where he met with detached trappers 
of the Hudson’s Bay company. After spend¬ 
ing some time in this country he went north, 
and it has been said spent the winter with the 
Flathead Indians. Wherever he may have 
spent the winter, he went to St. Louis in the 
spring. Henry resigned from the partnership 
and Smith became a partner, being identified 
with the company until 1826. 

General Ashley returned to St. Louis, not 
having attempted to establish a post in the 
Blackfoot country. The next year he equipped 
an expedition and went into the Salt Lake 
country. Detachments were sent out in every 
direction and many valuable furs were secured. 
The party worked well toward the headwaters 
of the Yellowstone and determined to descend 
that stream to the Missouri, and from thence 
go on to St. Louis. 'When they reached the 
mouth of the Yellowstone Ashley beheld for 


the first time the fort built by Henry. It was 
here that the party met General Atkinson with 
a large military force, who was in this country 
to make peace treaties with the Indians of the 
upper Missouri country. 

We shall here interrupt the story of the 
Rocky Mountain Fur company long enough to 
tell of this government expedition. The In¬ 
dian tribes of the Missouri and Yellowstone 
had become restless and the government deter¬ 
mined to make treaties with them. Accord¬ 
ingly in 1824 congress passed an act providing 
for the equipment of an expedition to visit and 
treat with the various tribes inhabiting the 
country. The president appointed General 
Henry Atkinson, of the army, and Major Ben¬ 
jamin O’Fallon, Indian agent, to act as com¬ 
missioners to visit the Indians and conclude the 
treaties. 

The commissioners left St. Louis on 
March 20, 1825, and proceeded to Council 
Bluffs, arriving there April 19. Here they 
were joined by an escort of 476 men, of whom 
40 were mounted, the intention being to have 
the others travel by boat. On August 17 the 
party reached the mouth of the Yellowstone, 
having visited the Indian tribes inhabiting the 
valley between Council Bluffs and that point. 
One mile above the mouth of the Yellowstone 
the expedition came upon the traders’ fort. 
Here they were surprised at hunters descend¬ 
ing the river in boats. The hunters proved to 
be General Ashley with a party of 24 men, who 
had just arrived from Salt Lake valley with a 
cargo of furs. Being invited to wait until the 
military expedition should ascend the river and 
to accompany it, General Ashley did so. 

Ashley had not seen the Indians anywhere 
on the Yellowstone, and from what informa¬ 
tion he had gathered from straggling bands, he 
concluded that the Blackfeet, the ones whom 
the authorities most desired to meet, were 
somewhere on the Missouri above the falls. 
The Assiniboines were supposed to be on the 
Yellowstone, but Ashley’s party found no trace 





40 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


of them. This information was discouraging 
to the expedition. General Atkinson deter¬ 
mined, however, to ascend the river. Part of 
the force remained at the fort; the others, ac¬ 
companied by General Ashley, set out on the 
20th to go up the river. 

No trace of the Indians was found and the 
party returned to the fort. Soon after the com¬ 
missioners returned to the states, the expedi¬ 
tion, so far as accomplishing anything was con¬ 
cerned, having been a failure. General Ash¬ 
ley accompanied the party to St. Louis. 

In April of the next year, 1826, Ashley 
returned to the Salt Lake valley." While here 
he sold his interests in the mountains to Jed- 
ediah S. Smith, David E. Jackson and William 
L. Sublette, the leading spirits of the company, 
retaining, however, his company interests in 
St. Louis. This transfer marks the beginning 
of the second period of the company's history. 
General Ashley was a man of much ability. 
Having tired of mountain life, and having 
made his fortune, he retired to enter the politi¬ 
cal arena. 

Smith, Jackson and Sublette agreed on 
plans to be executed during the next three 
years. Jackson and Sublette went into the 
mountains, while Smith crossed into Cali¬ 
fornia, thence north to the Hudson’s Bay post 
on the Columbia. He sold his furs to the com¬ 
pany and struck out for the headwaters of the 
Snake. Here he was to meet Sublette and 
Jackson in the summer of 1829. 

Smith was royally treated by the Hudson’s 
Bay men, and he agreed not to hunt in the ter¬ 
ritory claimed by that company. According to 
the plans of three years before, when the three 
partners struck out in different directions, they 
all met at the headwaters of the Snake. Smith 
informed his partners of his agreement with the 
Hudson’s Bay company, who were not friendly 
to this move, but reluctantly consented to abide 
by their partner’s promise. 

Concerning the adventures of the partners 


during their management of the company we 
quote from Chittenden as follows: 

All set out on their fall hunt in October, taking a 
northeasterly direction to the Yellowstone, with the 
intention of swinging around into the Big Horn basin, 
where Milton Sublette had been left. Just as they 
were starting they had a slight brush with the Black- 
feet Indians, who attempted to steal their horses. It 
was a little too early in the morning, before the horses 
had been turned out to graze, and the Indians were 
beaten off through the energetic action of Fitzpatrick. 

While crossing the range of mountains between 
the Gallatin and Yellowstone rivers, a little to the north 
of the modern National park, they had a severe skir¬ 
mish with the Blackfeet, in which two men were killed 
and the rest of the party scattered. It was some time 
before they all came together again; in fact not until 
they were east of the mountains and in the Big Horn 
basin. The journey through the rugged mountains 
bordering the park on the north was one of great peril 
and suffering. One of the party, Joseph Meek, became 
separated from the rest and utterly lost, wandering into 
the springs country just east of the Yellowstone river, 
where he was found by some of his companions. 

At length the party was reunited in the Big Horn 
basin, where they found Milton Sublette, and all to- ’ 
gether went south with the furs to the valley of the 
Wind river. It being too late to carry the furs to St. 
Louis, they were cached in the side of a cut bank. This 
locality was fixed as the next rendezvous, and there¬ 
upon Sublette, with one man, set out for St. Louis to 
bring out the outfit for the following year. It was 
about Christmas time that he started on the journey, 
and he reached his destination on the nth of February 
following. This is one of the very few examples at 
this early day of crossing the plains in the dead of 
winter. 

The party which remained behind was too large to 
find subsistence in or*e locality, there being no buffalo 
in the vicinity, and Smith and Jackson were compelled 
to shift their camp although in mid-winter, to better 
ground. They accordingly went over into the Powder 
river country, where they found buffalo, and spent the 
winter in plenty. On the first of April Jackson set out 
for a spring hunt at his old stamping ground in Jack- 
son Hole, while Smith, with Young Jim Bridger as 
guide, started by way of the Yellowstone for the upper 
Missouri. Smith went as far as the Judith basin, made 
a successful hunt, and returned to the rendezvous on 
Wind river without any untoward accident. Jackson 
likewise came back after a successful hunt, and here 
the two partners waited the arrival of Sublette from 
the states. At about this time an unfortunate accident 
occurred. While removing the furs from the cache 
made the previous December the bank caved in, killing 




HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


4i 


one man and severely injuring another. * * * 

Smith, Jackson and Sublette, following the ex¬ 
ample of Ashley four years before, relinquished their 
trade and sold out to several young men, who had now 
become distinguished by their ability and experience. 
These were Thomas Fitzpatrick, Milton G. Sublette, 
Henry Fraeb, Jean Baptiste Gervais and James Bridger, 
and the firm was called the Rocky Mountain Fur Com¬ 
pany, the only instance when any firm did business un¬ 
der this specific name. The transfer of the business 
from the old to the new firm took place August 4, 
1830. Smith, Jackson and Sublette left the same day 
for St. Louis with 190 packs of beaver. 

The new company carried out much the 
same plans as those inaugurated by the old com¬ 
pany. Trapping - parties were sent over the old 
grounds, and some virgin territory was opened. 
From the Wind river rendezvous Fitzpatrick, 
Sublette and Bridger, with a party of two hun¬ 
dred men, crossed over to the Big Horn basin, 
through it to the Yellowstone, thence across 
to the Missouri river in the vicinity of the great 
falls. The party was so strong that the Black- 
feet did not molest it. After spending some 
time in the neighborhood of the great falls the 
expedition moved up to the three forks, thence 
up the Jefferson to the divide. This expedition 
proved to be a very profitable one, and a large 
quantity of furs was taken. 

They now moved south to the Salt Lake 
country, where they also met with success, and 
returned to the Powder river valley to spend 
the winter. 

Says Chittenden of an event of the follow¬ 
ing spring: “With opening of spring of 1831 
the partners again set out for the Blackfoot 
country, but they had not gone far when the 
most of their horses were stolen by the Crows. 
A catastrophy of this kind, so fatal to the 
mobility of a party, destroyed its effectiveness, 
and it was imperative to retake the horses. A 
party was organized for this purpose, and, 
after considerable delay and adroit manage¬ 
ment, succeeded in not only retakirtg their own 
horses, but in capturing those belonging to the 
Indians.” 

Much of the same territory was traversed 


this season as the year previous. At various 
intervals the furs would be taken to St. Louis. 
The company continued in business until the 
summer of 1834, when a dissolution of the 
partnership was agreed upon. During the last 
few years the profits had not been so large; the 
American Fur company was scouring the same 
territory. Bitter animosities arose between 
the rival concerns. The American Fur 
company was the more powerful of the 
two, and the Rocky Mountain Fur com¬ 
pany, the weaker of the adversaries, could no 
longer take from the country the great wealth 
it had up to the time of the coming of the com¬ 
peting fur company. Then, it has been said, 
the new company used its influence to induce 
the Indians to oppose the old company. 
Whether this contention was true or not, the 
Indians became more hostile to the Rocky! 
Mountain company. These causes led to the 
dissolution of the Rocky Mountain Fur com¬ 
pany, the first powerful concern of the kind to 
operate in the Rocky mountain country. 

The next fur company to begin operations 
in the upper Missouri country was the Ameri¬ 
can, which proved to.be the strongest that ever 
carried on business with the Indians of Mon¬ 
tana. It continued in existence many years and 
its operations were an important event in the 
early history of our country. 

The American Fur company was incorpor¬ 
ated in New York, April 16, 1808. John Jacob 
Astor, a trader in furs in New York and Lon¬ 
don, constituted the company. Heretofore Mr. 
Astor had not engaged in operations in the 
field, but he now determined to broaden his 
business and extend his transactions to the field 
operations as well as the traffic after the furs 
hhd been gathered and placed on the market. 
The earlier operations of this powerful con¬ 
cern were confined to the headwaters of the 
Mississippi and the territory around the great 
lakes; and not until 1822 did it extend its field 
of operations to the country farther south and 
west. In that year the company established a 








42 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


western headquarters at St. Louis, which move 
was bitterly opposed by the traders of St. 
Louis. 

The Rocky Mountain Fur company, the 
only large company at that time which was 
operating in the upper Missouri and surround¬ 
ing country, had brought to St. Louis furs of 
almost untold value. The American Fur com¬ 
pany, desirous of a portion of this vast wealth, 
determined to invade those regions from which 
wealth was being so easily gathered. 

Accordingly, in the summer of 1828, a 
definite advance was commenced, and in a few 
months a fort was established near the mouth 
of the Yellowstone. This was the objective 
point, for from all directions the trade must 
pass through here. Kenneth McKenzie was 
given charge of this northern trade. He had 
been at one time a member of the Hudson’s 
Bay company, and had also been associated 
with smaller trading and trapping companies 
operating in the upper Mississippi country. He 
desired to strike boldly into the mountain coun¬ 
try and at once open up trade with the 
Indians of the upper territory and to send out 
trapping parties to that country. The head 
office, less sanguine in its councils, thought 
best to go a little slow and to first establish a 
post at the mouth of the Yellowstone, and to 
extend future operations from there into the 
upper country. 

A post was erected near the mouth of the 
Yellowstone and called Fort Union. In 1872- 
73 Mr. James Stuart prepared an article relat¬ 
ing to the upper Missouri river which is of 
much value in describing conditions as they ex¬ 
isted in the early days of the fur trade. Es¬ 
pecially interesting is the description of Fort 
Union and the manner of living of those who 
made their homes there under the protection of 
the American Fur company. His information 
was gathered from trappers, traders and others 
who happened to be in the country at that time. 
The article was published in the Montana His¬ 
torical Society’s contributions of 1876. From 


these contributions we quote the 

Fort Union was the first fort built on the Missouri 
river above the mouth of the Yellowstone. In the 
summer of 1829 Kenneth McKenzie, a trapper from the 
upper Mississippi, near where St. Paul, Minnesota, is 
now located, with a party of 50 men, came across to 
the upper Missouri in looking for a good place to es¬ 
tablish a trading post for the American Fur Company. 
(McKenzie was a member of said company.) They 
selected a site a short distance above the mouth of the 
Yellowstone river, on the north bank of the Missouri, 
and built a stockade, two hundred feet square, of logs 
about twelve inches in diameter and twelve feet long, 
set perpendicular, putting the lower end ten feet in the 
ground with two block house bastions on diagonal 
corners of the stockade, twelve feet square and twenty 
feet high, pierced with loopholes. The dwelling 'houses, 
warehouses and store were built inside, but not form¬ 
ing the stockade, leaving a space of about four feet be¬ 
tween the walls of the buildings and the stockade. All 
the buildings were covered with earth, as a protection 
against fire by incendiary Indians. There was only one 
entrance to the stockade—a long double-leaved gate, 
about twelve feet from post to post, with a small gate 
three and one-half by five feet, in one of the leaves of 
the main gate, which was the one mostly used, the 
large gate being opened only occasionally when there 
were no Indians in the vicinity of the fort. The 
houses, warehouses and stores were all built about the 
same height as the stockade. The above description, 
except the area enclosed by the stockade, will describe 
nearly all the forts built by traders on the Missouri 
river from St. Louis to the headwaters. They are 
easily built, convenient, and good for defence. 

/ The forAwas built to trade with the Assiniboines, 
who were a large tribe of Indians, ranging from White 
Earth river on the north side of the Missouri to the 
mouth of Milk river, and north into the British pos¬ 
sessions^/' - They were a peaceable, inoffensive people, 
armed with bow and arrows, living in lodges made of 
buffalo skins, and roving from place to place according 
to the season of the year, occupying certain portions of 
t'heir country in the summer, and during the winter 
remaining where they could be protected from the cold 
with plenty of wood. For fear of trouble with them 
the traders did not sell them guns; but when an In¬ 
dian proved to be a good hunter and a good friend to 
the traders by his actions and talk, he could occasionally 
borrow a gun and a few loads of ammunition to make 
a hunt. 

The principal articles of trade were alcohol, 
blankets, blue and scarlet cloth, sheeting (domestic), 
ticking, tobacco, knives, fire-steels, arrow points, files, 
brass wire, beads, brass tacks, leather belts (from four 
to ten inches wide), silver ornaments for hair, shells, 
axes, hatchets, etc.—alcohol being the principal article 
of trade until after the passing of an act of congress 

I I 







FATHER DE SMET 











HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


43 


(June 30, 1834), prohibiting it under severe penalty. 
Prior to that time there were no restrictions on the 
traffic. But notwithstanding the traders were often 
made to suffer the penalty of the law, they continued 
to smuggle large quantities of spirits into the Indian 
country until within the last few years (i. e. 1873). 

St. Louis was the point from which the traders 
brought their goods. They would start from there 
with mackinaw boats, fifty feet long, ten feet wide on 
the bottom, and twelve feet on the top, and four feet 
high, loaded with fourteen tons of merchandise to the 
boat, and a crew of about twelve men, as soon as the 
ice went out of the river, usually about the first of 
March, and would be about six months in getting to 
Fort Union, the boats 'having to be towed the greater 
part of the way by putting a line ashore, and the men 
walking along the bank pulling the boat. Every spring, 
as soon as the ice went out of the river, boats would 
start from the fort for St. Louis, each boat loaded 
with three thousand robes, or its equivalent in other 
peltries, with a crew of five men to each boat, arriving 
at St. Louis in about thirty days. 

All the employes in the Indian country lived en¬ 
tirely on meat—the outfit of provisions for from fifty 
to seventy-five men being two barrels flour, one sack 
coffee, one barrel sugar, one barrel salt, and a little 
soda and pepper. After the fort was established and 
proved to be a permanent trading point, large quanti¬ 
ties of potatoes, beets, onions, turnips, squashes, corn, 
etc., were raised, sufficient for each year’s consumption. 
The wages for common laborers were 220 dollars for 
the round' trip from St. Louis to Fort Union and back 
again to St. Louis, taking from fifteen to sixteen 
months’ time to make it. Carpenters and blacksmiths 
were paid 300 dollars per annum. The traders (being 
their own interpreters) were paid 500 dollars per an¬ 
num. 

The store and warehouse, or two stores, were built 
on each side of the gate, and on the side next to the 
interior of the fort the two buildings were connected 
by a gate similar to the main gate the space between 
the building and the stockade filled in with pickets, 
making a large strong room without any roof or cov¬ 
ering overhead. In each store, or stores, about five 
feet from the ground, was a hole eighteen inches 
square, with a strong shutter-fastening inside of the 
store, opening into the space or room between the 
gates. When the Indians wanted to trade, the inner 
gate was closed; a man would stand at the outer gate 
until all the Indians that wanted to trade, or as many 
as the space between the gate would contain, had passed 
in; then he would lock the outer gate and go through 
the trading hole into the store. The Indians would 
then pass whatever articles each one had to trade 
through the hole to the trader, and he would throw out 
of the hole whatever the Indians wanted to the value 
in trade of the article received. When the party were 
done trading they were turned out and another party 


admitted. In that way of trading the Indians were 
entirely at the mercy of the traders, for they were 
penned up in a room and could all be killed through 
loop-holes in the store without any danger to the 
traders. The articles brought by the Indians for trade 
were buffalo robes, elk, deer, antelope, bear, wolf, 
beaver, otter, fox, mink, martin, wild cat, skunk and 
badger skins. 

The country was literally covered with buffalo, 
and the Indians killed them by making “surroundings.” 
The Indians moved and camped with from one to four 
hundred lodges together—averaging about seven souls 
to the lodge; and when they needed meat the chief 
gave orders to make a “surround,” when the whole 
camp, men, women and the largest of the children, on 
foot and on horseback, would go under direction of the 
soldiers and form a circle around as many buffalo as 
they wanted to kill—from three hundred to one thou¬ 
sand buffalo. They would then all start slowly for a 
common point, and as soon as the circle began to grow 
smaller, the slaughter would begin, and in a short time 
all inside of the circle would be killed. The buffalo 
do not, as a general rule, undertake to break through 
unless the circle is very small, but run round and 
round the circumference next to the Indians until they 
are all killed. 

Fort Union burned down in 1831 and was rebuilt 
by McKenzie in the same year. The new fort was two 
hundred and fifty feet square, with stone foundation, 
with similar buildings, but put up in a more workman¬ 
like manner, inside of the stockade. The fort stood 
until 1868, when it was pulled down by order of the 
commanding officer at Fort Buford (five miles below 
Union.) 

In 1832 the first steamboat, named the “Yellow¬ 
stone,” arrived at Fort Union. From that time, every 
spring, the goods were brought by steamboats, but tfie 
robes, peltries, etc., were shipped from the fort every 
spring by mackinaws to St. Louis. 

As has been noted in preceding pages of 
this chapter the country of the Blackfeet had 
never been successfully invaded. The Mis¬ 
souri Fur company had made two attempts to 
open trade relations with these people, and 
each time had failed and been driven from the 
country. Ashley and Henry made two at¬ 
tempts and met the same fate as did the Mis¬ 
souri Fur company. This being practically a 
virgin territory, McKenzie’s desire was to in¬ 
form the Blackfeet of the friendly relationship 
that would be extended them if intercourse 
could be opened. The former expeditions into 
this country had utterly failed in this particu- 





44 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


lar. And on the other hand the Hudson’s Bay 
company traders, who penetrated the country 
of the Blackfeet, used their influence to create 
feelings of hostility between the Indians and 
the American traders. 

In the summer of 1830 McKenzie was 
down the river. Upon his return to Fort Union 
in the fall he found there an old trapper by the 
name of Berger, who had for many years been 
employed by the Hudson’s Bay company at 
their fort just north of the Blackfoot country. 
Berger was well acquainted with the language 
and customs of these people and knew many of 
them personally. How he came to leave the 
Hudson’s Bay company and come to Fort Un¬ 
ion no one knows; but he was there and he was 

the very man that McKenzie desired for nego- 

/ t 

tiation with the Blackfeet. McKenzie ac¬ 
cordingly proposed to him to go on this peril¬ 
ous trip, and he consented Chittenden’s 
“American Fur Trade of the West” describes 
the advance into the Blackfoot country and 
the return to the fort: 

Berger started out from Fort Union in the fall and 
traveled some four weeks before he saw any Indians. 
The party carried a flag unfurled so that the Indians 
might know at a distance that they were white men. 
They finally found a large village on the Marias river, 
some distance above the mouth. At the sight of it the 
little party was so terror stricken that they wanted to 
turn back, but Berger persisted in the purpose of his 
mission, and the men followed his lead, scarcely ex¬ 
pecting to be alive for another hour. When they were 
discovered a number of mounted Indians started for 
them at "full speed. Berger halted his party and him¬ 
self advanced with the flag. The Indians paused, and 
Berger called out his name. They recognized it; there 
was a rush to shake hands; and then the little party 
was welcomed to the village, where, to their great joy, 
they were received in the most hospitable manner. . 

How long they remained is not known, but Berger 
finally succeeded in inducing a .party of about forty, 
including several chiefs, to accompany him to Fort 
Union. The route was a long one, and on the way 
they began to complain of the distance. Berger was put 
to his wit’s ends to prevent them turning back. Finally 
when within a day’s march from the fort, tradition 
says, the Indians concluded to stop. Berger besought 
them to go on one day more and told them if they did 
not reach the fort in that time he would give them his 
scalp and all his horses. This guaranty of good faith 


induced them to keep on, and, sure enough, about three 
p. m. the next day they passed over a river bluff and 
beheld in the valley below the fort, just as Berger had 
told them. It was a great feat that Berger had ac¬ 
complished, and McKenzie was highly gratified at its 
successful outcome. 

The party reached Fort Union before the end of 
the year 1831. McKenzie had a conference with the 
chiefs, and it goes without saying that that astute 
leader left no stone unturned to create a favorable im¬ 
pression. The Indians professed great satisfaction at 
the prospect of having a trading post near their village, 
and as an earnest of his'purpose to establish one there 
the following summer. McKenzie sent a trader and a 
few men to trade with them during the winter. He 
completed this stroke of good fortune during the fol¬ 
lowing summer by bringing about a treaty of peace and 
friendship between the Blackfeet and Assiniboines, 
which promised protection to the trade throughout this 
region. The treaty was consummated on the 29th day 
of November, 1831. 

In accordance with the agreement entered 
into with the Blackfeet, McKenzie dispatched 
an expedition up the river in the fall of 1831, 
which arrived at the confluence of the Marias 
and Missouri sometime in October. James 
Kipp had charge of the expedition. He selected 
the site for the fort between the two rivers, 
near the mouth of the Marias, where it was 
constructed with as much speed as possible. 
It was called Fort Piegan. During the first 
ten days after the post was opened for trading 
purposes the Indians bartered off two thousand 
four hundred beaver skins. 

During the winter the fort was attacked 
by the Blood Indians and besieged, for several 
days. The attack was without any apparent 
provocation, and it has been said that the Brit¬ 
ish traders, alarmed at the Americans’ success, 
were instrumental in inducing the Bloods to 
make an attack. Rather than injuring the post, 
the attack proved a boon, for after their with¬ 
drawal Kipp treated the Indians to alcohol, and 
so elated were they over this bountiful treat¬ 
ment that they brought all their furs to the 
American post. 

Before the opening of spring a fine lot of 
furs had been collected, and Kipp, upon the 
opening of navigation, made preparations to 




HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


45 


take his furs to Fort Union. The Indians de¬ 
sired that the post should be kept open during 
the summer months, but his men refused to 
stay, and the post was abandoned. Soon after 
the abandoning of the fort it was burned by 
the Indians. 

During the summer after Kipp’s arrival at 
Fort Union, David S. Mitchell was sent to 
take charge of Fort Piegan; but on arrival at 
the Marias, finding that the fort had been 
burned, he moved up the Marias six miles, and 
on the north bank selected a site in what is now 
known as Brule bottom. In honor of Mc¬ 
Kenzie this post was named Fort McKenzie, 
and its construction assured the American Fur 
company a permanent foothold in the Black- 
foot country. It was occupied for a great 
many years and proved to be one of the most 
profitable posts the company had in the upper 
country. /s 

In 1842 F. A. Cheardon, who was at the 
time in charge of Fort McKenzie, killed thirty 
Indians within the walls of the fort, the massa¬ 
cre being brought about in the following man¬ 
ner : A party of Piegans, demanding admit¬ 
tance to the fort, were refused admission, and 
in malice killed a pig belonging to the whites 
and rode away. A small party was sent in pur¬ 
suit, and was fired upon by the Indians, a negro 
member of the party being killed. Return to 
the fort was then made, and Cheardon deter¬ 
mined upon revenge. He invited a large num¬ 
ber of the Indians to visit the post, throwing 
open the gates as if intending the utmost hos¬ 
pitality. While the Indians were crowding 
into the fort, the whites fired upon them with 
a howitzer loaded to the muzzle with trade 
- balls. Men, women and children were slaugh¬ 
tered. Cheardon then loaded the boats, burned 
the fort buildings, and descended the river to 
the mouth of Judith river, where he built Fort 
Cheardon. 

The conditions of the company at this 
point were in bad shape as a result, when 
Alexander Culberson, who had been in charge 


of the fort at a former time, then again took 
charge, and through his efforts peace was made 
with the Indians. Six miles above the present 
site of Fort Benton he established Fort Lewis. 
This was simply a temporary structure, de¬ 
signed only to serve the immediate purpose. 
In 1846 a permanent fort was erected where 
the town of Fort Benton now stands. In honor 
of Thomas H. Benton, then United States sen¬ 
ator from Missouri, and one of the influential 
men of the American Fur company, this new 
post was named Fort Benton. This fort was 
well constructed, and it is the only remaining 
post of the American Fur company in the up¬ 
per Missouri country. This was made the head 
quarters for all the upper country for 20 years, 
or until the company retired from business. 

In 1848 Fort Campbell was built a short 
distance above Fort Benton by the rival trad¬ 
ers, Galpin, Labarge & Co., of St. Louis, which 
was not long occupied. Later the independent 
traders erected a number of fortified stations 
on the Missouri and Yellowstone, who alter¬ 
nately courted and fought the warlike tribes 
of Montana, but left little historical data of 
their occupancy. 

It must not be understood that the Ameri¬ 
can Fur company confined its operations to the 
Blackfoot country. No sooner was Fort Un¬ 
ion thoroughly established than trading parties 
were sent up the Yellowstone to traffic with the 
Crows. Traders and trappers were kept among 
these people at all times, but not until 1832 
was a fort established. That year McKenzie 
sent Tullock to build a post on the south side 
of the Yellowstone, three miles below the Big 
Horn, to trade with the mountain Crows. 
These Indians were treacherous and insolent, 
but their trade was desired by the American 
company. Tullock erected a large fort 
which he called Fort Van Buren. The 
Indians -complained so much of the lo¬ 
cation of this post that a , little later, in 
1836, Tullock built Fort Cass on the Yellow¬ 
stone below Fort Van Buren. Fort Alexander, 







46 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


still further down, was built by Lawender in 
1848, and Fort Spary was erected by Culber¬ 
son at the mouth of the Rosebud in 1850. This 
was the last trading post built on the Yellow¬ 
stone and was abandoned in 1853. In 1834, 
Mr. Astor, the founder of the American Fur 
company, retired from further connection with 
its affairs. 

Almost every year that the American Fur 
company was engaged in business in the upper 
Missouri country new fur companies were or¬ 
ganized to compete for the business which was 
proving so profitable. The older company had 
its own tactics for defeating the progress of the 
new concerns. Invariably the new companies 
would erect forts close to those of the older 
company in order that they might secure a por¬ 
tion of the trade with the Indians. The Ameri¬ 
can Fur company was the wealthiest concern 
operating in the upper Missouri country, and 
when the weaker rival stepped in for a portion 
of the traffic the older concern would pay more 
than the customary prices for skins—often 
more than could be secured for them in St. 
Louis. By so doing it drove the competitors 
from the field. 

While success always crowned the efforts 
of the American at the established trading 
posts, out in the mountains its traders were not 
so successful. Parties were sent out to ascer¬ 
tain the methods pursued by the Rocky Moun¬ 
tain Fur company and others who were operat¬ 
ing, that the competition might be intercepted. 
But they were never so successful, proportion¬ 
ately to numbers and power, as were some of 
the smaller concerns. True they secured many 
valuable furs in this way, but competition 
was so sharp that they were not able to cope 
with their many adversaries and at the same 
time reap great harvests from the field. Away 
from the posts the same tactics could not be 
employed, and in the field men were placed 
on a nearer equality. 

The Hudson’s Bay company, that powerful 
corporation which controlled the fur trade of 


the Columbia river district, only occasionally 
sent trappers into the country east of the Bitter- 
roots. In 1831 an expedition was planned at 
Vancouver to go to the Missouri river country 
for the purpose of trapping beaver and killing 
buffalo. The command of the expedition was 
given to John Work, a faithful and intelligent 
employe of the great English company. 

On the 18th of August the party left Van¬ 
couver in four boats, carrying a large supply 
of goods for trade with the Shoshones. On the 
30th of the month Fort Walla Walla was 
reached. Here horses were supplied the men 
and on the nth of September the start to the 
eastward was made, the course being along the 
bank of Snake river. On the 16th the party 
turned southward and crossed Snake river at 
the Salmon branch. They journeyed up this 
stream ten days, then crossed through a woody 
country to a camas prairie. Continuing, they 
struck the Bitter Root river on October 18th, 
down which they traveled as far as Hell Gate, 
where they engaged in trapping. In that vicim 
ity they found “marks of Americans.” A con¬ 
siderable number of beaver were taken and 
there were some buffalo, but the American 
trappers had been over the country thoroughly, 
and this fact, together with the hostility of the 
Blackfeet, made the expedition a partial failure. 
The Blackfeet made life miserable for the 
English hunters, stealing the traps and attack¬ 
ing the trappers whenever opportunity offered. 
On October 30 two of the party were killed by 
the Indians, and three of Work’s men, half 
breeds, deserted. 

About the middle of November the party 
moved southward to the Jefferson branch of the 
Missouri and camped on a plain, in the very 
road of the Blackfeet, above Beaverhead, near 
where now stands the town of Virginia City. 
Here buffalo were found in great numbers and 
the trappers spent some time in their slaughter. 
On the 24th the camp was attacked by the 
Blackfeet and one of the men dangerously 
wounded. Two days later camp was broken 






HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


47 


and the party proceeded in a southwesterly 
direction for several days, arriving at Salmon 
river on the 16th of December. Again work' 
ing eastward, the 5th of January, 1832, found 
the party on a small branch of the Missouri. 
On the 10th there was a skirmish with the 
Blackfeet, which resulted in the killing of two 
of the Indians. The Blackfeet continued 
troublesome, stealing the horses and firing 
upon the trappers from ambush. Early on 
the morning of the 30th the camp was attacked 
by 300 savages, who were not checked until 
one of the whites had been killed and one 
wounded. The Indians were repulsed with 
considerable loss. 

By the middle of February the horses of 
the trappers became so thin from the scarcity 
of grass that they were unable to follow the 
buffalo, and several of them died from cold 
and starvation. April and May were passed by 
the party hunting beaver and fighting Indians, 
Work gradually working his way westward. 
Crossing the mountains, the hunting was con¬ 


tinued until July, on the 19th of which month 
Fort Walla Walla was reached. Two of the 
party and a boat containing a valuable cargo 
were lost while descending Salmon river. All 
embarked on the morning of July 25th for 
Vancouver, where the party arrived on the 
afternoon of the 27th. Out of 329 horses 
which the party took from Walla Walla and 
subsequently purchased, only 215 were brought 
back, 114 having been captured, lost or starved. 
Three hundred and nine buffalo were killed 
during the trip and a large quantity of beaver 
taken. 

In 1847 the Hudson’s Bay company estab¬ 
lished a trading post on Crow creek, in the 
northern part of what was afterward set off 
as a Flathead reservation. Angus McDonald, 
who came to the mountains as early as 1838 or 
1839, was the first officer in charge of 
the post. Very little has been learned of the 
operations of the English company in this part 
of the country. 


CHAPTER V 


FROM BEAVER PELT TO BALLOT-BOX 


For many years the fur traders and trap¬ 
pers were the only white people to enter the 
confines of the present state of Montana. They 
could in no sense be termed settlers. They came 
to trap and hunt and not to build homes. But 
this condition was not always to be, and we find 
overlapping the fur trade epoch of Montana’s 
history that of its early settlement. And, as 
has been the history of nearly all our western 
county, the missionaries were the first to es¬ 
tablish homes in this far away and savage 
country. 

That portion of what is now the state of 


Montana which lies between the main range of 
the Rocky mountains and the Bitter Root 
mountains was the first section of the state to 
be inhabited by white men. When the Lewis 
and Clark party (undoubtedly the first white 
men to set foot on the soil of that country) 
entered that section of the country in 1805, it 
was inhabited by three tribes of Indians—the 
Flatheads, the Kalispelumns (now known as 
the Pend d’Oreilles) and the Kootenais. 
From about 1820 up to 1841 this country was 
visited by white trappers, employes of the 
Hudson’s Bay company, who trapped and 








HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


43 


hunted over it, and then came the first mis¬ 
sionary, with the desire to teach the savages 
the ways of civilization. 

In the spring of 1840 Father P. J. De Smet, 
missionary of the Society of Jesus, left St. 
Louis with the intention of proceeding to the 
Bitter Root valley and there establishing a 
mission. He traveled with a party of the Amer¬ 
ican Fur company to that company’s rendez¬ 
vous on the Green river, where he was met by a 
party of Flatheads, who conducted him to the 
Bitter Root valley. From reliable sources we 
learn that Father De Smet remained, teaching 
and baptizing the Indians, from July 17th to 
the 29th of August, when he set out on his 
return, accompanied as before with a party of 
Flathead warriors. Going by way of the Yel¬ 
lowstone and Big Horn rivers, he proceeded 
to the fort of the American Fur company in 
the country of the Crows. From this point De 
Smet proceeded down the Yellowstone to Fort 
Union. John de Velder, a native of Belgium, 
was his only companion on this perilous trip, 
and several narrow escapes from running into 
parties of Indians are reported. From Fort 
Union they had the company of three men 
going to the Mandan village. From this place 
De Smet proceeded by way of Fort Pierre and 
Vermillion to Independence and thence to 
St. Louis. 

Next spring he set out again, accompanied 
by two priests Nicholas Point and Gregory 
Mengarini, and three lay brethren. Accord¬ 
ing to De Smet’s journal, they fell in with a 
party of hunters going into the mountainous 
country and another party bound for the 
“Oregon county” and California. The three 
parties traveled together as far as Fort Hall, 
where the missionaries were met by the Flat- 
heads and escorted to their country. 

Immediately after their arrival the mis¬ 
sionaries set about building a mission, which 
was named St. Mary’s, and which was used as 
a house of worship until 1850. Unfortunately 
a description of the mission as it was first con¬ 


structed is not available, but we learn that in 
1846 it consisted of 12 houses, built of logs, 
a church, a saw mill, a grist mill and buildings 
for farm use. Farming was carried on, and 
large crops of wheat, potatoes and other vege¬ 
tables of various kinds were produced; several 
head of cattle had been raised, and the estab¬ 
lishment had all the horses necessary for its use. 
This was the first farming done in the state of 
Montana. The burrs for the mill were brought 
from Belgium to the Oregon settlements and 
from there to St. Mary’s. 

In 1843 Jusuit college sent out two 
priests to assist Fathers Point and Mengarini, 
while De Smet was dispatched on a mission 
to Europe. These priests were Peter De Voss 
and Adrian Hoeken, and they arrived at St. 
Mary’s in September with three lay brethren. 

Bancroft thus gives a brief history of this 
mission and its effects upon the Indians: 

When the Flatheads took up the cross and the 
plowshare they fell victims to the diseases of the white 
race. When they no longer made war on their enemies, 
the Blackfeet nation, these implacable foes gave them 
no peace. They stole the horses of the Flatheads un¬ 
til they had none left with which to hunt buffalo, and 
in pure malice shot their beef cattle to prevent their 
feeding themselves at home, not refraining from shoot¬ 
ing the owners whenever an opportunity offered. By 
this system of persecution they finally broke up the 
establishment of St. Mary’s in 1850, the priests finding 
it impossible to keep the Indians settled in their village 
under the circumstances. They resumed their migra¬ 
tory habits, and the fathers having no protection in 
their isolation, the mission buildings were sold to John 
Owen, who with his brother, Francis, converted them 
into a trading post and fort, and put the establishment 
in a state of defence against the Blackfoot marauders. 

John Owen had come as far as the head¬ 
waters of the Snake as sutler for United States 
troops who were on their way to Oregon. This 
was in the fall of 1849. Winter overtook the 
troops, camp was established a few miles above 
Fort Hall and the winter passed there. In 
the fall of 1850 Owen crossed over the Bitter 
Root valley and, as has been stated, purchased 
St. Mary’s Mission. Here he engaged in trad- 




HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


49 


ing with parties crossing to the Oregon coun¬ 
try, and to some extent in farming and stock 
raising. 

Owen thought he was permanently estab¬ 
lished in this country, but the predatory Black- 
feet continually harassed him, and in 1853 he 
abandoned his post and set out with his herds 
for Oregon. He had not proceeded far when 
he met a detachment of soldiers under Col. 
Isaac I. Stevens, governor of the newly created 
territory of Washington, who was coming to 
establish a depot of supplies in the Bitter Root 
valley for the use of the government exploring 
parties which were to winter there. Owen 
and his party returned to the post he had aban¬ 
doned, feeling secure under the protection of 
the soldiers. 

While Father De Smet had been forced to 
abandon his mission at St. Mary’s, others soon 
took up the work of looking after the spiritual 
welfare of the Indians in the Bitter Root Val¬ 
ley, and in 1854 St. Ignatius mission was es¬ 
tablished. Hubert Howe Bancroft, in his 
“History of Washington, Idaho and Mon¬ 
tana,” says of this mission : 

In 1853-54 the only missions in operation were 
those of the Sacred Heart at Coeur d’Alene, St. Ignat¬ 
ius at Kalispel lake, and St. Paul at Colville, though 
certain visiting stations were kept up, where baptisms 
were performed periodically. In 1854, after the Ste¬ 
vens exploring expedition had made the country more 
habitable by treaty talks with the Blackfeet and other 
tribes, Hoeken, who seems nearly as indefatigable as 
De Smet, selected a site for a new mission, “not far 
from Flathead lake and about fifty miles from the old 
mission of St. Mary’s.” Here he erected during the 
summer several frame buildings, a chapel, shops and 
dwellings, and gathered about him a camp of Koote- 
nais, Flatbows, Pend d’Oreilles, Flatheads and Kalis- 
pels. Rails and fencing were cut to the number of 18000 
a large field put under cultivation and the mission of 
St. Ignatius in the Flathead country became the successor 
of St. Mary’s. In the new “reduction” the fathers 
were assisted by the officers of the exploring expedition, 
and especially by Lieutenant Mullan, who wintered in 
the Bitter Root valley in 1854-55. In return the fa¬ 
thers assisted Gov. Stevens at the treaty grounds and 
endeavored to control the Coeur d’Alenes and Spo- 
kanes in the troubles that immediately followed the 
4 


treaties of 1855. Subsequently the mission in the Bit¬ 
ter Root valley was revived, and the Flatheads were 
taught there until the removal to the reservation at 
Flathead lake, which reserve included St. Ignatius 
mission, when a school was first opened in 1863 by 
Father Urbanus Grassi. In 1858 the missionaries at 
the Flathead mission had 300 more barrels of flour 
than they could consume, which they sold to the posts 
of the American Fur company on the Missouri, and the 
Indians cultivated fifty farms, averaging five acres 
each. In their neighborhood were two sawmills. 

The treaty referred to in the above was 
held in July, 1855, at a point about eight miles 
below the present city of Missoula. The ef¬ 
fect of this treaty was far reaching. 

During the late fifties that part of Montana 
lying west of the Rocky mountains received a 
few more settlers. This part of the history of 
our state is very ably told by one who was a 
resident of the country at that time, Judge 
Frank H. Woody: 

In the fall of 1856 several parties who had been 
spending the summer trading on the “road” relin¬ 
quished that business and came to the Bitter Root val¬ 
ley and took up their residence, among whom were T. 
W. Harris, Joseph Lompre and William Rodgers. 

During the winter of 1856-57 the population of the 
Bitter Root valley was larger than it again was until 
the fall of i860. 

Up to this time no settlement had been made in 
the Hell Gate Rounde. Soon after the arrival of Mr. 
Pattee he contracted with Major Owen and commenced 
the erection of a grist and sawmill at Fort Owen. In 
the latter part of December, 1856, McArthur, having 
determined upon the erection of a trading post in the 
Hell Gate Ronde, dispatched Jackson, Holt. Madison, 
“Pork” and the writer to Council Grove to get out 
necessary timbers to erect the buildings the next sum¬ 
mer. Our quarters consisted of an Indian lodge, and 
\ye fared sumptuously on bread and beef, with coffee 
without sugar about once a week. The snow fell deep 
during the winter and the weather was quite cold, but 
we lost but little time, and by spring had gotten out a 
large quantity of square timber. In the spring Mc¬ 
Arthur paid us off for our winter’s work, each man 
receiving a cayuse horse in full for all demands. With 
the coming of spring there was a general breaking up 
of all winter quarters and not many men were left in 
the country. James Holt and the writer remained in 
the employ of McArthur, broke about eight acres of 
land and sowed it to wheat and also planted a garden. 
This was the first attempt to farming in the Hell Gate 
Ronde. The potatoes, carrots, beets, turnips and onions 





50 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


grew well, but the wheat, while in milk, was completely 
killed by a heavy frost on the night of August 14, 1857- 
McArthur was absent during the entire summer and 
fall, having gone to Colville and thence to the Suswap 
mines in British Columbia. In those days we did not 
have our daily paper and telegraphic dispatches from 
all parts of the world, but thought ourselves fortunate 
if we got one or two Oregon papers in six months; 
eastern papers we never saw. The following will show 
our isolated condition: The presidential election was 
held in November, 1856, but we knew nothing of the 
results until about the middle of April. 1857, when 
Abraham Finley arrived from Olympia with a govern¬ 
ment express for the Indian department, bringing two 
or three Oregon papers, from which we learned that 
Buchanan had been elected and inaugurated president. 

Few events of historic interest occurred from the 
fall of 1857 to the fall of 1859. During the spring and 
summer of 1858 an Indian war in the Spokane and 
lower Nez Perce country cut off all communication 
with the west and placed the settlers of this country 
in a dangerous situation. Congress having made a 
large appropriation to build a military wagon road 
from Fort Walla Walla to Fort Benton placed Lieuten¬ 
ant John Mullan in charge of the work. He organized 
his expedition at The Dalles, Oregon, in the spring of 
1858, but was forced to abandon it on account of the 
Indian hostilities. He again organized in the spring 
of 1859 and constructed the road over the Coeur d’Alene 
mountains as far as Cantonment Jordan on the St. 
Regis Borgia, where he went into winter quarters, send¬ 
ing his stock to the Bitter Root valley. During the 
winter the greater portion of the heavy grades between 
Frenohtown and the mouth of Cedar creek was con¬ 
structed. In the spring of i860 he resumed his march 
and took his expedition through to Fort Benton, doing 
but little work, however, between Hell’s Gate and Fort 
Benton. 

In June, i860, Frank L. Worden and C. P. Hig¬ 
gins, under the firm name of Worden & Company, 
started for Walla Walla with a stock of general mer¬ 
chandise for the purpose of trading at the Indian 
agency, but. upon their arrival at Hell’s Gate, they de¬ 
termined to locate at that point, and accordingly built 
a small log house and opened business. This was the 
first building erected at that place, and formed the 
nucleus of a small village that was known far and wide 
as Hell’s Gate, and which in later years had the repu¬ 
tation of being one of the roughest places in Montana. 
During this year four hundred United States troops un¬ 
der the command of Major Blake passed over the 
Mullan road from Fort Benton to Walla Walla and 
Colville. 

During the fall of this year a number of settlers 
came into the country and new farms were taken up 
at Frenehtown, Hell’s Gate and the Bitter Root val¬ 
ley, and during the winter of 1860-61 a considerable 
number of men wintered in the different settlements. 


In the spring of 1861 Lieutenant Mullan organized 
another party and started for Fort Benton to finish up 
the road he had nearly opened the year before. His 
expedition was accompanied by an escort of one hun¬ 
dred men under the command of Lieutenant Marsh. 
The expedition came as far as the crossing of the Big 
Blackfoot river, where they erected winter quarters 
and named them Cantonment Wright, in honor of Colo¬ 
nel, afterwards General, Wright, who quelled the In¬ 
dian war of 1858 so effectively. During the winter the 
heavy grades in the Hell’s Gate canyon were con¬ 
structed. 

The first marriage in this part of the coun¬ 
try, according fo Judge Woody, was solem¬ 
nized at Hell’s Gate on the fifth of March,1862, 
and the first law suit held within the present 
bounds of Montana was tried at Hell’s Gate in 
March of the same year. At that time the 
territory was included in Missoula county, one 
of the political divisions of Washington terri¬ 
tory. 

The first permanent settlement in Montana 
to reach the distinction of being called a town 
was established on the upper Missouri, where 
the town of Fort Benton now stands. The set¬ 
tlement was named in honor of United States 
Senator Thomas H. Benton, of Missouri, who 
was also the attorney for the American Fur 
company, the concern which erected the fort 
there and gave the settlement the name. The 
fort was built in 1846 and was used by the fur 
company for a trading post for twenty years. 
While still occupied by the American Fur com¬ 
pany other traders entered into the merchandise 
business at this point. Located as it is at the 
head of navigation of the Missouri, it served 
its first purpose as a trading post, and after¬ 
wards as a distributing point for all the new 
northwest. From the time of erecting the fort 
up until the early seventies Fort Benton was 
essentially a fur trading town, enjoying in ad¬ 
dition the advantages of an occasional visit 
from a steamboat. 

Many miners came by this route, and the 
town during the early mining days was a 
“lively” one in the full western significance of 
the word. Hundreds of people passing back 







HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


5i 


and forth would pass through and almost in¬ 
variably sojourn a few days. Often there 
would be no boats on which to take passage, 
and the sojourner would be obliged to remain 
for several days, yes, even weeks, until a boat 
would arrive. Often the last boat of the sea¬ 
son had left, and then they would construct 
mackinaws and descend in them, often a fleet 
going together for protection against the In¬ 
dians. 

Fort Benton was the freight distributing 
point for all the mining country of the upper 
courses of the Missouri, except when an occa¬ 
sional freight train would come overland from 
the neighborhood of Salt Lake or some other 
southern point, which traffic was small in com¬ 
parison with that which passed through Fort 
Benton. 

From its earliest days until 1880 the town 
enjoyed a reign of prosperity. Fort Benton 
was known throughout the entire northwest as 
the town of its day. The completion of the 
Northern Pacific railroad, the Utah & North¬ 
ern and the Canadian Pacific cut off immense 
tributary territory; and when the Great North¬ 
ern was completed and thriving towns sprung 
up along it, Fort Benton fell off greatly in pop¬ 
ulation and importance. 

West of the Rocky mountains, as has been 
stated, several settlers had taken up land and 
were engaged in farming on a small scale and 
in stock raising. Captain LaBarge, a steam¬ 
boat owner and trader, had built a fort near 
Fort Benton on the Missouri and was actively 
engaged in for trading and selling supplies to 
those who chanced to pass through this point 
to the country further beyond. In 1862, while 
west of the mountains, he visited the Deer 
Lodge river, and so fascinated was he with the 
valley that he laid out a townsite where the 
Cottonwood creek empties into the Deer Lodge 
river, which is a few miles above the Little 
Blackfoot, and called the town LaBarge. At 
an earlier date than this settlers had been mov¬ 
ing into the valley, and by the time LaBarge 


platted the town, there were some 75 settlers. 
In 1856 John F. Grant built a home at the con¬ 
fluence of the Little Blackfoot with the Deer 
Lodge river, the first building erected in that 
part of the country. Two years later, in i860, 
the first houses were built where the present 
town of Deer Lodge stands. Among the early 
settlers of this town were the Stuarts. The 
plat as laid out by Captain LaBarge was 
ignored, and buildings were erected without 
any regard for streets. James Stuart and oth¬ 
ers employed William DeLacy to survey the 
town, and from then on it was called Deer 
Lodge City. 

About the first of August, 1862, John 
White and party discovered placers on Grass¬ 
hopper creek. These placers yielded from five 
to twenty dollars per day per man. This news 
soon spread to the settlements west of the 
mountains, to the few scattered miners in the 
gulches at the headwaters of the Missouri, and 
to the settlement at Fort Benton. No sooner 
had the intelligence reached these points than 
an onrush of gold seekers pushed forward to 
the new discovery. Before the winter set in 
scattered sojourners and settlers from miles in 
every direction had reached the new discovery 
and the camp was called Bannack City, after 
the aboriginal tribe which inhabited that region. 
At about the same time a strike had been made 
in the Boise basin and the camp called Ban¬ 
nack City. That the two settlements might 
be distinguished, the settlement in the Boise 
basin was named West Bannack; the other 
East Bannack. Later, however, East Bannack 
was most commonly known as Bannack City. 

By the first of January, 1863, the town of 
Bannack had been laid out, and between 400 
and 500 people had gathered there, most of 
them awaiting the opening of spring, when 
prospecting could be carried on. The news of 
new strike brought into Bannack that element 
not most desirable—reckless adventurers, out¬ 
laws and murderers—as well as the honest 
miner and fortune hunter. In a later chapter 





52 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


we shall deal more fully with the former class 
—which was effectively taken care of by the 
Vigilantes. Up to this time the stage road 
hud not been opened from Fort BeUton, and the 
inter’s provisions were brought from Salt 
.Lake City. Bannack was at this time in Da¬ 
kota territory; later by federal enactment it be¬ 
came a town of Idaho territory, and in 1864 
of Montana territory. From the organization 
of Montana territory in 1864 until February 7, 
1865, Bannack was the capital city of Montana. 

On the 9th of April, 1863, James Stuart, 
with a party of prospectors set out from Ban¬ 
nack, headed for the Yellowstone and Big 
Horn rivers. They were not only prospecting 
for mines, but also looking for favorable loca¬ 
tions for establishing towns. At about the same 
time another party left Bannack, the two par¬ 
ties having planned to join each other at the 
mouth of the Stinkingwater river. The Stu¬ 
art party consisted of James Stuart, Cyrus D. 
Watkins, John Vanderbilt, James N. York, 
Richard McCafferty, James Hauxhurst, D. 
Underwood, S. T. Hauser, H. A. Bell, Wil¬ 
liam Roach, A. S. Blake, George H. Smith, H. 
T. Gerry, E. Bostwick and George Ives. The 
second, party was composed of Louis Simmons, 
William Fairweather, George Orr, Thomas 
Cover, Barney Hughes and Henry Edgar. 

When the second company reached the ap¬ 
pointed place of meeting it was learned that 
Stuart and party had advanced toward Yellow¬ 
stone. Consequently they followed the trail of 
Stuart’s party, but before overtaking it were 
met by a band of Crow Indians, who, after hav¬ 
ing robbed them of nearly all their belongings, 
ordered them to return from whence they came. 

On their return to Bannack they halted on 
Alder creek to cook lunch. Here they discov¬ 
ered the famous Alder Gulch placer, a detailed 
story of which discovery will be found in the 
chapter devoted to mining history. 

The people of Bannack believed that the 
party had made a strike and when he set out 
upon his return he was followed by 200 men. 


Upon the arrival of the two hundred men, a 
mining district was formed, and in honor of 
' the discoverer was named Fairweather. Dr. 
Steel was made president and James Fergus 
recorder. This was on the 6th of June. Vari¬ 
ous placers were discovered; excitement ran 
high and a stampede followed; the gulches 
swarmed with miners; and in a few months, 
it has been estimated, thousands of people had 
flocked to this district. 

A town was laid out in Alder gulch and 
named Virginia City. In less than a year the 
town had a population of ten thousand people. 
Large business houses were erected; immense 
stocks of goods were brought in; all lines of 
business flourished. Virginia City was incor¬ 
porated on December 30, 1864, and the follow¬ 
ing were selected its first officers: Mayor, P. 
S. Pfouts; aldermen, Dr. L. Daems, Jacob 
Feldberg, Major James R. Boyce, J. M. Cast- 
ner, John Le Beau, James McShane, H. A. 
Pease and William Shoot. The city was 
divided into four wards, two aldermen being 
selected from each. In the years 1864-65 
Virginia City reached the zenith of its pros¬ 
perity and had a populatiion of 10,000 souls. 
At the first election after the formation of the 
territory, Madison county cast 5,286 votes, 
Virginia City having 2,310, and Nevada, sit¬ 
uated a little over a mile below that city—a 
town which had sprung up about the same 
time—1,806 of the total number of votes cast. 

The district court convened in the young 
city for the first time on the first Monday of 
December, 1864. The territorial capital was 
moved from Bannack on February 7th follow¬ 
ing. The first newspaper published in the ter¬ 
ritory, the Montana Post, was established here 
August 27, 1864. November 2, 1866, a tele¬ 
graph line was completed between Salt Lake 
City and Virginia City. 

In 1865 a freight line was established from 
Virginia City to Helena, thence to Fort Ben¬ 
ton. The first overland stage to California 
was in operation in the spring of the same year. 





HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


53 


The route was by way of Salt Lake City. A 
mail service was established in 1864 between 
California, Salt Lake City and Virginia City. 
In the fifth volume of the Montana Historical 
Selections is given an interesting account of 
the competition which then existed between 
the rival companies operating between Virginia 
City and Fort Benton. We quote from that 
document: 

To show the quality of metal of which some of our 
people were made, and further to illustrate some of our 
financial conditions, conditions contemperaneous with 
the appointment of Gov. Smith to the territorial mag¬ 
istracy, it is well to recall the establishment of the 
overland stage line from Virginia to Helena in June, 
1866. At that particular time Virginia and Helena 
were booming minings camps, and excitement was at 
fever heat. There were then competitive stage lines 
running daily between those points, and there were to 
be seen three six-horse stages, all well equipped, start¬ 
ing seven mornings in the week from each end of said 
places for the other. The rivalry was intense, times 
were red hot and every fellow was determined to “bear 
the market.” All sides were gritty, and rates were cut 
until fares were reduced to $2.50, and expressage ac¬ 
cordingly. It so chanced that the “Overland” had as 
its superintendent a man of rare enterprise and intel¬ 
ligence, with genuine western nerve, and though the 
distance was one hundred and twenty-five miles and the 
roads were new, the time table was reduced, first from 
sixteen hours to fourteen, then from fourteen to twelve, 
and again from twelve to ten hours daily, including 
all stops, making an average of twelve and one half 
miles an hour the entire distance of one hundred and 
twenty-five miles. The struggle was long and bitter, 
the finality was the other stages “pulled off,” and the 
campaign ended by leaving the track to the Overland. 
The competition being over, the cut rates ceased, and 
the old rate of $25.00 in “gold dust” or $35.50 in “green¬ 
backs,” or as they were often contemptuously called, 
“Lincoln skins,” was restored. 

During the early days in Virginia City 
fabulous pricess were paid for provisions. 
Miners were paid from ten to fifteen dollars 
a day for their labor. Several hundred claims 
were located and gold was taken out at a 
furious rate. Besides the Virginia City district 
five other districts were organized on Alder 
creek—Nevada and Junction below Virginia 
City, and Highland, Pine Grove and Summit 
up the stream. 


We will now return to the James Stuart 
party. As has been stated, this party was 
headed for the Yellowstone, prospecting for 
locations for townsites as well as for gold. 
Had these men stopped to prospect the country 
instead of hurrying to the Yellowstone they 
might have been the discoverers of the Alder 
gulch placers. They crossed the Madison, then 
the Gallatin and over the divide to the Yellow¬ 
stone, reaching that river on the 25th of April. 
They pursued their course down the river, and 
on the 5th of May arrived at the Big Horn 
river. Here they laid out a town on the east 
side of the Big Horn—a town which has not 
to this day been peopled. After having platted 
the townsite the party proceeded up the Big 
Horn. On the night of the 12th they w-ere 
surprised by a band of Indians and three of the 
men were killed. On the 22nd of June -the 
party arrived at Bannack City, having traveled 
several hundred miles, having located a town- 
site, but having found no precious metal. 

The next town founded in the territory w-as 
Helena. 

John Cowan erected a cabin in the fall of 
1864, which w r as the first building in what is 
no.w Helena, the capital city of the great state 
of Montana. Hundreds of miners sw r armed to 
the new camp, which proved to be one of the 
richest placers ever discovered. Miners’ cabins 
sprung up, stores w-ere established, and in a 
short time Last Chance, as the camp was first 
called, was a rival of Virginia City. 

The day of christening had come, and the 
embryo city of Helena received its name. John 
Somerville, of Minnesota, acted as god-father. 
He gave it the name of St. Helena, in com¬ 
memoration of the resemblance of the location 
to the home of Napoleon. On after considera¬ 
tion it was decided to drop the “Saint.” The 
christening took place at the cabin of Geo. J. 
Wood on October 30, 1864. 

During the winter of 1864-65 a hundred 
or more cabins w ? ere built. In the fall of 1864 
I a committee was appointed to lay out streets 






54 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


and fix the size of town lots. No sooner had 
this been done than a mad rush was made for 
lots, and fabulous prices were paid for choice 
locations. The first hotel was built by Judge 
Wood on the comer of Main and Bridge 
streets. On the 26th of March, 1865, Rev. 
McLaughlin preached the first sermon, and on 
the 16th of April inaugurated the first Sunday 
school. In the spring of 1865 Sandus & Rock- 
nell established a saw mill. John Potter was 
the first postmaster. The postoffice was in the 
Taylor & Thompson building on lower Main 
street. Prof. A. B. Patch opened the first day 
school in April, 1865, and the first public school 
house was erected and opened for instructions 
in January, 1868. Telegraphic communica¬ 
tion with the outside world was opened in Sep¬ 
tember, 1867. 

The first settlers in Butte were G. O. Hum¬ 
phries and William Allison. They left Vir¬ 
ginia City on a prospecting tour in May, 1864. 
After prospecting on Babboon gulch, above 
where Butte now stands, for some time they 
returned to Virginia City for provisions, and 
then, early in June, they returned to Butte, 
where they made their permanent residences. 
They discovered the Virginia, Moscow and 
Missoula leads, and were the formers of the 
Missoula company. The Black Chief lead, an 
enormous ledge, was discovered in the latter 
part of May, 1864, by Charles Murphy and 
William Graham. Copper was found in great 
quantities. The news of the new discoveries 
spread to other camps, ,and in a few weeks a 
hundred people were on the ground, and Butte 
City was laid out. During the fall placers were 
discovered by Felix Burgoyne on Silver Bow 
creek, and people gathered from all directions. 
A mining district was formed in the lower part 
of the gulch, which received the name of Sum¬ 
mit Mountain district. Silver Bow soon be¬ 
came a town and during the winter of 1864-65 
was a lively mining camp, and many lodes 
were struck. During the winter of 1864 Ford 
& Dresser established a store in Butte. At 


about the same time a store was being estab¬ 
lished in Silver Bow. In 1866 a furnace for 
smelting copper was erected by Joseph Rams- 
dall, William Parks and Porter brothers. 

Not until 1875 did Butte assume the aspect 
of a city. About that time the quartz proper¬ 
ties were being developed. This required the 
labor of many men, and the cabins of the 
miners—no modern dwellings having been 
erected previous to‘this date—gave place to 
more substantial buildings, and in a few years 
more Butte was a substantial city with five 
thousand inhabitants. 

In 1865 Hector Horton discovered the 
mines where the city of Philipsburg is now lo¬ 
cated. Many silver-bearing veins in this 
vicinity made sure the permanence of a town, 
and in 1866 a townsite was laid out. 

So early as 1855 Lieutenant John Mullan 
and party discovered gold where the present 
town of Pioneer is located. Its mines were 
worked in 1862 and 1863, then abandoned, 
and again opened in 1865. Both placer and 
quartz were found in paying quantities, and in 
a few years Pioneer was a thriving town. 

In 1864 J. M. Bozeman was dispatched by 
the government to look for a wagon road from 
the three forks of the Missouri to the red buttes 
on the North Platte. He was successful in 
his undertaking and the road was known as 
“Bozeman cut-off.” During the month of July 
of the same year in which Mr. Bozeman laid 
out the road he founded the city which bears 
his name. The town was laid out at the foot 
of the Belt range, and tributary to it is a fine 
farming section of country. In the early days, 
before there was railroad communications, a 
stage line connected it with Virginia City and 
another with Helena. Bozeman, the founder 
of the town, met the ill fate of many of the 
pioneers, being killed near the mouth of the 
Shield’s river April 20, 1867. 

During the early days of the mining ex¬ 
citement some 30,000 or 40,000 people rushed 
into Montana; cities were founded and 




HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


55 


quickly populated; men engaged in all kinds 
of business and prospered. All this despite 
the fact that Montana was hundreds of miles 
from the usual transportation facilities. The 
matter of travel to and from this far away 
country, the bringing in of the mining machin¬ 
ery and the immense stocks of goods that 
must necessarily have been carried to care for 
the trade was an important one to the early 
settlers of Montana, and the subject is one full 
of interest, even of romance. For the follow¬ 
ing history of the early day transportation we 
are indebted to H. H. Bancroft’s History of 
Montana. 

Taking up the recital at 1864, there was at 
this time no settled plan of travel or fixed chan¬ 
nels of trade. There had been placed upon the 
Missouri a line of steamers intended to facili¬ 
tate immigration to Idaho, which was called 
the Idaho Steam Packet company. The water be¬ 
ing usually low, or rather not unusually high, 
only two of the boats reached Fort Benton— 
the Benton and Cutter. The Yellowstone 
landed at Cow Island and the EfRe Deans at 
the mouth of Milk river. The Benton , which 
was adapted to upper river navigation, brought 
a part of the freight left at the other places 
down the river by other boats to Fort Benton; 
but the passengers had already been set afoot 
in the wilderness to make the best of their way 
to the mines; and a large portion of the freight 
had to be forwarded in small boats. At the 
same time there was an arrival at Virginia City 
of 200 or 300 immigrants daily by the over¬ 
land wagon route, as well as large trains of 
freight from Omaha. 

In 1865 there were eight arrivals of steam¬ 
boats, four of which reached Benton, the other 
four stopping at the mouth of Marias river. In 
this year the merchants of Portland, desirous 
of controlling the trade of Montana, issued a 
circular to the Montana merchants proposing 
to make it for their interest to purchase goods 
in Portland and ship by way of the Columbia 
river and the Mullan road, with improve¬ 


ments in that route of steamboat navigation on 
Lake Pend d'Oreille, and S. G. Reed of the Or¬ 
egon Steam Navigation company went east to 
confer with the Northern Pacific Railroad Com¬ 
pany. In 1866 some progress was made in 
opening this route, which in the autumn of that 
year stood as follows: From Portland to White 
Bluffs on the Columbia by the O. S. N. Co’s 
boats; from White Bluffs by stage road to a 
point on Clark’s fork, where Moody & Co. were 
building a steamboat, 110 feet long by 26 feet 
beam, called the Mary Moody , to carry passen¬ 
gers and freight across the lake and up Clark’s 
fork to Cabinet landing, where was a short 
portage, and transfer to another steamboat 
which would carry to the mouth of Jocko river, 
after which land travel would again be resorted 
I to. The time to Jocko would be seven or eight 
days, and thence to the rich Blackfoot mines 
was a matter of fifty or sixty miles. It was 
proposed to carry freight to Jocko in 17 days 
from Portland at a cost of 13 cents per pound. 
From Jocko to Helena was about 120 miles, 
and from> Helena to Virginia about 90. 
By this route freight could arrive during half 
the year, while by the Missouri river it could 
only come to Benton during a period of from 
four to six weeks, dependent upon the stage of 
water. The lowest charges by Missouri 
steamer in 1866 were 15 cents to Benton for a 
large contract, ranging upwards to 18 and 21 
cents a pound, or $360 to $420 per ton to the 
lauding only, after which there was the addi¬ 
tional charge for transporting on wagons, at 
. the rate from five to eight cents, according 
to whether it reached Benton or not, or whether 
it was destined to Helena or more distant 
points. San Francisco merchants offered for 
the trade of Montana, averring that freight 
could be laid down there at from 15 to 20 cents 
a pound overland. Chicago merchants com¬ 
peted as well, taking the overland route from 
the Missouri. Meanwhile Montana could not 
pause in its course and took whatever came. 

In 1866 there was a large influx of popula- 








56 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


tion and a correspondingly large amount of 
freight coming in, and a considerable flood of 
travel pouring out in the autumn. The season 
was favorable to navigation and there were 
thirty-one arrivals of steamboats, seven boats 
being at Fort Benton at one time in June. One, 
the Marion, was wrecked on the return trip. 
These boats were built expressly for the trade 
of St. Louis. They brought up 2,000 passen¬ 
gers or more and 6,000 tons of freight, valued 
at $6,000,000. The.freight charges by boat 
alone amounted to $2,000,000. Some mer¬ 
chants paid $100,000 freight bills; 2,500 men, 
3,000 teams, 20,000 oxen and mules were em¬ 
ployed conveying the goods to different min¬ 
ing centers. 

Large trains were arriving overland from 
the east, conducted by James Fisk, the man 
who conducted the Minnesota trains of 1862 
and 1863 by order of the government, for the 
protection of immigrants. The plan of the 
organization seems to have been to make the 
immigrants travel like a military force, obeying 
orders like soldiers and standing guard regu¬ 
larly. From Fort Ripley Fisk took a 12 pound 
howitzer with ammunition. Scouts, flankers and 
train guards were kept on duty. These pre¬ 
cautions were made necessary by the recent 
Sioux outbreak in Minnesota. The officers 
under Fisk were Charles Dart, first assistant; 
S. H. Johnston, second assistant and journal¬ 
ist; William D. Dibb, physician; George 
Northrup, wagon-master; Antoine Frenier, 
Sioux interpreter; R. D. Campbell, Chippewa 
interpreter. The guard numbered 50, and the 
wagons were marked “U. S.” Colonels Jones 
and Majors, majors Hesse and Hanney, of the 
Oregon boundary survey, joined the expedition. 
Wagon-master, Northrup, and two half breeds 
deserted on the road, taking with them horses, 
arms and accoutrements belonging to the gov¬ 
ernment. The route was along the north side 
of the Missouri to Fort Benton, where the 
expedition disbanded, having had no trouble of 
any kind on the road, except the loss of 


Majors, who was, however, found on the 
second day, nearly dead from exhaustion, and 
the death of an invalid, William H. Holyoke, 
after reaching Prickly Pear river. 

In 1864 about one thousand wagons 
arrived at Virginia by the central, or 
Platte, route. In 1865 the immigration 
by this route was large. The round 
about way of reaching the mines from the east 
had incited J. M. Bozeman to survey a more 
direct route to the North Platte, by which 
travel could avoid the journey through the 
south pass and back through either of the 
passes used in going from Bannack to Salt 
Lake. This road was opened and considerably 
traveled in 1866, but was closed by the Indian 
war in the following year and kept closed by 
order of the war department for a number of 
years. In July, 1866, a train of 45 wagons and 
200 persons passed over the Bozeman route, 
commanded by Orville Royce, and piloted by 
Zeigler, who had been to the states to bring out 
his family. Peter Shroke also traveled the 
Bozeman route. Several deaths occurred by 
drowning at the crossings of the rivers, among 
them Storer, Whitson and Van Shimel. One 
train was composed of Illinois, Iowa and Wis¬ 
consin people. In the rear of the immigration 
were freight wagons and detached parties to 
the number of 300. A party of young Ken- 
tuckyians who left home with Governor Smith’s 
party became detached and wandered about for 
one hundred days, thirty-five of which they 
were force to depend upon the game they could 
kill. They arrived at Virginia City destitute 
of clothing on the 13th, 14th and 15th of De¬ 
cember. Their names were Henry Cummings 
and Benjamin Cochran, of Covington; Austin 
S. Stewart, Frank R. Davis, A. Lewis, N. W. 
Turner, of Lexington; Henry Yerkes, Danville; 
P. Sidney Jones, Louisville; Thos. McGrath, 
Versailles; J. W. Throckmorton and William 
Kelly, Paris. 

The Indians on the Bozeman route endeav¬ 
ored to cut off immigration. Hugh Kiken- 





HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


57 


dall’s freight train of forty-six mule teams was 
almost captured by them, “passing through a 
shower of arrows.” It came from Leaven¬ 
worth, arriving in September. Joseph Rich¬ 
ards conducted 52 wagons loaded with quartz 
machinery from Nebraska City to Summit 
district for Frank Chistnut and had but one 
mule stolen. J. H. Gildersleeve, bringing out 
three wagon loads of goods for himself, lost 
nine horses by the Indians near Fort Reno. 
J. Dilmorth brought out eight loaded wagons 
from Leavenworth; J. H. Marden five from 
Atchison, for Brendlinger, Dowdy and Kiskad- 
den; J. P. Wheeler brought out six wagons 
loaded at the same place for the same firm; F. 
R. Merk brought thirteen wagons from Law¬ 
rence, Kansas; Alfred Myers seven wagons 
from Guerney & Co.; D. and J. McCain 
brought eleven wagons from Nebraska City, 
loaded with flour, via Salt Lake; E. R. Horner 
brought out eight wagons loaded at Nebraska 
City for himself, the Indians killing two men 
and capturing five mules belonging to the train; 
William Ellinger of Omaha brought out four 
wagons; A. F. Weston of St. Joseph, Missouri, 
brought out eight wagons loaded with boots 
and shoes for D. H. Weston, of Guerney & Co.; 
Thomas Dillon left Plattsmouth, Nebraska, for 
Virginia City on May 26 with 23 wagons for 
Tootle, Leach & Co.; Dillon was killed by the 
Indians on Cedar Fork, near Fort Reno. A 
train of 19 wagons belonging to C. Beers and 
Vail & Robinson had 90 mules captured on the 
Big Horn river. The wagons remained there 
until teams could be sent to bring them in. 
Phillips & Freeland, of Leavenworth, arrived 
with 14 loaded wagons in September; and five 
wagons for Hanauer & Eastman. R. W. 
Trimble brought out 17 wagons for Hanauer, 
Solomon & Co. Nathan Floyd of Leaven¬ 
worth, bringing five wagons loaded with goods 
for himself, was killed by the Indians near Fort 
Reno, and his head was severed from his body. 
A train of 26 wagons, which left Nebraska 
City in May with goods for G. B. Morse, had 


two men killed near Fort Reno, on Dry fork 
of Cheyenne river. Pfouts & Russell, of Vir¬ 
ginia City, received forty tons of goods in 17 
wagon loads this season. At the same time 
pack train from Walla Walla came into Helena 
over the Mullan road, which had been so closed 
by fallen timber, decayed or lost bridges and 
general unworthiness as to be unfit for wagon 
travel, bringing clothing manufactured in San 
Francisco and articles of domestic production. 
Heavy wagon trains from Salt Lake with flour 
salt, bacon, etc., arrived frequently. So much 
life, energy, effort and stir could but be stimu¬ 
lating as the mountain air in which all this 
movement went on. The freighter in those 
days was regarded with for more respect than 
railroad men of a later day. It required capital 
and nerve to conduct the business. Sometimes, 
but rarely, they lost a whole train by Indians, 
or by accident, as when Matthews, in the spring 
of 1866, lost a train by the giving away of an 
ice jam in the Missouri, which flooded the bot¬ 
tom where he was encamped and carried off 
all his stock. 

Many of those who came in the spring, or 
who had been a year or more in the country, 
returned in the autumn. The latter availed 
themselves of the steamers, which took back 
large numbers at the reasonable charge of $60 
and $75. The boats did not tarry at Benton, 
but dropped down the river to deeper water, 
and waited as long as it would be safe for pas¬ 
sengers. A small boat called the Miner , be¬ 
longing to the Northwest Fur company, was 
employed to carry them from Benton to the 
lower landings. The Luella was the boat selec¬ 
ted to carry the two and one-half millions from 
Confederate gulch. She left Benton on the 
16th of August and was seven days getting 
down to Dophan rapids, 250 miles below, 
where it was found neccessary to take out the 
bulk-head, take off the cabin doors, and land 
the passengers and stores to lighten her suf¬ 
ficiently to pass her over the rapids. She es¬ 
caped any further serious detention, passing 




58 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


Leavenworth October 8th and St. Joseph Oc¬ 
tober ioth, as announced in the telegraphic dis¬ 
patches in Virginia and Helena Post October 
16th. The expedient was resorted to of build¬ 
ing fleets of mackinaw boats, such as were used 
by the fur companies, and either selling them 
outright to parties, or sending them down the 
river with passengers. Riker & Bevins of 
Helena advertised such boats to leave Septem¬ 
ber ioth in the Republican of the ist. J. J. 
Kennedy & Co., advertised “large-roofed mack¬ 
inaws” to Omaha, “with comfortable accom¬ 
modations and reasonable charges;” also boats 
for sale, carring ten to thirty men. Jones, 
Sprague & Nottingham was another mackinaw 
company; and W. H. Parkeson advertised 
“bullet-proof” mackinaws. That was a recom¬ 
mendation as bullets were sometimes showered 
upon these defenseless crafts from the banks 
above. Three men, crew of the first mackinaw 
that set out, were killed by the Indians. 
Another party of 22 were fired upon one morn¬ 
ing as they were about to embark, and two 
mortally wounded—Kendall of Wisconsin and 
Tupsey of New York—who were left at Fort 
Sully to die. In this and subsequent years 
many home-returning voyagers were inter¬ 
cepted and heard of no more. The business in 
the autumn of 1866 was lively. Huntley of 
Helena established a stage line to a point on 
the Missouri 15 miles from that place, whence 
a line of mackinaw boats, owned by Kennedy, 
carried passengers to the falls in 25 hours. 
Here a portage was made in light wagons. On 
the third day they reached Benton, where a 
final embarkment took place. One boat carried 
22 passengers and $50,000 in treasure. A 
party of 45, which went down on the steamer 
Montana, carried $100,000. A party of Maine 
men carried away $60,000, and Munger of St. 
Louis $25,000. Professor Patch of Helena, 
with a fleet of seven large boats and several 
hundred passengers, carried away $1,000,000. 
They were attacked above Fort Rice by 300 
Indians, whom they drove away. These home¬ 


returning miners averaged $3,000 each, which 
were the savings of a single short season. 

A new route was opened to the Missouri in 
1866, by mackinaws down the Yellowstone. 
A fleet of 16 boats belonging to C. A. Head 
carried 250 miners from Virginia City. It 
left the Yellowstone canyon September 27th 
and traveled to St. Joseph, 2,700 miles, in 28 
days. The pilot-boat of this fleet was sunk at 
Clark’s ford of the Yellowstone, entailing a 
loss of $2,500. The expedition had in all 
$500,000 in gold dust. 

It was proposed to open a new wagon route 
from Helena to the mouth of the Musselshell 
river, 300 miles below Benton. The distance 
by land in a direct line was 190 miles. The 
Missouri and Rocky Mountain Wagon-road 
and Telegraph company employed twenty men 
under Moses Courtwright to lay it out, in the 
autumn, to Kerchival City, a place which is not 
now to be found on the map. The object was 
to save the most difficult navigation and open 
up the country. The Indians interrupted and 
prevented the survey of this road. An appro¬ 
priation was made by congress in 1865 for the 
opening of a road from the mouth of the Nio¬ 
brara river, Nebraska, to Virginia City, and 
Col. J. A. Sawyer was appointed superinten¬ 
dent. This would have connected with the 
Bozeman route. Its construction through the 
Indian country was opposed by General Cook. 

Such were the conditions of trade and 
travel in Montana in 1866. There were local 
stage lines in all directions, and better mail 
facilities than the eountries west of the Rocky 
mountains had enjoyed in their early days. The 
stage lines east of Salt Lake had more or less 
trouble with the Indians for ten or fifteen 
years. In 1867 travel was cut off and the 
telegraph destroyed. The Missouri, treacher¬ 
ous and difficult as it was, proved the only 
means of getting goods from the east as early 
as May or June. The Waverly arrived May 
25th with 150 tons of freight and many pas¬ 
sengers. She was followed by 38 other steam- 





HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


59 


boats, with freight and passengers; and in the 
autumn there was the same rush of returning 
miners, carrying millions with them out of the 
treasure deposits of the Rocky mountains. The 
Imperial, one of the St. Louis fleet, had the 
following experience: She started from Cow 
island, where 400 passengers who had come 
down from Benton in mackinaws took passage 
September 18th with 15 days’ provisions. She 
reached Milk river October 4th, out of supplies 
in the commissary department. The river was 
falling rapidly, and this, with the necessity for 
hunting, caused the boat to make but twenty 
miles in one entire week. The Sioux killed 
John Arnold, a miner from Blackfoot and a 
Georgian, while out hunting. The passengers 
were compelled to pull at ropes and spars to 
help the boat along. Every atom of food was 
consumed, and for a week the 400 subsisted on 
wild meat; then for three days they had noth¬ 
ing. At Fort Union they obtained some grain. 
Still making little progress, they arrived at Fort 
Sully November 14th, the weather being cold 
and ice running. At this point 14 of the pas¬ 
sengers took possession of an abandoned mack¬ 
inaw boat, which they rigged with a sail and 
started with it to finish their voyage. They 
reached Yankton, Dakota, November 22, 
where they took wagons to Sioux City and a 
railroad thence. The Imperial was at last 
frozen in the river and her passengers forced 
to take any and all means to get away from her 
to civilization. A train of immigrants came 
over the northern route this year, Captain P. 
A. Davy, commanding; Major William Cahill, 
adjutant; Captain J. D. Rogers, ordnance and 
inspecting officer; Captain Charles Wagner, 
A. D. C.; Captains George Swartz, Rosseau 
and Nibler. The train was composed of 60 
wagons, 130 men and the same number of 
women and children. Captain Davy had loaded 
his wagons so heavily that the men, who had 
paid their passage, were forced to walk. They 
had a guard of 100 soldiers from Fort Aber- 
crombe. This train arrived safely. The fleet 


down the Yellowstone this year met opposition 
from the Indians just below Big Horn river, 
and one man, Emerson Randall, killed. There 
were 67 men and two women in the party, 
who reached Omaha without further loss. 

A movement was made in 1873 to open a 
road from Bozeman to the head of navigation 
on the Yellowstone, and to build a steamer to 
run thence to the Missouri; also to get aid 
from the government in improving the river. 
The first steamboat to ascend the river any dis¬ 
tance was the Key West, which went to Wolf 
rapids in 1873, the Josephine reaching to with¬ 
in seven miles of Clark’s fork in 1874. Lamme 
built the Yellowstone at Jeffersonville, Indiana, 
in 1876. She was sunk below Fort Keogh in 
1879. In 1877 fourteen different boats ascen¬ 
ded above the Big Horn, and goods were taken 
from there to Bozeman by wagon. It was ex¬ 
pected to get within 150 miles of Bozeman the 
following year. 

In 1868 thirty-five steamers arrived at Ben¬ 
ton with 5,000 tons of freight. One steamer, 
the Amelia Poe, was sunk thirty miles below 
Milk river, and her cargo lost. The passengers 
were brought to Benton by the Bertha. This 
year the Indians were very hostile killing 
woodcutters < employed by the steamboat com¬ 
pany, and murdering hunters and others. 
There was also a sudden dropping in prices, 
caused by the Northwest Transportation com¬ 
pany of Chicago, which dispatched its boats 
from Sioux City, competing for the Montana 
trade, and putting freight down to eight cents 
a pound to Benton, in gold, or 12 cents in cur¬ 
rency. This caused the St. Louis merchants 
to put the freights down to six cents. The 
president of the Chicago company was Joab 
Lawrence, an experienced steamboat man, with 
Samuel DeBow agent. This reduction effect¬ 
ually cut off opposition from the west side of 
the Rocky mountains, and rendered the Mary 
Moody and the Mullan road of little value to 
the trade of Montana. This accounts, in fact, 
for the apathy concerning that route. For a 




6o 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


short period there was a prospect of the Pend 
d’Oreille lake route being a popular one, but 
it perished in 1868. In 1874 Delegate Magin- 
nis introduced a bill in congress for the im¬ 
provement of the Mullan road, which failed, 
as all the memorials and representations of the 
Washington legislature had failed. 

There was a new era begun in 1869, when 
the Central and Union Pacific railroads were 
joined. There were 28 steamers loaded for 
Montana, four of which were burned with 
their cargoes before leaving the levee at St. 
Louis. This fleet was loaded before the com¬ 
pletion of the road. Had the Bozeman route 
been kept open there would have been com¬ 
munication with the railroad much earlier; but 
since the government had chosen to close it, 
and to keep a large body of hostile Indians be¬ 
tween the Montana settlements and the ad¬ 
vancing railroad, it was of no use before it 
reached Ogden and Corinne. The advent of- 
the railroad, even as near as Corinne, caused 
another reduction from former rates to eight 
cents per pound currency from St. Louis and 
Chicago by rail, to which four cents from 
Corinne to Helena was'added. The boats un¬ 
derbid, and 24 steamers brought cargoes to 
Fort Benton, eight of which belonged to the 
Northwest company; but in 1870 only eight 
were thus employed; in 1871 only six; in 1872 
twelve; and in 1873 and 1874 seven and six 


Conspicuous among the freighting companies 
which made connections with the railroad 
points was the Diamond railroad, George B. 
Parker, manager, which in 1880 absorbed the 
Rocky Mountain Despatch company, shippers 
from Ogden, and made its initial point Cor¬ 
inne. When the Northern Pacific railroad 
reached the Missouri at Bismarck, the Diamond 
railroad made connection with it by wagon 
train, thus compelling the Union Pacific rail¬ 
road to make special rates to Ogden for Mon¬ 
tana, the charge being $1.25 per hundred with¬ 
out regard to classification, when Utah merch¬ 
ants were being charged $2.50 for the same ser¬ 
vice. Montanians chose to sustain the northern 
route. In 1879 there were 1,000 teams on the 
road between Bismark and the Black Hills, and 
Montana merchants were unable to get their 
goods brought through in consequence of this 
diversion of wagon road to the east by way 
of the Yellowstone, which failed. These diffi¬ 
culties soon disappeared as the Northern Pa¬ 
cific railroad advanced. Steamboat travel had a 
rival after the falling off above mentioned. In 
the year 1877 twenty-five steamers arrived at 
Benton with 5,283 tons of freight. Small com¬ 
panies engaged in steamboating later. The com¬ 
pletion of the Northern Pacific railroad placed 
transportation on a basis of certainty, and 
greatly modified its character. 


CHAPTER VI 


THE POLITICAL DIVISIONS. 


It is an interesting study, the tracing of 
the many divisions of the territory now em¬ 
braced within the boundary lines of the state 
of Montana. Little known, valued or cared for 
prior to the fortuitous circumstance which led 
to the discovery of gold and the consequent 


influx of population, the territory which we 
know as Montana had been carved, sliced, di¬ 
vided and redivided as suited the whims of am¬ 
bitious state makers. Then, when it was 
found that the mountainous country was an 
immense treasure bed and people poured into 








HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


61 


the country by the thousands, other divisions 
were made, and finally, on the 26th day of 
May, 1864, the act creating the. territory of 
Montana was approved, with boundaries prac¬ 
tically the same as those of the state at the pres¬ 
ent time. 

To gain a thorough understanding of the 
many divisions which followed, it will be neces¬ 
sary to remember that all that part of the state 
of Montana which lies to the east of the main 
range of the Rocky mountains was a part of the 
territory of the United States acquired from 
France by treaty, known as the Louisiana pur¬ 
chase; while that part of the state which lies 
to the west of the mountains was a part of the 
“Oregon country,” which was acquired by the 
United States by reason of discovery and ex¬ 
ploration. As the western half of our coun¬ 
try was a truly terra incognito at the time of 
the Louisiana purchase the boundary lines of 
Louisiana were very indefinite. As a result 
some authorities maintain that the Oregon 
country should be classed as a part of the 
Louisiana purchase. It is a matter of fact, 
however, that in our controversy with Great 
Britain for the possession of Oregon, the pur¬ 
chase of Louisiana from France had very little 
weight in giving the Oregon country to the 
United States, and the Rocky mountains are 
now generally named as the western boundary 
of the Louisiana country. 

It is of the Louisiana country that we shall 
first tell. In 1682 the renowned explorer, La 
Salle, took possession of all that part of the 
North American continent extending from the 
Mississippi river westward in the name of the 
king of France, Louis XIV, in whose honor 
La Salle named the country Louisiana. France 
retained possession of this uninhabitated wild¬ 
erness until 1762, when it was ceded to Spain. 
By the treaty of St. Ildefonso, which was held 
in 1800, France regained possession, the trans¬ 
fer not taking place until three years later. It 
was on November 30, 1803, that France raised 
its tri-colored flag and formally assumed pos¬ 


session. But in the meantime negotiations had 
been perfected (April 30, 1803) whereby the 
United States purchased the territory from 
France, and on the 20th day of December of 
the same year the stars and stripes were raised 
and the United States formally came into pos¬ 
session of the heart of the North American 
continent, at a cost of the nominal sum of fif¬ 
teen million dollars. Owing to the small time 
intervening between the several transfers, 
under the laws of nations, the inhabitants of 
Louisiana owed their allegiance to Spain No¬ 
vember 29, 1803; to France on the succeeding 
day; and to the United States on December 
20th following. England asserted sometimes 
during this period a claim under the discover¬ 
ies of the intrepid Cabots to the territory be¬ 
tween the Atlantic and the Pacific, but the 
claims were never vindicated. The interests 
of France and Spain were founded upon the 
actual occupation of the villages and fortified 
trading posts in the vicinity of the Mississippi 
river south of St. Louis. While the territory 
which is now Montana was nominally under 
the government of both France and Spain in 
the eighteenth and early days of the nineteenth 
centuries, no European power ever displayed 
its authority within the boundaries of the 
state. 

No sooner had the United States gained 
possession of Louisiana than the process of di¬ 
vision, which has been going on ever since, be¬ 
gan. In 1804, by act of congress approved 
March 26, that portion of the newly acquired 
territory lying north of the 33rd degree of 
north latitude was organized as the district 
of Louisiana, while that part to the south was 
organized as the territory of Orleans, the bill 
providing for the division on the first day of 
October of the same year. The district of 
Louisiana was not allowed a separate govern¬ 
ment at this time, it being placed under the 
authority of the officers of Indiana territory. 
Its affairs were managed by the officers of the 
last named territory until July 4, 1805, when 






62 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


a territorial government was given to Louisi¬ 
ana. As such it was known and governed un¬ 
til 1812. 

In 1812 Orleans territory was admitted to 
the union as the state of Louisiana, and the 
former Louisiana territory was named Mis¬ 
souri territory. On July 4, 1814, that part of 
Missouri territory comprising the present state 
of Arkansas and the country to the westward 
was organized into Arkansas territory. The 
next important event in the history of this 
country was the admission of Missouri into 
the union as a .state, only a part of the Missouri 
territory being included in the boundaries ot 
the state of Missouri. By congressional action, 
approved June 28, 1834, the territory west of 
the Mississippi river and north of Missouri 
was made a part of the territory of Michigan; 
but two years later (July 4, 1836,) Wisconsin 
territory was created, including the present 
states of Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota, and 
the part of the Missouri country which was in¬ 
cluded within these boundaries became a part 
of Wisconsin. A congressional act of June 30, 
1834, decreed that all the country west of the 
Mississippi, not included within the recognized 
boundaries of Louisiana, Missouri and Arkan¬ 
sas, should be considered Indian territory, un¬ 
der the jurisdiction of the United States dis¬ 
trict court of Missouri. Although that part of 
our country which is now the state of Montana 
was always nominally a part of some territory, 
the country was literally without a government 
for several decades after the admission of Mis¬ 
souri as a state. There were only a few roam¬ 
ing trappers within the district, and the terri¬ 
tory to which the mountain country of Mon¬ 
tana happened to belong paid no more atten¬ 
tion to it than did the Sultan of Turkey. 

On May 30, 1854, Nebraska territory was 
created from part of Missouri and included the 
present states of Nebraska, that part of Mon¬ 
tana east of the Rocky mountains, Wyoming, 
North Dakota, South Dakota and the north¬ 
ern portion of Colorado, the southern boundary 


being the 40th parallel. The next division 
which affected the futpre state of Montana 
was the creation of Dakota territory in 1861, 
which included all that part of. Nebraska ter¬ 
ritory lying north of latitude 43 degrees and 
that part of Minnesota territory which was to 
the west of the Red River of the North. By 
act of congress March 3, 1863, Idaho territory 
was 'formed, including within its boundaries 
that portion of Washington territory extend¬ 
ing from the 117th meridian of longitude to 
the summit of the Rocky mountains and that 
portion of Dakota territory which was to the 
west of longitude 104 degrees. It will be seen 
that this mammoth territory extended from 
the 104th to the 117th meridians of longitude 
and from the 42nd to the 49th parallels of lati¬ 
tude. It was described as containing 326,373 
square miles, which was an area greater than 
that possessed by any other territory or state 
in the union, and included the present states of 
Idaho, Montana and a large slice of Wyom¬ 
ing. The following year, 1864, this vast ter¬ 
ritory was cut down by giving back to Dakota 
territory that portion between parallels 43 and 
45, and meridians 104 and in and an addi¬ 
tional section between parallels 41 and 43, and 
meridians 104 and no, which tract was, in 
1868, formed into Wyoming territory. 

Before proceeding with the story of the or¬ 
ganization of Montana territory we shall now 
tell how that portion of Montana west of the 
Rocky mountains came into the possession of 
the United States and of the several political 
divisions of the Oregon country that were 
made before the northeastern corner of it be¬ 
came a part of Montana. 

The Oregon controversy is too long a story 
to more than briefly outline here. The United 
States’ title rested upon three foundation stones 
—its own discoveries and explorations, the dis¬ 
coveries and explorations of the Spaniards and 
the purchase of Louisiana. While it was not 
contended that any one of these conveyed exclu¬ 
sive right, the position of our country was that 







HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


each supplemented the other; that, though, 
while vested in different nations, they were 
antagonistic, when held by the same nation, 
they, taken together, amounted to a complete 
title. By treaty in 1819 Spain ceded Flor¬ 
ida to the United States and latitude 42 de¬ 
grees was fixed as the northern limit of Span¬ 
ish possessions. In 1824 and 1825 treaties 
between Russia on one side and the United 
States and England on the other fixed the Rus¬ 
sian southern boundary at 54 degrees and 40 
minutes. The country between these two lim¬ 
its—42 degrees and 54 degrees, 40 minutes— 
was the Oregon country and was claimed by 
both Great Britain and the United States. 
From the early days of the nineteenth century 
until 1846 the rivalry between the two coun¬ 
tries for possession of Oregon was spirited and 
war was narrowly averted. On the last named 
date a treaty was entered into by which the 
United States became possessed of the terri¬ 
tory north to the 49th parallel. 

All the territory between the 42nd and 49th 
parallels and from the Pacific ocean to the 
Rocky mountains thus came into the undis¬ 
puted possession of the United States and in 
August, 1848, it was organized into the terri¬ 
tory of Oregon. On March 2, 1853, that por¬ 
tion of the territory lying north of the Colum¬ 
bia river and the 46th parallel of latitude was 
organized into Washington territory, and that 
portion of what is now the state of Montana 
lying between Bitter Root and Rocky moun¬ 
tain became subject to the laws of Washington. 

As we have told of the erection of Idaho 
territory from the eastern part of Washington 
and the western part of Dakota, we are now 
brought up to the creation of Montana terri¬ 
tory, which was brought about on the 26th of 
May, 1864. It was created wholly from terri¬ 
tory embraced within the recently created ter¬ 
ritory of Idaho, and its boundaries were de¬ 
scribed as follows: Commencing at a point 
where the 104th degree of longitude intersects 
the 45th degree of latitude; thence due west 


to the mth degree of longitude; thence to 
latitude 44 degrees, 30 minutes; thence west 
along that line to the summit of the Rocky 
mountains and along their crest to its intersec¬ 
tion with the Bitter Root mountains; thence 
along the summit of the Bitter Root mountains 
to its intersection with the 116th degree of 
longitude; fhence north to the 49th parallel; 
thence west to the 104th degree of longitude; 
thence south to the point of starting. 

The formling of the new territory was 
brought about because of the rapid settlement 
of the country as a result of the rich placer dis¬ 
coveries and because of the remoteness of 
these new settlements from the capital of 
Idaho, Lewiston. Late in the year 1863 the 
citizens of Virginia City and Bannack met 
and decided to ask congress to divide the ter¬ 
ritory of Idaho and grant a new government to 
the citizens of the country which is now Mon¬ 
tana. Sidney Edgerton, then a judge of the 
Idaho courts, and residing at Bannack, was 
selected to go to Washington and urge the 
formation of the new territory. Owing to the 
hanging of the road agents about this time, 
Judge Edgerton’s journey was postponed un¬ 
til about the middle of January, 1864. It was 
a winter of great severity, and while he and 
those with him knew that they were not likely 
to be attacked by road agents, owing to the re¬ 
cent activities of the vigilance committee, the 
intense cold was an enemy not to be overlooked 
on the long road from Bannack to Salt Lake 
City. Most of the members of the party took 
with them large quantities of gold. Ingots 
were quilted into the lining of Judge Edger¬ 
ton’s overcoat and he carried in his valise im¬ 
mense nuggets wherewith to dazzle the eyes 
of congressmen and to impress upon their 
minds, by means of an object lesson, some ade¬ 
quate idea of the great mineral wealth of this 
section of the country. Arriving safely in 
Washington, the gold was exhibited, congress¬ 
men interviewed, and at length the desired end 
was accomplished. There was some discussion 







6 4 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


over the proposed western boundary line, but 
the combined efforts of Gov. Wallace of 
Idaho, and Judge Edgerton saved to Montana 
all of her rich territory lying west of the sum¬ 
mit of the Rocky mountains. The territory of 
Montana as described in the boundaries con¬ 
tained 143,776 square miles or 92,016,640 
acres. * 

An effort was made by the legislature of 
Idaho in 1865 and 1866 to take from Mon¬ 
tana that part of her territory lying west of 
the Rockies and to form a new territory to be 
called . Columbia, embracing in addition to that 
country the panhandle of Idaho and the eastern 
part of Washington. A memorial was pre¬ 
sented to congress praying that the portion of 
Idaho lying south of the Salmon river moun¬ 
tains might dissolve connection with the pan¬ 
handle and receive instead as much of Utah 
as lay north of 41 degrees 30 minutes. The 
residents of the Walla Walla valley in Wash¬ 
ington being strongly in favor of a readjust¬ 
ment of boundaries aided the agitation, which 
in 1867 was at its height, meetings being held 
and memorials adopted in Lewiston and Walla 
Walla. Montana wanted to retain the rich 
Bitter Root valley, however, and the people 
of Southern Idaho were slow to see the wis¬ 
dom of parting with a large part of its popula¬ 
tion, and nothing came of the agitation. 

Having traced the many divisions of the 
territory which is now included within the 
boundaries of the state of Montana, we shall 
now turn our attention to the county divisions 
which have been made in the same territory 
from the earliest periods of territorial law 
making to the present time. We have shown 
that that part of the state which lies west of 
the Rocky mountains was acquired from a dif¬ 
ferent source than that of the portion of the 
state lying to the east of the mountains, and 
up to the time of the organization of Idaho 
territory in 1863 there was nothing in common 
between the two countries, and the county 
formations must therefore be considered sep¬ 


arately. We shall first treat of that portion 
west of the mountains. 

Prior to 1853 all of Montana west of the 
Rockies was a part of Oregon territory. This 
country was doubtless included, in an indefi¬ 
nite sort of way, in some county of Oregon ter¬ 
ritory, but having no settlers, it mattered not 
whether it was or not. But when Washington 
territory was formed, one of the acts of the 
first legislature (that of 1854) was to create a 
county in which this part of Montana was in¬ 
cluded. This county was named Clarke, in 
honor of Captain Clark of the Lewis and 
Clark expedition, and extended from a point 
on the Columbia river below Fort Vancouver 
to the summit of the Rocky mountains, a dis¬ 
tance of some six hundred miles. The same 
session of the legislature divided Clarke county 
and the eastern part became known as Ska¬ 
mania, and for a short time part of Montana 
was officially included in that county. The 
early legislatures never seemed to be satisfied 
with their work, and before the legislature ad¬ 
journed Skamania county was divided and 
Walla Walla county was created with bound¬ 
aries as follows: All that territory east of a 
line drawn from the mouth of the Des Chutes 
river in Oregon to the 49th parallel—to the 
Rocky mountains. The county seat of Walla 
Walla county was named as “the land claim 
of Lloyd Brooks!’—the site of the present city 
of Walla Walla, Washington. The commis¬ 
sioners named in the act were George C. Bum- 
ford, John Owen and Dominique Pambrun— 
Owen being a resident of that part of the 
county which afterwards became a part of 
Montana. The fact that a county was 
created by the early legislatures of Washington 
territory did not necessarily mean that an or¬ 
ganization was perfected, and Walla Walla 
county was not organized until 1859* so ^ was 
not until the latter date that the people of that 
part of Montana west of the Rockies came 
under the jurisdiction of any county govern¬ 
ment. Before this time, however, Walla Walla 






HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


65 


county had been divided, and other counties 
were created—but not organized. On Jan¬ 
uary 29, 1858, the legislature set off from 
Walla Walla county the county of Shoshone, 
comprising all the country lying north of 
Snake river, east of the Columbia and west 
of the Rocky mountains. The county seat was 
“on the land claim of Angus McDonald,” who 
was the Hudson’s Bay company’s agent at Fort 
Colville. Again was John Owen named as one 
of the commissioners, the other two being 
Robert Douglas and William McCreany. The 
county was not organized, and on January 17, 
i860, the legislature repealed the act, and with¬ 
out altering the boundaries gave this territory 
the name of Spokane county and made new 
appointments of county officers. The county 
seat was located on the land claim of J. R. 
Bates, which was about three miles from the 
site of the present town of Colville, Washing¬ 
ton. The commissioners named were Jacques 
Demers, James Hoyt and J. Seaman. On May 
18, i860, the commissioners met and organ¬ 
ized a county government. 

The first, steps toward the formation of a 
county of exclusive Montana territory were 
made in the winter of 1859, when a petition 
was addressed to the Washington legislature 
by the settlers of the Bitter Root valley and the 
residents at the Flathead agency, asking that 
body to set off a county to be called Bitter 
Root county. Seventy-seven names were at¬ 
tached to the petition, being mostly those of 
men connected with the building of the Mullan 
road. These could hardly be called settlers, 
although a few names of actual pioneers ap¬ 
pear among them. The petition was either not 
presented to the legislature of 1859, or law 
makers at Olympia did not consider the time 
ripe for the formation of a new county at this 
time, as we find that no action was taken until 
the session of 1860-61. On the 14th day of 
December, i860, the bill was approved creat¬ 
ing the county of Missoula, which was the 
name substituted for that of Bitter Root. At 


the same time the county of Shoshone was pro¬ 
vided for from the remaining portion of Wash¬ 
ington territory east of the present eastern 
boundary line of the state of Washington. Mis¬ 
soula county extended from the 115th degree 
of longitude to the summit of the Rocky moun¬ 
tains and from the 46th to the 49th degrees of 
latitude. The bill creating the county named 
the following officers: C. P. Higgins, F. L. 
Worden and T. W. Harris, commissioners; M. 
W. Tipton, sheriff; Henry M. Chase, justice 
of the peace. Higgins and Harris were the 
only officers who qualified, and the only busi¬ 
ness they did was to advertise an election in 
1861 and canvass the votes. The enabling act 
named the county seat as “at or near the trad¬ 
ing post of Worden & Co., Hellgate Rond.” 
Missoula county kept up a sort of organization 
during the next few years while it remained a 
part of Washington territory, the greater part 
of the work of the county officials being to can¬ 
vass the votes of their successors in office. 

With the organization of Idaho territory 
in 1863 came a complete readjustment of coun¬ 
ty boundaries. Previous to that time all that 
portion of Montana west of the mountains was 
a part of Washington, with the capital at 
Olympia, hundreds of miles away. All east 
of the mountains belonged to Dakota territory, 
the capital of which was Yankton, which by the 
nearest available route of travel was two thou¬ 
sand miles distant. The existence of Bannack, 
the principal town of the mountain country at 
the time, was .not even known at the capital at 
that time, to say nothing of the impossibility 
of executing any territorial laws there. When 
Idaho was formed with the capital at Lewiston, 
it was considered time to divide the territory 
into numerous counties. It was on the motion 
of L. C. Miller, who represented Bannack in 
the Lewiston legislature, that that portion of 
Idaho which within a few months became 
Montana territory was divided into numerous 
counties. On January 26, 1864, the governor 
of Idaho affixed his signature to the bill which 


5 





66 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


provided for the organization of the following 
counties: Missoula, Deer Lodge, Beaver Head, 
Madison, Jefferson, Choteau, Dawson, Big 
Horn, Ogalala and Yellowstone, with their 
county seats located respectively at Worden- 
ville, Deer Lodge, Bannack, Virginia City, 
Gallatin and Fort Benton for those first named. 
Big Hole and Yellowstone counties did not 
have county seats named, that minor item be¬ 
ing left to the judgment of the county commis¬ 
sioners. Fort Laramie was named as the 
county seat of Ogalala county. Very few of 
these counties organized under the Idaho act. 

When the first Bannack legislature con¬ 
vened in 1864 the legislators at once turned 
their attention to dividing the territory into 
counties. We find that the first Montana legis¬ 
lature provided for nearly the same counties 
as that of the Idaho legislature and with nearly 
the same boundaries. Ogalala and Yellow¬ 
stone counties were left out and Edgerton 
county was added to those named at Lewiston. 

It is an utter impossibility to trace the 
boundaries of all these first counties on a map 
because of the fact that the early law makers 
did not have a clear knowledge of the location 
of degrees of latitude and longitude as com¬ 
pared with the natural boundary lines, such as 
rivers and mountain ranges. It is very diffi¬ 
cult to trace the boundary lines of a county 
which are described as commencing at a point 
where a certain degree of longitude intersects 
a certain river when the two do not intersect 
by a hundred miles or so. This indefiniteness 
of the county boundary lines did not cause 
much trouble at first because af the fact that 
the bulk of the population was in the principal 
mining camps. If the inhabitants of these 
camps did not know for sure what county they 
were in they guessed at it, and the result was 
the same as though they knew. But when the 
population became greater and new towns 
sprung up, it became convenient for people to 
know under what county government they 
were living that they might know, to which 


county to pay their taxes and for what set of 
county officials to vote. The state of. affairs is 
well illustrated in the report of Surveyor Gen¬ 
eral S. Meridith dated October 5, 1867, which 
reads as follows: 

Here I beg leave to make some suggestions as to 
the boundaries of the different counties. Many of their 
limits are marked only by imaginary lines—latitude and 
longitude—and no knowledge seems to have been had 
where these exact places would be. It has been with 
great difficulty that the law and the map could be made 
to conform. Such were the mistakes made in their 
location that a strict adherence to the law would place 
Virginia City in Beaver Head county and Silver City 
in Deer Lodge, while Helena would be situated in 
Jefferson. 

Permit me to suggest natural boundaries for the 
limits of counties as a subject to lay before the gen¬ 
eral assembly. By such divisions every one can tell 
where the lines will run, and in my opinion will in 
more ways than one increase the interests of Montana. 

While the exact location of the lines were 
unknown to the people at the time many of the 
boundary lines can be easily traced on a pres¬ 
ent day map. M'issoula county embraced 
practically all of the present counties of.Flat- 
head, Missoula, Sanders and Ravalli and about 
one-third of Granite. Deer Lodge county con¬ 
tained nearly all of the present counties of 
Teton, Lewis and Clark, Deer Lodge, Granite 
and Jefferson, all of Powell and Silver Bow 
and a small portion of Madison. The bound 
aries of Beaver Head were not quite so definite 
as those of the two counties named. Included 
in it was the present Beaver Head county and 
the eastern half of the present Madison county, 
the eastern boundary of the county running to 
within a very short distance of Virginia City, 
but not to the east of it as Surveyor General 
Meridith believed. A small corner of the pres¬ 
ent Deer Lodge county would also, probably, 
come within the original Beaver Head county 
under a literal interpretation of the boundary 
lines. Owing to the apparent belief that the 
112th meridian of longitude was far to the 
westward of its actual location, the counties 
of Madison, Jefferson and Edgerton are hard 




HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


67 


to trace. Madison county can probably be said 
to have included about half of the county of 
that name at the present date and a portion of 
the present Gallatin county. Jefferson in¬ 
cluded all of the present Broadwater county 
and other portions of Jefferson, Gallatin, 
Meagher, Lewis and Clark and Cascade. 
Edgerton, later changed to Lewis and Clark, 
county lacked only a fraction of a mile of being 
in two separate divisions, according to a literal 
interpretation of the act and was made up of 
portions of the present counties of Lewis and 
Clark and Cascade. The western boundary of 
Gallatin county was indefinite, but the county 
contained all the present counties of Park and 
Sweetgrass and portions of Carbon, Yellow¬ 
stone, Fergus, Meagher, Cascade, and possibly 
Gallatin. Choteau is more easily defined. It 
included all the present county of that name, 
nearly all of Cascade, about half of Fergus 
and a portion of Teton. Big Horn, the county 
that was described as embracing all that por¬ 
tion of Montana territory not included in the 
other counties, covered about one-fourth of the 
territory and there were included within its 
boundaries all of the present counties of Val¬ 
ley, Dawson, Custer, Rosebud, the greater part 
of Yellowstone, about one-fourth of Fergus 
and nearly one-half of Carbon. 

At the second session of the legislature the 
county of Meagher, named in honor of Secre¬ 
tary and Acting Governor Thomas F. 
Meagher, was created. As all the acts of the 
second session of the legislature were declared 
illegal, we cannot allow Meagher county an 
official existence until November 16, 1867, 
when the fourth legislature approved the act 
of March 26, 1866, and gave Meagher county 
an official standing. Meagher was created 
from the northern part of Gallatin county by 
an imaginary line running east and west across 
the county from the Missouri river. As de¬ 
scribed in the act, “the line between the coun¬ 
ties shall commence in the middle of the main 
channel of the Missouri river opposite the 


mouth of Deep creek- and run due east to the 
eastern boundary of Gallatin county as here- 
before defined.” Diamond City, in the pres¬ 
ent Broadwater county, was named as the 
county seat. 

Acting on the advice of the surveyer gen¬ 
eral, the legislature of 1867 defined the bound¬ 
aries of the different counties again and gave 
them natural boundaries. This brought about 
a change in all the counties. 

Big Horn county, containing all the terri¬ 
tory not included in the counties named, is not 
mentioned in the acts of the legislature of 
1867, and therefore remained with its former 
large dimensions. Dawson county was created 
by an act of the legislature approved January 
15, 1869. It was carved from Big Horn 
county and included the territory of the present 
Valley county and nearly all of that in the pres¬ 
ent Dawson county. The new county was at¬ 
tached to Choteau county for council and rep¬ 
resentative purposes, and the county seat was 
designated as Fort Peck. The county was of¬ 
ficially described as follows: “Commencing 
at the intersecting point of parallel of latitude 
47 degrees with meridian of longitude 108 de¬ 
grees, and thence along said parallel 47 de¬ 
grees to meridian of longitude 104 degrees, 
and from thence along said meridian north to 
49th parallel of latitude, and from thence 
along said parallel 49 degrees to meridian of 
longitude 108 degrees, and from thence south 
along said meridian to place of .beginning.” 

The only other attention the legislature of 
1869 gave to county boundaries was to slightly 
change the northern and northwestern bound¬ 
ary line of Madison county. 

Prior to the legislative session of 1871-72 
the boundaries of Meagher and Gallatin coun¬ 
ties were rather indefinite. At that session 
those two counties were definitely bounded. 

At the next session (bills approved Febru¬ 
ary 13, 1874) these two counties had their 
boundaries still more definitely defined. 

Slight changes were also made in the 





68 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


boundaries of Madison and Beaver Head coun¬ 
ties in 1874, brought about a readjustment of 
the western boundary of Dakota territory. The 
act passed February 7, 1874. 

No new counties were created by the legis¬ 
lature of 1876, but the boundaries of three 
counties were altered to suit the wishes of the 
residents. The counties affected were Deer 
Lodge, Choteau and Meagher. 

During the next few years there were very 
few changes made in county boundary lines. 
On February 16, 1877, an act was passed 
changing the name of Big Horn county to 
Custer county, and on February 14, 1881, pro¬ 
vision was made for including within the 
boundary lines of Gallatin county a part of the 
Crow reservation which was then the subject 
of a treaty before the congress of the United 
States. 

Silver Bow county was created February 
16, 1881, from a portion of Deer Lodge 
county. 

By a legislative act approved March 7, 
1883, the boundaries of the new Silver Bow 
county were changed, the change slightly af¬ 
fecting the county of Jefferson. 

Yellowstone county was erected from Cus¬ 
ter and Gallatin counties in 1883, the boundar¬ 
ies being described as follows: 

Beginning at a point at the confluence of the Yel¬ 
lowstone and Big Horn rivers; thence following the 
center of the channel of said Yellowstone river to a 
point opposite the first divide east of White Beaver 
creek, in Gallatin county; thence following said divide 
to the summit of the dividing ridge between the Mus¬ 
selshell and Yellowstone rivers; thence on a straight 
line north to the southern boundary of Meagher coun¬ 
ty; thence east along said boundary to the 109th meri¬ 
dian of longitude; thence following said meridian to 
the Musselshell river; thence down the center of the 
channel of said river to what is known as the Big 
Bend to a point where the old Stanley road crosses the 
Musselshell river; thence on a direct line to the place 
of beginning. Act approved Feb. 26, 1883. Billings, 
county seat. 

The only other alteration of county bound¬ 
aries by the legislature of 1883 was an act ex¬ 


tending the southern boundary of Dawson 
county a few miles, the territory thus added 
being taken from Custer county. A synopsis 
of the act, which was approved March 8th, is 
as follo.ws: 

The southern boundary of Dawson county shall be: 
Commencing ten miles south of the intersecting point 
of the 27th degree of longitude west from Washington 
(104th west from Greenwich) with the 47th degree of 
north latitude; thence due west and parallel with said 
parallel of 47 degrees to the Musselshell river; thence 
following the line of said river to the northern bound¬ 
ary line of Meagher county; thence west along said 
line to the 108th meridian of longitude. And the north¬ 
ern boundary line of Custer county shall be made to 
conform with the southern 'boundary line of Dawson 
county, so far as said Dawson county extends. 

Fergus county was created from Meagher 
county by an act approved March 12, 1885, 
with slightly smaller boundaries than the 
county has at present. Lewiston was named as 
the county seat. 

Provision was also'made by the 1883 legis¬ 
lature that all that portion of the Crow Indian 
reservation lying between the Wyoming line 
and the Yellowstone river and west of the 
Big Horn river, in Montana territory, that 
might thereafter be segregated and thrown 
open for settlement, should form a part of 
Yellowstone county. 

Two new counties—Park and Cascade— 
were created by-the legislature of 1887. Park 
was erected from Gallatin and included all of 
the present Park and the greater portion of 
the present Sweetgrass counties. Cascade was 
taken from Choteau and Meagher and was 
created with nearly the same boundaries it 
now has. Following is the boundary of Park 
county, as officially described in the act: 

Park: Beginning at the northwest corner of Yel¬ 
lowstone National Park and running thence one mile 
west; thence north to the northwest corner of town¬ 
ship 7, south of range 6, east of the principal meridian; 
thence northeasterly along the watershed or summit 
of the Belt range of mountains to the southwest corner 
of township 2, south of range 8, east of the principal 
meridian; thence due north to the south boundary line 





HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


69 


of Meagher county; thenice east along the south 
boundary line of Meagher county to the west bound¬ 
ary line of Yellowstone county; thence south along 
the west boundary line of Yellowstone county to 
the Yellowstone river; thence westerly along the Yel¬ 
lowstone river to the mouth of Big Boulder river; 
thence southerly and easterly along the west and south 
boundaries of the Crow Indian reservation to the north¬ 
ern boundary of Wyoming territory and the Yellow¬ 
stone National Park to the place of beginning. Act 
approved February 23. 1887. Livingston, county seat. 

The county of Deer Lodge, when first cre¬ 
ated, one of the largest of Montana’s political 
divisions, had a slice of its territory taken from 
it by nearly every legislature that had con¬ 
vened. In 1891 the boundaries were again 
changed, the change affecting Jefferson coun¬ 
ty, as well. 

The legislature of 1893 changed the map of 
Montana considerably by the creation of five 
new counties. These were Flathead, Valley, 
Teton, Ravalli and Granite. Flathead was taken 
from Missoula county as created at this time, 
but a few years later a portion of Deer Lodge 
county was added to it, giving the boundaries 
as they are at the present day. The boundaries 
of Valley county, taken from Dawson, remain 
the same as created in 1893. Teton was taken 
from the western part of Choteau county, the 
northwestern corner of the new county being 
previously a part of Missoula county. The 
boundaries of Teton county have not since been 
changed. Ravalli was severed from the mother 
county, Missoula. As originally created the 
county included that part of the present Mis¬ 
soula county south of Lou Lou fork, but before 
the legislature adjourned the boundaries were 
defined as they exist at present. Granite county 
was formed from portions of Deer Lodge and 
Missoula counties with boundaries as we now 
know them. 

In 1895 Carbon and Sweet Grass were 
added to the list of Montana counties. Carbon 
was taken from the counties of Park and Yel¬ 
lowstone, while the counties of Yellowstone, 
Park and Meagher yielded each a portion of 
territorv for the formation of Sweet Grass. The 


last named county was created with the same 
boundaries which it now has. Following are 
the boundaries of the two new counties as de¬ 
scribed in the acts: 

Carbon: Beginning at a point in the midchannel 
of the Yellowstone river opposite to the mouth of the 
Stillwater river; following thence down the midchannel 
of said Yellowstone river to the intersection of said 
channelof said Yellowstone river with township line run¬ 
ning between ranges 24 east and 25 east; thence follow¬ 
ing said township line due south to its intersection with 
the west boundary of the Crow Indian reservation; fol¬ 
lowing thence in a southwesterly direction the west 
line of said Crow Indian reservation to the terminus 
of the said southwest direction of said line; thence 
running due east to the intersection of the midchannel 
of the Big Horn river; thence following the said 
channel of the said Big Horn river up in a southwest¬ 
erly direction to its intersection with the north line 
of the state of Wyoming, all of said boundary from 
the said northwest corner of the Crow Indian reserva¬ 
tion to the Wyoming line being a part of the boundary 
line of the Crow Indian reservation as established by 
law; proceeding thence from the intersection of the 
midchannel of the Big Horn river with the south 
boundary line of the state of Montana due west to the 
intersection of the south line of the state of Montana 
with the township line separating range 15 east from 
range 16 east; thence following along the line between 
said ranges 15 and 16 to a point in the midchannel of 
Stillwater river; thence following midchannel of the 
said Stillwater river to place of beginning. Act ap¬ 
proved March 4, 1895. Red Lodge, temporary county 
seat. 

Sweet Grass: Beginning at a point which when sur- 
Veyed will be the southwest corner of section 35, town¬ 
ship 7, south, range 12 east; and running thence north 
along the west boundaries of sections 35. 26, 23, 14, 11 
and 2, of said township 7, south, range 12 east, con¬ 
tinuing north along the west boundaries of sections 35, 
2 (, 23, 14, ix and 2 of township 6, south, range 12 east, 
to the first standard parallel south; thence east along 
said first standard parallel to a point which when sur¬ 
veyed will be the southwest corner section 35, township 
5 south, range 12 east; 'thence north along the west 
boundaries of sections 35, 26, 23, 14, n and 2 in each 
of townships 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 respectively, all in south 
range 12 east, to the intersection of base line at the 
northwest corner of section 2 of said township 1; thence 
west along said base line to the point of intersection 
of range line between ranges n and 12 east to a point 
of intersection with the line between townships 6 and 
7, north of range 12 east; thence east along said town¬ 
ship line to the point of intersection with division lines 
between 18 and 19 east; then'ce south along the line 
between ranges 18 and 19 east to the point of inter- 






;o 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


«Cction with the township line between townships 2 
and 3 north; thence east along said township line to 
the point of intersection with the line between ranges 
19 and 20 east; thence south along the line between 
ranges 19 and 20 east to the midchannel of the Yellow¬ 
stone river; thence down the midchannel of the Yellow¬ 
stone river to a point opposite the mouth of the Still¬ 
water river or creek; thence up the midchannel of the 
Stillwater river to a point of intersection with the line 
between ranges 15 and 16 east; thence south along the 
line between ranges 15 and 16 east to the point of inter¬ 
section with the first standard parallel south; thence 
west along said parallel to the northeast corner of 
township 6, south of range 15 east; thence south along 
the line between ranges 15 and 16 east to the south¬ 
east corner of township 7 south of range 15 east; thence 
west along the line between townships 7 and 8 south 
to the place of beginning. Act approved March 5, 
1895. Big Timber, temporary county seat. 

The forming of Sv/eet Grass county left a 
small section of Meagher county territory on 
its southeast corner attached only by a narrow 
strip of land, and by an act approved March 5. 
1895,the land in question was given to Yellow¬ 
stone county. 

The county of Broadwater was created in 
1897, Jefferson and Meagher being the coun¬ 
ties that furnished the territory for the new 
political division. As originally created the 
county contained in addition to the territory 
now embraced within its boundaries a small 
portion of the southeastern corner of the pre¬ 
sent Lewis and Clark county, but later in the 
session of the same legislature the boundaries 
of Lewis and Clark county were so changed 
as to give Broadwater county the boundaries 
it now has. 

The boundaries of other counties were also 
altered by the legislature of 1897. The boun¬ 
daries of Cascade were defined anew, which 
left the county with practically the same boun¬ 
daries it has at the present time, except that it 
then included a small corner of the present 
Lewis and Clark county which lies to the east 
of the Missouri river. The changes made in 
the boundaries of Cascade county affected the 
county of Meagher. A portion of the Crow 
reservation which had heretofore belonged to 


Custer county was made a part of Yellowstone. 
The boundaries of Lewis and Clark were de¬ 
fined anew, the change affecting the counties 
of Meagher, Broadwater and Cascade. 

Yellowstone: All that portion of the Crow Indian 
reservation in the state of Montana lying between the 
south boundary line of said reservation and the Yellow¬ 
stone river and west of the midchannel of the Big 
Horn river is hereby bestowed upon and made a part 
of Yellowstone county. Act approved March 5, 1897. 

The last legislation concerning the boun¬ 
daries of Lewis and Clark county was ap¬ 
proved on February 28, 1899, and the boun¬ 
daries then fixed have remained unchanged up 
tq the present writing. The change made at 
that time was the addition of quite a tract of 
mountainous country west of the main range 
of the Rocky mountains which formerly had 
been a part of Deer Lodge county. Other acts 
of 1899 gave two small tracts to Cascade 
county from Meagher, and enlarged Flathead 
county by the addition of a small tract from 
the northern end of Deer Lodge county. 

Two new counties came into existence in 
1901. Powell was created from the northern 
part of Deer Lodge county and a large portion 
of Custer county was given up for the forma¬ 
tion of the county of Rosebud. The same leg¬ 
islature which brought into existence these two 
counties, before the session adjourned, sought 
to change the name of the newly created 
Powell county and also that of Deer Lodge 
county. Bills were passed and approved on 
March 8th to change the name of Powell coun¬ 
ty to Deer Lodge county and to change the 
name of the old Deed Lodge county to Daly 
county. These acts were held to be unconsti¬ 
tutional by the courts and the counties are now 
known by the original names. Following are 
the boundary lines of Rosebud county as cre¬ 
ated in 1901: 

Rosebud: Beginning at a f>oint where the town¬ 
ship line running between ranges 44 and 45 east in the 
county of Custer, state of Montana, when surveyed and 
extended will intersect the north boundary line of the 






HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


7 1 


state of Wyoming; thence north along said township 
line, observing the jogs and offsets in said line, to its 
intersection, when surveyed and extended north, with 
the county line running east and west along between 
Custer county and the county of Dawson,, in said state 
of Montana; thence west along said county line to the 
middle of the main channel of the Musselshell river and 
the east boundary line of Fergus county; thence up the 
middle of said main channel of said river and along the 
meanderings thereof in a southerly direction to a point 
where the same is intersected by the county line run¬ 
ning between the counties of Yellowstone and Custer; 
thence in a southeasterly direction along said county 


line to the junction of the Yellowstone and Big Horn 
rivers; thence up the middle of the main channel of 
said Big Horn river and along the meanderings thereof 
in a southeasterly direction to the intersection with the 
aforesaid north boundary of the state of Wyoming; 
thence east along the boundary line to the point of be¬ 
ginning. Act approved February n, 1901. Forsyth, 
county seat. 

The legislative assembly of 1905 created 
the county of Sanders, named in honor of the 
late Wilbur F. Sanders, from Missoula county. 


CHAPTER VII 


HISTORY OF MONTANA’S MINES. 


Gold and grasses have been the primary 
elements of Montana's greatness. So rough 
and barren was the country when the first pio¬ 
neers came that the idea suggested itself that 
the deposits of gold had been placed in the heart 
of this mountainous country by an inscrutable 
power as the only kind of a bribe that would 
induce people to make a home in the Rocky 
mountain country. But in later years, when 
the people had become better acquainted with 
the conditions that prevailed in this supposed 
barren country, it was found that other indus¬ 
tries besides that of digging the precious metal 
from the ground could be profitably carried on. 
Stock raising was the second industry to claim 
the attention of the inhabitants; after that came 
agricultural pursuits. Today Montana the 
country which required a bribe to induce peo¬ 
ple to settle there—is one of the grandest states 
in the union. 

It is our purpose to deal in this chapter with 
the mining history of Montana. From the time 
of the discovery of gold within the boundaries 
of the present state of Montana until many 
years later the mining history is practically the 


entire history of the state. With the exception 
of the fur traders every inhabitant of the ter¬ 
ritory was engaged in mining or carrying on 
pursuits which depended directly upon the 
mines, and therefore much of the early history 
of the state will be found in this chapter. 

As it is our intention to treat of the history 
of mining in Montana rather than to give a 
“write-up” of mines, which would require a 
volume in itself, we shall pass over with a very 
brief description the telling of the general char¬ 
acter of the mines and the deposits of precious 
metals and stones. Montana is today the great¬ 
est mining state in the Union. Of the many 
marvels of its mineral wealth, perhaps the 
greatest is the wonderful extent of the de¬ 
posits. After this comes the diversity of metals, 
which covers a large portion of the known cat¬ 
alogue, and lastly comes the fabulously rich¬ 
ness of the deposits of quartz and placer dig¬ 
gings. The ores of Montana are easily worked. 
The rocks in which auriferous and argentifer¬ 
ous veins occur is limestone or granite—often 
granite capped with slate. The presence of 
lead and copper simplifies the reduction of 









72 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


silver. In general the character of Montana 
galena ores does not greatly differ from those 
of Utah, Colorado, Nevada and Idaho. There 
are lead mines in Montana, but they have not 
been extensively worked. The- lead obtained 
from the silver ores, however, is considerable. 
Copper lodes are abundant and large, and are 
found near Butte, at White Sulphur Springs, 
and in the Musselshell country. Iron is found 
in a great number of places. Marble, building 
stone, fire clay, zinc, and all of the materials 
of which men build the substantial monuments 
of civilization are grouped together in Mon¬ 
tana in a remarkable manner. 

One of the latest developed resources of the 
state is coal. The presence of this product was 
known from the early days, but before the 
country had been pierced by railroads it could 
not be profitably mined and consequently 
there was no development of the coal fields. 
Now coal mining is one of the permanent in¬ 
dustries of the state. Along the eastern bases 
of the Rocky mountains coal is found in almost 
inexhaustible quantities. Park, Cascade, Cho- 
teau, Beaver Head and Gallatin counties all 
have mines within their boundaries. 

In addition to the precious metals and other 
products mentioned above, there have been 
found in Montana from time to time a great 
many precious stones and gems. Sapphires 
were discovered in a number of localities by 
the early placer miners. They were collected 
in great numbers in the sluice boxes with the 
gold and black sand. They were found on the 
bars of the Missouri in Lewis and Clark coun¬ 
ty, at Montana City and Jefferson City on the 
Prickly Pear, and in other localities. These 
gems were sent east and found their way into 
many cabinets. A few were cut and worn by 
Montana miners. After many years they at¬ 
tracted the attention of English experts and 
capitalists, and a company was formed to work 
these old placers for the sapphires they con¬ 
tained. Some of these gems are of the largest 
size and purest water, and the colors are 


very brilliant. The variety most common are 
the oriental emerald, the oriental topaz, the 
oriental amethyst and the oriental ruby. No 
gem except the diamond excels them in hard¬ 
ness and brilliancy. Nearly all varieties of 
garnets are also found in the placers and the 
rocks of the mountains; many very fine varie¬ 
ties have been taken from the placers in vari¬ 
ous parts of the state. The precious garnet, 
the topazolite, the melanite, pyrenite and others 
of yellow, brown, green and red have all been 
found in the placers and rocks. Small emer¬ 
alds of medium quality have been discovered 
in the gravel and rocks of the mountains. 
Tourmalines have also appeared in the sluice 
boxes of the placer mines, as well as in the 
metamorphic rocks of the Rockies. 

That precious metals existed in the moun¬ 
tains now within the confines of the present 
state of Montana was believed by the first 
white men that ever set foot in the state. Way 
back in the first half of the eighteenth century 
when Verandyer pushed his way westward to 
the “Shining Mountains,” he believed the 
country to be rich with mineral, and he so re¬ 
ported to the French gqvernment. Whether 
this was simply his belief because of the ap¬ 
pearance of the country, or whether he actu¬ 
ally discovered precious metals, is not known. 
Then came a period of half a century before 
the country was- again visited by white men. 
Lewis and Clark made no mention of having 
discovered the precious metal, and the oper¬ 
ations of the fur traders, who penetrated near¬ 
ly every portion of Montana during the first 
half of the nineteenth century, did not bring to 
light the fact that the country was rich in 
minerals. 

It is said that the existence of gold in Mon¬ 
tana was not unknown to the Jesuit fathers, 
who came to the country in the early forties, 
but they had other motives for making their 
homes in this wild country than the acquiring 
of riches, and glittering gold did not tempt 
them from their ministrations to the Indians. 








HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


73 


The credit for being the discoverer of 
gold in Montana is given to a Scotch half breed 
whose name was Francois Finlay, but who was 
known among his associates as “Benetsee.” 
Benetsee came originally from the Red River 
of the North and previous to his advent into 
the Rocky mountain country he had been min¬ 
ing in California, having gone to that land of 
gold shortly after Marshall’s discovery. In 
1852 he was engaged in trapping for furs and 
trading with the Indians in that part of the 
Rocky mountain country which is now Powell 
county, Montana. While traveling along the 
border of what is now known as Gold creek, 
near the present day town of Pioneer, Benetsee 
was induced by certain indications to search 
for gold. His prospecting was necessarily of a 
very superficial character, but he found some 
light float gold, but not of sufficient quanity to 
pay for mining. The creek from which the 
half breed took the gold was for a short time 
known as Benetsee creek. 

The next year, 1853, members of the rail¬ 
road exploring party, being ignorant of Fin¬ 
lay’s discovery took out specimens of gold from 
this .same stream. From this circumstance 
the stream was christened Gold creek, which 
name it has ever since retained. These men 
were in the employ of the government, and not 
professional prospectors, otherwise the rich¬ 
ness of Montana’s mountains would doubt¬ 
less have been heralded to the world a decade 
earlier than was the case. The fact that gold 
was found in this branch of the Hell Gate river 
was passed over with brief comment. 

That gold had been discovered on this little 
creek soon became known to the few moun¬ 
taineers still in the country and in the spring 
of 1856 a party paid a visit to the spot which 
had been prospected by Benetsee. In the party 
were Robert Hereford, John Saunders, known 
among his intimates as “Long John;” Bill 
Madison and one or two others. They were 
on their way from the Bitter Root valley to Salt 
Lake, after a winter spent trading with the In¬ 


dians and doing a little prospecting. This party 
found a little more gold than had the half 
breed, and it is said that one piece was found 
which weighed about ten cents. This was 
given to old Captain Grant, who used to show 
it, up to the time of his death in 1862, as the 
first piece of gold found in the country. Con¬ 
cerning this story Granville Stuart, who was 
one of the party to prospect Gold creek in 
1858 has written: 

My own experience of some years mining in that 
vicinity leads me to doubt that party’s finding that ten 
cent piece of gold on Benetsee creek, for in all our pros¬ 
pecting in that vicinity we did not find a piece of that 
size until we went to work sluicing, and although we 
carefully searched that vicinity and the country round¬ 
about, yet we never found where anyone had dug a 
hole or the slightest evidence of any prospecting or 
mining work having been done. Where we found ten 
cents to a pan of gravel in 1858, we dug a hole about 
five feet deep and the ten cents was made up of 
some fifteen or twenty small particles of gold. 

It was also in 1856 that a stranger ap¬ 
peared at the trading post at Fort Benton with 
over $1,500 worth of the precious metal which 
it was believed had been taken from the moun¬ 
tains of Montana, which he exchanged for 
goods. The story of this man, who was after¬ 
wards learned to be John Silverthorne, and his 
mysterious mine, was given to the world by 
Lieutenant James H. Bradley, a gentlemen 
who contributed much data to the early history 
of Montana. We reproduce the tale as told by 
Mr. Bradley. 

It is probably generally known that the American 
Fur company, founded by Mr. Astor and subsequently 
controlled by Pierre Ghoteau, Jr., & Co., had a trading 
post at or near the site of the present town of Fort 
Benton in 1832. Major Alexander Culbertson was for 
a number of years in charge of that post, and was at 
the time of which I have to speak, namely, the year 
1856. In the month of October a stranger appeared at 
the fort, coming by the trail from the southwest, now 
the Benton and Plelena stage road; he was evidently an 
old mountaineer, and his object was to purchase supplies 
Producing a sack, he displayed a quantity of yellow 
dust which he claimed was gold, and for which he de¬ 
manded $1,000, offering to take it all in goods. Noth¬ 
ing was known at the fort of the existence of gold in 








I 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


the adjoining country, and Major Culbertson was loth 
to accept the proffered dust, having doubts of its gen¬ 
uineness. Besides, even if gold, he was uncertain of its 
value in this crude state, and he was, therefore, about 
to decline it, when an employe of the fort, a young man 
named Ray, came to the aid of the mountaineer, and 
by his assurances as to the genuineness of the gold 
and the value of the quantity offered, induced Major 
Culbertson to accept it. Still doubtful, however, he 
made it a private transaction, charging the goods to 
his own account. The mountaineer was very reticent 
as to the locality where he obtained his gold, hut in 
answer to numerous questions, he stated that he had 
been engaged in prospecting for a considerable period 
in the mountains to the southwest, that his wanderings 
were made alone, and that he had found plenty of gold. 
Receiving in exchange for his dust a supply of horses, 
ammunition, blankets, tobacco, provisions and other sup¬ 
plies, he quietly left the fort for his return to the moun¬ 
tains. Major Culbertson never saw or heard from him 
afterward, and was ignorant even of his name. The fol¬ 
lowing year, 1857, he sent the gold dust through the 
hands of Mr. Choteau to the mint, in due time receiving 
as the yield thereof $1,525, the dust having proved to 
be remarkably pure gold. Thus, as early as 1857, three 
years before Gold Tom hewed out his rude sluice 
boxes on Gold creek, Montana gold had found its way 
to the mint and contributed a small fortune of shining 
pieces to the circulating medium of the country. This 
much I obtained from the lips of Major Culbertson, 
just enough to pique curiosity.; and the mysterious 
miner who had been the first to work the rich gulches 
of Montana, made the earliest 'contribution to the world 
of its mineral treasure, and whose subsequent fate 
and very name were unknown, often returned to my 
thoughts to vex me in my apparent powerlessness to 
lift any part of the veil of mystery that shrouded him 
But one day I mentioned the circumstances to Mr. 
Mercure, an old and respected resident of Fort Benton, 
who came to the territory in the interest of the Ameri¬ 
can Fur company in 1855. To my great satisfaction he 
remembered the old mountaineer, the event of his 
golden visit to the fort having created quite an endur¬ 
ing impression. When Montana’s great mining rush 
began, Mr. Mercure quitted the service of the fur com¬ 
pany and sought the mines. There he met the moun¬ 
taineer again and immediately recognized him. His 
name was Silverthorne, and his habits were still of the 
solitary character that had distinguished him in former 
days. For several years he remained in the territory, 
occasionally appearing at the settlements with gold in 
abundance; but after supplying his necessities by trade, 
he would again disappear on his lonely rambles. He 
could not be induced to divulge the secret of his dig¬ 
gings, but always declared that his mine was not a rich 
one, yielding him only four or five dollars a day. Mr. 
Mercure believes, however, from the quantity of gold 
always in the possession of Silverthorne, that he greatly 


understated the value of his discovery. He is evidently 
entitled to the distinction of having been first, by several 
years, of the thousands of enterprising men who have 
labored in the gold gulches of Montana and made so 
rich a contribution to the volume of the world’s treasure. 

The credit of being Montana’s first gold 
miner, which from the foregoing would seem 
to properly belong to Silverthorne, has been 
disputed, and that by a man who knew Silver¬ 
thorne well in the early days. Matt Carroll, 
himself one of the leading and oldest settlers 
of Montana, has qualified the statement as 
made by Lieutenant Bradley by stating that 
the gold which was brought to Fort Benton 
had been found in the Kootenai mine north of 
the boundary line. There is no means of 
knowing whether or not the gold in question 
was mined in the territory which is now known 
as Montana. 

The rumors of gold having been discovered 
on Benetsee, or as it was afterwards known, 
Gold, creek spread rapidly and it was this in¬ 
telligence that induced a party of miners who 
were on their way back to the states from Cali¬ 
fornia in 1857 to proceed to this place of re¬ 
ported discovery and spend the winter there 
prospecting. The members of this party were 
James Stuart, Granville Stuart, Thomas 
Adams, Reece Anderson, E. H. Burr and John 
H. Powell. The arrival of this party and the 
story of their settlement in Montana has been 
told at some length in the chapter devoted to 
the early settlements, and we shall treat of 
their doings here only as they relate directly 
to mining. Mr. Granville Stuart has very en¬ 
tertainingly told of the history of mining in 
Montana during the few years succeeding the 
arrival of this party, and we shall quote Mr. 
Stuart in telling of the early day incidents 
prior to the beginning of the big rush: 

We accordingly wintered on the Big Hole river 
just above what is known as the Backbone, in com¬ 
pany with Robert Dempsey, Jake Meeks, Robert Here¬ 
ford, Thomas Adams, John W. Powell, John M. Jacobs 
and a few others. In the spring of 1858 we went over 
in^o the Hell Gate valley and prospected a little on 






HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


Benetsee’s or Gold creek. We got gold everywhere, in 
some instances as high as ten cents to the pan, but hav¬ 
ing nothing to eat save what our rifles furnished us. 
and no tools to work with (Salt Lake, nearly six 
hundred miles distant, being the nearest point at 
which they could be obtained), and as the accursed 
Blackfeet Indians were continually stealing our horses, 
we soon quit prospecting in disgust without having 
round anything very rich, or done anything to enable 
us to form a reliable estimate of the richness of the 
mines. 

We then went out on the road near Fort Bridger, 
Utah territory, where we remained until the fall of 
i860. In the summer of that year a solitary individual 
named Henry Thomas, better known to the pioneers 
of Montana, however, as “Gold Tom” or as “Tom Gold 
Digger,” who had been sluicing on the Pend d’Oreille 
river, came up to Gold creek and commenced prospect¬ 
ing. He finally hewed out two or three small sluice 
boxes and commenced work on the creek up near the 
mountains. He made from one to two dollars a day 
in a rather rough, coarse gold, some of the pieces weigh¬ 
ing as high as two dollars. 

After spending a few weeks there, he concluded 
that he could find better diggings, and about the time 
we returned to Deer Lodge (in i860), he quit sluicing 
and went to prospecting all over the country. His 
favorite camping ground was about the hot springs 
near where Helena now stands. He always maintained 
that that was a good mining region, saying that he 
had got better prospects there than on Gold creek. 
He told me after “Last Chance,” “Grizzly,” "Oro Fino,’ 
and the other rich gulches of that vicinity had been 
struck that he had prospected all about there, but that 
it was not his luck to strike any of those big things. 

About the 29th of April, 1862, P. W. McAdow, who 
in company with A. S. Blake and Dr. Atkinson (both 
citizens of Montana), had been prospecting with but 
limited success in a small ravine which empties into 
Pioneer creek, moved up to Gold creek and commenced 
prospecting about there. About the 10th of May they 
found diggings in what we afterwards called Pioneer 
creek. They got as high as twenty cents to the pan, 
and immediately began to prepare for extensive opera¬ 
tions. At this time “Tom Gold Digger” was prospect¬ 
ing on Cottonwood creek, a short distance above where 
the flourishing burg of Deer Lodge City now stands, 
but finding nothing satisfactory, he soon moved down 
and opened a claim above those of McAdo & Co. In 
the meantime we had set twelve joints of 12x14 sluices, 
this being the first string of regular sluices ever set in 
the Rocky mountains north of Colorado. 

On the 25th of June, 1862. news reached us that 
four steamboats had arrived at Fort Benton loaded with 
emigrants, provisions -and mining tools, and on the 29th 
Samuel T. Hauser, Frank Louthen, Jake Monthe and 
a man named Ault, who were the advance guard of 
the pilgrims to report upon the country from personal 


75 


observation, came into our camp. After prospecting 
on Gold creek for a few days Hauser, Louthen and 
Ault started for the Salmon river mines by way of the 
Bitter Root valley. Jake Monthe, that harum-scarum 
Dutchman who wore the hat that General Lyon had 
on when he was killed in the battle of Wilson’s creek, 
continued prospecting along Gold creek. 

Walter B. Dance and Colonel Hunkins arrived on 
the 10th of July, and on the 14th we had the first elec¬ 
tion ever held in the country. It was marked by great 
excitement, but nobody was hurt—except by whiskey. 

On the the 15th Jack Mendenhall, with several 
companions, arrived at Gold creek from Salt Lake City. 
They set out for the Salmon river mines, but having 
reached Lemhi, the site of a Mormon fort and the most 
northern settlement of the “Saints,” they could pro¬ 
ceed no farther in the direction of Florence, owing to 
the impassible condition of the roads, so they cached 
their wagons, packed their goods on the best condi¬ 
tioned of their oxen, and turned off .for Gold creek. 
They lost their way and wandered about until nearly 
starved, when they fortunately found an Indian guide, 
who piloted them through to the diggings. On the 25th 
Hauser and his party, having failed to reach Florence, 
also returned, nearly starved to death. 

The discovery of gold in paying quantities 
and the consequent rush to the rich gold fields 
of Montana was brought about, or at any rate 
hastened, by the discovery of the rich Salmon 
river placers. Early in the spring of 1862 the 
rumors of the rich discoveries in that part of 
Washington territory which subsequently be¬ 
came Idaho territory reached Salt Lake, Col¬ 
orado and other places in the territories. A 
great stampede was the result. Faith and 
hope were in the ascendant among the motley 
crew that wended a toilsome way by Fort Hall 
or the south pass to the new Eldorado. At¬ 
tacked by hostile Indians, faint and weary 
from the long march and a scarcity of provi¬ 
sions, the miners toiled on, only to be met with 
tfie most disheartening information. As the 
trains approached the goal of their desires, 
within the unexplored regions which after¬ 
wards became Montana, the would-be immi¬ 
grants to the Salmon river mines were met by 
the information that it was impossible to get 
through with wagons, that several almost im¬ 
passible mountain ranges intervened. Still 
toiling on with a grim determination to reach 









y6 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


the mines at whatever cost, they received, a 
little later, tidings of a more discouraging na¬ 
ture. These were to the effect that the new 
mines were overrun by gold hunters from Cal¬ 
ifornia, Oregon and other parts of the coun¬ 
try to the west, and that it was not only impos¬ 
sible for any new comers to find claims, but 
that they would be unable to even secure work. 
Coupled with these tidings came also informa¬ 
tion of a more encouraging nature—that new 
placers had been discovered at Deer Lodge, on 
the east side of the Rocky mountains, and that 
already large bands of prospectors were spread¬ 
ing out over the adjacent territory. 

The stream of emigration diverged from 
the halting place where this last welcome in¬ 
telligence reached the members of the several 
parties. Some of the miners turned toward 
Deer Lodge where, report said, rich diggings 
were to be found. They crossed the mountains 
between Fort Lemhi and Hor-se Prairie creek, 
and taking a cutoff to the left, endeavored to 
strike the old trail from Salt Lake to Bitter 
Root and Deer Lodge valleys. The reports 
of the rich mines to be found in the Rocky 
mountain country were of such a nature that 
the idea was rapidly adopted that the country 
was filled with rich placers and that it was not 
necessary to pursue the track of actual discov¬ 
ery, but that each man could discover his own 
mine. One party arrived at Deer Lodge in 
June, 1862. Some of the other members 
the party who were headed for Deer Lodge 
remained on Grasshopper creek, near the large 
canyon. Those who went to Deer Lodge were 
disappointed in the placers there and soon re¬ 
joined their companions. The party that had 
remained on the Grasshopper made some 
promising discoveries, and the place was given 
the name of “Beaver Head diggings”—that 
being the name which the Lewis and Clark 
party had given to the river into which Grass¬ 
hopper creek empties. 

The Grasshopper placers, where was 
shortly afterward built the city of Bannack, 


were discovered about the first of August, 
1862, and the credit for the discovery is given 
to John White. Among those detained in the 
Beaver Head valley because they could not go 
through from Lemhi to Salmon river was a 
party of which White and John McGavin were 
members. This party discovered the placers 
which resulted in the rush to Montana—plac¬ 
ers which yielded from five to fifteen dollars 
per day per man. John White, having done so 
much for his fame, has left us very little knowl¬ 
edge of his history. He and Rodolph Dorsett 
were murdered at the Milk ranch on the road 
from Virginia City to Helena by Charles Kelly 
in December, 1863. Almost at the same time 
that White and his party were discovering the 
placers on the Grasshopper, other rich discov¬ 
eries were being made in other parts of Mon¬ 
tana. Joseph K. Slack, who had been seeking 
his fortune in California and Idaho since 1858, 
discovered placers on the head of Big Hole 
river that yielded $57 a day to the man. Also 
about the same time John W. Powell found 
paying mines on North Boulder creek, in what 
later became Jefferson county. These repeated 
discoveries caused the greatest excitement, and 
the less profitable mines at Deer Lodge and 
Gold creek were abandoned. 

But before the Grasshopper diggings had 
reached this prominence many miners had 
found their way to Gold creek and that parr 
of the country, where a rich placer had been 
found and named Pike’s Peak gulch. The ar¬ 
rival of these men was brought about as 
follows: 

In April, 1862, a party of six men left Col¬ 
orado for “Salmon river, or Oregon, or any¬ 
where west to escape from Colorado, which we 
all then thought a sort of Siberia, in which .1 
man was likely to end his days in hopeless ex¬ 
ile from his home and friends because of the 
poorness of its mines.” At a ferry on the 
North Platte they fell in with fourteen others, 
and finding Bridger’s pass filled with snow, 
the winter having been of unusual severity, the 





HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


77 


joint company resolved to proceed across the 
country to the Sweetwater, and through the 
south pass. On arriving at Plant’s station, on 
the Sweetwater, it was found in flames, the In¬ 
dians having just made a raid on the stations 
along the whole line of the road between the 
Platte bridge and Green river. Here they 
found a notice that another party of eighteen 
men had retreated to Platte bridge to wait for 
reinforcements. They accordingly sent two 
expressmen to bring up this party, and by the 
time they were ready to go on, their force was 
45 men, well armed and able to fight Indians. 
Replenishing their supplies at Salt Lake, they 
continued their journey, overtaking at Box 
Elder a small party with three wagons loaded 
with the frame of a ferry boat for Snake river 
above Fort Hall, J. Mix being one of the ferry 
owners. From the best information to be ob¬ 
tained at Salt Lake or Snake river, they would 
find their course to be the old Mormon settle¬ 
ment of Fort Lemhi, and thence sixty miles 
down the Salmon river to the mines. But on 
arriving at Lemhi, on the tenth of July, they 
found a company there before them under 
Samuel McLean and heard of another which 
had arrived still earlier, under Austin, all 
bound for the Salmon river mines. They had 
been deceived as to the practicability of the 
road, the route being three hundred miles long 
and impassible for wagons. The vehicles 
being abandoned and the freight being packed 
upon the draught animals, nothing was left 
for the owners but to walk. Thirty-five men 
decided to proceed in this manner to the mines, 
most of McLean’s party remaining behind. 
The third night after leaving Lemhi, the com¬ 
pany encamped on Big Hole prairie, and on 
the following morning fell in with a Mr. Chat- 
field and his guide, who were coming from Fort 
Owen to Fort Lemhi to settle a difficulty aris¬ 
ing from the Lemhi Indians having killed and 
eaten one of McLean’s horses; but learning 
from the company just from Lemhi that the 
matter had been arranged, Chatfield turned 


back and his conversation induced twenty-two 
of the company to resign the idea of Salmon 
river and turn their faces-toward Deer Lodge, 
the remainder continuing on the trail to Elk 
City from the point where it crossed the Bitter 
Root river is near its head. Among those who 
stopped on the Montana side of the Bitter Root 
mountains were Henry Thrapp, M. Haskins, 
William Smith, Allen McPhail, John Graham, 
Warner, Thomas Neild Joseph Mumby, 
James Taylor, J. W. Bozeman, Thomas 
Woods, J. Caruthers, Andrew Murray, 
Thomas Dolelson, N. Davidson, James Patton, 
William Thompson, Murphy and Dutch Pete. 
Ten of the twenty-two remained at Fort Owen, 
taking employment there at the Flathead res¬ 
ervation, of which John Owen was at the time 
agent. The rest proceeded on their way and 
arrived at the newly discovered placers on the 
Grasshopper. When they arrived there their 
stock of provisions was nearly exhausted, but 
they decided to push on to Deer Lodge, hoping 
to find a more profitable field. They discov¬ 
ered gold on a branch of Gold creek, which 
they named Pike’s Peak gulch. Several oth¬ 
ers, who had come from the states up the Mis¬ 
souri on their way to Walla Walla, stopped off 
to seek their fortunes in the new fields and 
some of these passed the summer at Gold creek 
and Deer Lodge. Among these were W. B. 
Dance, S. T. Hauser, Jerome S. Glick, David 
Gray, George Gray, George Perkins, William 
Griffith, Jack Oliver and Joseph Clark. 

The parties under McLean and Russell, 
who had left the Beaver Head diggings on the 
Grasshopper in the hopes of finding richer 
diggings, having found nothing better than 
that they had left behind, now returned to 
Grasshopper. No provisions having arrived 
in the country, most of them decided to at¬ 
tempt a return to Salt Lake City. The chance 
of making a journey of four hundred miles to 
the nearest Mormon settlement was prefera¬ 
ble to starvation in this desolate region. They 
could but die in the effort and might succeed. 






HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


After they had started on this Utopian jour¬ 
ney, Russell mounted his horse, followed them, 
and persuaded them to return. They then set 
to work in good earnest and found gold in 
abundance; but as their scanty supply of food 
lessened daily, they feared that soon they 
would have nothing but gold to eat. Just at 
this crisis a large train of provisions belonging 
to Mr. Woodmansee arrived, and all fear of 
starvation vanished. The camp was hilarious 
with joy and mirth over the good fortune. 

The fame of the Bannack diggings reached 
the Salmon river mines late in the fall of 1862, 
and many of the Florence miners made their 
preparations to go to the new discoveries. 
Among these came the first of the robbers, 
gamblers, murderers and horse thieves who 
initiated that reign of infamy, which nothing 
but the strong arm of the vigilantes could over¬ 
come. The little village known as American 
Fork, which had grown up at the Stewart 
ranch, at the mouth of Gold creek, was aban¬ 
doned as soon as the superior richness of the 
Bannack diggings became known, and in a 
short time all of the Gold creek placers were 
abandoned. 

The stampeders to the Bannack diggings in 
the fall of 1862 were informed of the location 
of the new discovery by a rude sign post with 
a ruder inscription, located at the confluence 
of Rattlesnake creek with Beaver Head river— 
the present site of the town of Dillon. On a 
rough hewn board nailed across the top of the 
post was daubed with wagon-tar the following 
intelligence: 

TU GRASS HOP PER DIGINS 
30 MYLE 

KEPE THE TRALE NEX THE BLUFFE 
On the other side of the board was the fol¬ 
lowing : 

TU JONNI GRANTS 
ONE HUNRED & TWENTI MYLE 
The “grass Hop Per digins” were located 
where afterwards appeared the flourishing 


town of Bannack; the city of Deer Lodge is 
built upon “jonni grants” place. 

The spring of 1863 witnessed a wild rush 
to the new placers. Russell early in the spring 
set out on the return to Colorado, and after en¬ 
countering many dangers arrived in safety. He 
exhibited specimens of gold taken from the 
Grasshopper diggings to his friends in Color¬ 
ado, and the excitement they occasioned was 
intense. Large numbers left at once for the 
new and promising El Dorado. The town of 
Bannack City came into existence and soon 
had a population of 5°°- It was the first of the 
several rich placer camps to come into exis¬ 
tence in Montana. During the early period of 
Montana’s mining history Bannack was the 
rendezvous of all emigration. Miners poured 
in here from Deer Lodge, the Idaho mines, the 
Bitter Root country, Salt Lake, Colorado and 
the east, and from this point started out all the 
early exploring parties who discovered the 
many rich placers in other parts of the Rocky 
mountain country. 

One of these parties that set out from Ban¬ 
nack to search for gold, late in May, 1862, dis¬ 
covered the Alder gulch placers, where a few 
days later was built the town of Virginia City. 
This proved to be the richest placer mine ever 
discovered in Montana, if not on the North 
American Continent, and yielded before the 
close of the first-year’s work upon it, not less 
than ten million dollars. During the twenty 
years the ground was worked sixty million 
dollars worth of precious metal was taken from 
the ten miles of auriferous ground which com¬ 
prised the gulch. The discovery was like the 
rubbing of an Aladdin lamp. It drew eager 
prospectors from Colorado, Utah, Idaho and 
from all parts of the east, who overran the 
country on both sides of the upper Missouri 
and east and west of the Rocky mountains, 
many of whom realized to a greater or less 
extent their dreams of wealth. 

The discoverers of Alder gulch were Bill 
Fairweather, Mike Sweeney, Barney Hughes, 





HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


79 


Harry Rodgers, Tom Cover and Henry Edgar, 
and the discovery was made on May 26, 1863. 
It was on the first day of February of that 
year that the party set out from Bannack to 
prospect the Big Horn mountains. On the 
Gallatin river they came across the Crow In¬ 
dians, who ordered them out of the country. 
Glad to escape with their lives, the members 
of the party set out on the homeward journey, 
and on the day of discovery had reached 
Alder creek and made camp upon a level tract 
of ground between the bars which were later 
named Cover and Fairweather. We shall tell 
the story of the discovery in the words of one 
of the members of the party, Henry Edgar, 
as told by him in his diary, the entries having 
been made on the evening of each day: 

May 26th: Off agin; horse pretty lame and Bill 
(Fairweather) leading him out of the timber; fine 
grassy hills and lots of quartz; some antelope in sight; 
down a long ridge to a creek and camp; had dinner, 
and Rodgers, Sweeney, Barney and Cover go up the 
creek to prospect. It was Bill’s and my turn to guard 
camp and look after the horses. We washed and doc¬ 
tored the horse’s leg. Bill went across to a bar to see 
or look for a place to stake horses. When he came 
back to camp he said, “There is a piece of rimrock 
sticking out of the bar over there. Get the tools and we 
will go and prospect it” Bill got the pick and shovel and 
I the pan and went over. Bill dug the dirt and filled the 
pan. "Now go,” he says, “ and wash that pan and see 
if you can get enough to buy some tobacco when we 
get to town.”. I had the pan more than half panned 
down and had seen some gold as I ran the sand 
around, when Bill sang out, “I have found a scad. 

I returned for answer, “If you have one I have a 
hundred.” He then came down to where I was with his 
scad. It was a nice piece of gold. Well, I panned the 
pan of dirt and it was a good prospect; weighed it and 
had two dollars and forty cents; weighed Bill’s scad 
and it weighed the same. Four dollars and eighty 
cents! Pretty good for tobacco money. We went and 
got another pan and Bill panned that and got more than 
I had; I got the third one and panned that—best of 
the three; that is good enough to sleep on. We came 
to camp, dried and weighed our gold, altogether there 
twelve dollars and thirty cents. We saw the boys 
coming to camp and no tools with them. “Have you 
found anything?” “We started a hole but didn’t get 
to bedrock.” They began to growl about the horses 
not being taken care of and to give Bill and me fits 
When I pulled the pan around Sweeney got hold of it 


and the next minute sang out “salted.” I told Sweeney 
that if he “would pipe Bill and me down and run us 
through a sluice box he couldn’t get a color,” and “the 
horses could go to the devil or the Indians.” Well, we 
talked over the find and roasted venison until late; 
and sought the brush, and spread our robes; and a 
more joyous lot of men never went more contentedly to 
bed than we. 

May 27th: Up before the sun; horses all right; 
soon the frying pan was on the fire. Sweeney was off 
with the pan and Barney telling him “to take it easy.” 
He banned his pan and beat both Bill and me.' He 
had five dollars and thirty cents. “Well, you have got 
it good, by Jove!” were his greeting words. When 
we got filled up with elk, Hughes and Cover went up 
the gulch, Sweeney and Rodgers down, Bill and I to 
the old place. We panned turn about ten pans at a time, 
all day long, and it was good dirt too. “A grub stake 
is what we are after” was our watchword all day, and 
it is one hundred and fifty dollars in good dust. “God 
is good” as Rodgers said when we left the Indian camp. 
Sweeney and Rodgers .found a good prospect and have 
eighteen dollars of the gold to show for it. Barney 
and Tom brought in four dollars and a half. * * '* 

May 28th: Staked the ground this morning; 
claims one hundred feet. Sweeney, wanted a water— 
a notice written for a water right and asked me to 
write it for him. I wrote for him; then “What name 
shall we give to the creek?” The boys said “You name 
it.” So I wrote “Alder.” There was a large fringe of 
Alder growing along the creek looking nice and green 
l and the name was given. We staked 'welve claims for 
our friends and named the bars Cover, Fairweather and 
Rodgers where the discoveries were made. 

The finding of the particles of gold in the 
dirt that was being washed by Fairweather and 
Edgar was the main factor in the creation of 
Montana territory. The men realized the rich¬ 
ness of their discovery and it was mutually 
agreed that nothing should be said concerning 
their discoveries until further prospecting 
could be done tha* the best ground might be 
selected for claims. On the 28th the party 
broke camp and started for Bannack to pur¬ 
chase supplies and provisions. The party 
arrived there on the first day of June, having 
traveled since departing, over six hundred 
miles. 

Notwithstanding the agreement that the 
discovery should not be revealed, the good 
news was written in the smiling faces of the 
lucky prospectors, and the few friends who 






8 o 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


were secretly informed of the strike secretly 
informed a few of their friends, and the result 
was a wild stampede. Every man who was not 
anchored to the mines at Bannack and could 
seize a horse made a rush for the new dis¬ 
covery during the month of June. Hundreds 
made the start, each striving to outstrip the 
other in order to secure claims. The first 
crowd, that which accompanied the Fair- 
weather party on the return to the diggings, 
numbered about three hundred men, of “which 
thirty persons made the journey on foot. All 
were in light marching order and bore upon 
their backs their worldly goods. 

While the discoverers admitted that rich 
diggings had been found, they wisely refrained 
from making known the location until after 
an agreement had been reached as to the rights 
of the discoverers. According to an under¬ 
standing arrived at in Bannack before the start 
was made, a public meeting of the excited com¬ 
pany that was hurrying to the mines was held 
on June 7 in a cottonwood grove, upon the 
banks of the Beaver Head river. Fairweather 
district, named in honor of one of the dis¬ 
coverers, was organized with Doctor Steele as 
president and James Fergus as recorder. Res¬ 
olutions were adopted unanimously confirm¬ 
ing the right of each of the six discoverers to 
two claims in Alder gulch and the water privi¬ 
leges. The main body of the stampeders ar¬ 
rived in the gulch on the 9th. Hughes, with a 
party of friends, had stealthily left the main 
body during the night and piloted his friends 
to the promised land ahead of the main crowd. 
Some other members of the stampeding party, 
in their anxiety to be the first on the ground, 
tried the same trick, but not knowing the exact 
location of the discovery, they wandered up the 
Stinkingwater, Granite and other streams and 
were distanced. 

The great stampede with its numerous pack 
animals penetrated the dense alder thicket 
which filled the gulch a distance of eight miles. 


A fire accidentally started, swept away the al¬ 
ders for the entire distance in a single night. 
Within a week from the arrival of the first 
miners hundreds of tents, bush wakiups and 
rude log cabins, extemporized for immediate 
occupancy, were scattered at random over the 
gulch, now for the first time trodden by white 
men. For a distance of twelve miles, from the 
mouth of the gulch to its source in Bald moun¬ 
tain, claims were staked and occupied by the 
men fortunate enough to assert an ownership. 
At once the community became busy in up¬ 
heaving, sluicing, drifting and cradling the 
seemingly inexhaustible bed of auriferous 
gravel. The extent of the pay streak being un¬ 
known, the object of every person was to se¬ 
cure mining ground in the neighborhood of 
that which had been prospected by the discov¬ 
erers. It was generally believed that the bars 
were the golden safes of nature, and many 
parties neglected and walked over as worth¬ 
less the richest deposits in the creek in their 
eager search for what they considered the val¬ 
uable claims. Before the bed rock of the creek 
had been disturbed by the pick the camp was 
deserted by a number of old time miners, who 
informed their friends with confidence that 
there were no paying diggings in the gulch. 
But within thirty days tests were applied by 
hundreds of industrious hands to every place 
that was accessible, and there was revealed the 
auriferous bed of an ancient river which sur¬ 
passed in magnitude and uniform distribution 
of its golden treasures any placer which has 
been recoreded upon this planet. The placer 
mines there were so extensiive, so easy of de¬ 
velopment and so prolific that many of the 
miners who commenced work in the gulch in 
the early days of the discovery, fortunate in 
their acquisitions and disgusted with the asso¬ 
ciations, were ready to return to the states in 
the fall, only a few months after the discovery. 
The hegira at first small, increased in numbers, 
so that by the first of November hundreds were 








HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


81 


on their way to their old homes in the east, 
most of whom carried with them a small for¬ 
tune. 

It was only a matter of a few days for a 
town to spring up at this point—a town which 
grew so rapidly that within ninety days a city 
of ten thousand people occupied the spot where 
in the spring the foot of white man had not 
trod. The town which first sprung up was 
calle Varina, in honor of the wife of President 
Jefferson Davis of the Confederate States of 
America, the southern sympathizers being very 
numerous in the new camp. Very interestiing 
and typical was the incident which brought 
about the change in the name of the town to 
Virginia City. Dr. Bissel, one of the mining 
judges of the gulch, was an ardent unionist. 
Being called upon to draw up some legal papers 
before the new name had been generally adop¬ 
ted, and being requested to date them Varina 
City, he with a very emphatic expletive de¬ 
clared he would not do it, and wrote instead 
the name Virginia City, by which name the 
town has ever since been known. Nathaniel 
P. Langford has written as follows concerning 
the conditions in Alder gulch as they were dur¬ 
ing the early period of the camp’s history: 

Almost simultaneously with the settlement of Vir¬ 
ginia City, other settlements lower down and farther 
up the gulch were commenced. Those below were 
known by the respective names of Junction, Nevada 
and Central; those above, Pine Grove, Highland and 
Summit. As the entire gulch for a distance of twelve 
miles was appropriated, the intervals of two or three 
miles between the several nuclei were occupied by the 
cabins of miners, who owned and were developing the 
claims opposite to them, so that in less than three 
months after the discovery, the gulch was really one 
entire settlement. One long stream of active life filled 
the little creek on its auriferods course from Bald moun¬ 
tain, through a canyon of wild and picturesque char¬ 
acter, until it emerged into the large and fertile valley 
of the Pas-sam-a-ri. Pas-sam-a-ri is a Shoshone word 
for stinking water, and the latter is the name commonly 
given in Montana to the beautiful mountain stream 
which was called by Lewis and 1 Clark in their journal 
“Philantrophy river.” Lateral streams of great beauty 
pour down the sides of the mountain chain bounding 
the valley, across which they run to their union with 

6 


the Pas-sam-a-ri, which, twenty miles beyond, unites 
with the Beaver Plead, one of the forming streams of 
the Jefferson. Gold placers were found upon these 
streams, and occupied soon after by the settlement at 
Virginia City, though limited in extent was sufficiently 
productive to afford profitable employment to a little 
community of twenty or more miners. * * * 

' Of the settlements in Alder gulch, Virginia City 
was the principal one, though Nevada, two miles be¬ 
low, at one time was of nearly equal size and popula¬ 
tion. A stranger from the eastern states entering the 
gulch for the first time, two or three months after its 
aiscovery, would be inspired by the scene and its asso¬ 
ciations with reflections of the most strange and novel 
character. This human hive, numbering at least ten 
thousand people, was the product of ninety days. Into 
it were crowded all the elements of a rough and active 
civilization. Thousands of cabins and tents and brush 
wakiups, thrown together in the roughest form, and 
scattered at random along the banks, and in the nooks 
of the hills, were seen on every hand. Every foot of 
the gulch, under the active manipulations of the miners, 
was undergoing displacement, and it was already dis¬ 
figured by huge heaps of gravel, which had been passed 
through the sluices and rifled of their glittering con¬ 
tents. In the gulch itself all was activity. Some were 
removing the superincumbent earth to reach the pay 
dirt; others who had accomplished that were gather¬ 
ing up the clay and gravel upon the surface of the 
bed rock, while by others still it was thrown into the 
sluice boxes. This exhibition of mining activity was 
twelve miles long. 

While there were a thousand claims lo¬ 
cated in Alder gulch, that was not the only rich 
mining locality. A spur of the mountains 
which runs down between the Stinkingwater 
and the Madison rivers contained highly pro¬ 
ductive mines. Wisconsin gulch, so named be¬ 
cause a Wisconsin company first worked it; 
Biven’s gulch, named after its discoverer, cel- 
abrated for coarse gold nuggets weighing over 
three hundred dollars, Harris and California 
gulches, all paid largely. 

The next important placer discovery after 
Alder gulch was Last Chance gulch, where 
now stands the capital city of Montana— 
Helena. The discovery was made on or about 
the 15th day of July, 1864. The discovery was 
made by four prospectors from Alder gulch, 
who had been unable to secure claims there. 
They were John Cowan, a tall, dark eyed, gray 
haired man from Ackworth, Georgia; R. Stan- 








82 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


ley, who claimed as his residence the city of 
Attleborough, Nuneaton, England; J. D. Mil¬ 
ler, an early California miner; and John Crab, 
who shortly after the discovery returned east. 
From this discovery place $16,000,000 was 
taken, and Last Chance became one of the best 
known mining camps of the country. 

The following interesting story of the dis¬ 
covery of Last Chance was written by R. Stan¬ 
ley, one of the discoverers, in 1882 : 

It was in the spring of 1864 that the Kootenai 
stampede from Alder gulch took place. During the 
winter extraordinary reports of the “big thing at 
Kcotenai” reached the camps, and each particular miner 
not the happy possessor of ground in Alder gulch, was 
in a fever of excitement to reach the new Eldorado, 
the land of rushing torrents and large nuggets. Among 
these, allured by the northern will-o’-the-wisp, were 
four miners—Cowan, Crab, Miller and Stanley—after¬ 
ward known as the discoverers of Last Chance dig¬ 
gings, and at the time our story commences they were 
encamped in one of the valleys of the Hell Gate river 
on the Kootenai trail. Encamped beside them was a 
certain Jim Coleman and party, whom they had that 
evening run against, bearing the unwelcome news that 
“Kootenai was piayed out,” and that they were on their 
way back to Alder gulch. Still the idea of returning 
to Alder gulch with three months’ flour and bacon in 
their pan-fleshes could not be entertained, and the ad¬ 
vice of one of the party, who had crossed the range 
with Captain Fiske’s party the previous summer, to 
try on the Little Blackfoot (where they had found 
gold in small quantities), and failing there, to cross the 
range and prospect the gulches on the eastern slope 
running toward the Missouri river, was readily accepted. 
Next morning, bidding Coleman’s party farewell, they 
took their course eastward up the Hell Gate River. 
They were accompanied on the start by an individual 
named Moore, who left the party to join some friends 
prospecting on Silver creek before the discovery of 
Last Chance was made. They tried the Little Black- 
foot well, but could find nothing better than a good 
color. Following up the stream through an amphithea¬ 
tre of circling mountains, they turned southward up the 
stream, and as they began to rise rapidly into the 
mountains, each vista that opened before them was a 
scene of loveliness, the river for some distance being 
a succession of magnificent cascades. Nearing the sum¬ 
mit of the gulch the trail which they had found so 
useful became more and more indistinct, and eventu¬ 
ally faded out altogether. The second day not bringing 
relief found the party rather demoralized, but still 
pegging away; but a few yards before them was all 
they could see. and the advisability of returning on 


their trail before they became further involved was 
more than once mooted. Fortunately toward evening 
the weather cleared up, and above the tops of the 
small pines by which they were enveloped, a rocky 
point was seen to tower, and toward this, when the 
camp was made, one of the travelers proceeded to 
climb. The view that met his gaze from the rocky 
summit was one long to be remembered and well re¬ 
paid the exertions he had used to obtain it. It was 
like a pass into fairy land. Across the intervening 
mountain tops lay stretched a lovely valley through 
which several streams were seen to wind, and away 
in the distance the blue mountains of another range 
were plainly visible, while between the course of an 
important river could be traced, which he rightly con¬ 
cluded was none other than the mighty Missouri itself. 
The good news greatly revived the spirits of the party 
and banished the inclination to take the back trail 
through the detestable pine thickets ; though some skep¬ 
ticism as to the whereabouts of the Missouri was still 
expressed, which the offer to bet a pony he could reach 
it in a day’s journey from where they stood, soon put a 
stop to. 

Next morning the descent began; at first rather 
steep, but they soon found a game trail in a small 
gulch, which made traveling easy. The difficulties of 
crossing the range were over, and as fresh scenes of 
enchantment opened before them, they fully experienced 
the joy of those who tread the unknown and unex¬ 
plored. Though the range had been crossed for years 
at other points not far distant, as far as white men 
were concerned, they claimed to have been the first to 
cross it from the Little Blackfoot gulch. Game abounded 
on every hand and was so unreasonably tame as 
scarcely to offer decent sport in killing when required 
for food. Proceeding down the gulch, a stately elk 
bounded out, and stood at short range surveying the 
strange party who had thus been the first to invade 
his domain, necessitating a camp, in what the writer 
believes was called Seven-Mile gulch; at any rate it 
was the first gulch north of what was afterward 
known as the Last Chance gulch. Here they 
remained prospecting for some time, but, like on 
the Little Blackfoot, they could find nothing more 
than a good color. Following down the gulch they 
descended into the valley of the Prickly Pear, and 
turning to the right they camped for dinner on the 
banks of Last Chance creek. The valley seemed lit¬ 
erally a hunter’s paradise; immense droves of antelope 
were feeding on the plain, and along the margin of the 
stream the white-tail deer were seen to be plentiful. 
On their first appearance in the valley, between Seven- 
Mile and Last Chance, they were reconnoitered by a 
small band of the former animals, which careered 
around them until their curiosity was cruelly satisfied 
by the crack of a rifle, which laid one of their number 
low. Dinner over, the travelers reclined under the 
shade of some small trees and discussed the situation. 


/ 





HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


83 


with the result that they would take their course north¬ 
ward along the range and prospect the gulch, at the 
mouth of which they were encamped on their return, 
if nothing better turned up in the mountains. How¬ 
ever, before saddling up, two of the party strolled to 
the creek side, just to try a superficial pan of dirt. 
Scratching a hole to the rimrock of a small bar, to 
their surprise a first rate color was obtained, which 
induced them to make further and more systematic 
trials, but all ended in the same result—colors contin¬ 
ually—until they began to think the whole country was 
nothing but colors, and, almost in vexation at their tan¬ 
talizing luck, they decided to pack up and go. No dis¬ 
covery had yet been made in Last Chance gulch. 

Northward they went digging holes innumerable 
—here, there and everywhere—but finding nothing to 
stick to. Up the Dearborn to the headwaters of the 
Teton and Marias rivers, where they found an excel¬ 
lent prospect of grizzlies, but none of gold. The further 
north they went the more unlikely it looked—flat 
table-topped mountains, showing the action of water 
more than fire, took the place of the volcanic range they 
had lately crossed. Their stock of provisions was fast 
diminishing. With the exception of grizzlies game 
was very scarce, and the former they were not in search 
of. * * * Turning southward as they took their course 
for Alder gulch, their daily remark was, “That little 
gulch on the Prickly Pear is our last chance; if we don’t 
find pay there we streak it straight for camp.” And so it 
became known as Last Chance gulch before the discov¬ 
ery was made. They reached the spot again one after¬ 
noon on or about the 15th of July and made their camp 
a short distance up the gulch, near to where the First 
National bank was built in 1866. That evening they put 
two good holes down to bed-rock, one on each side of 
the creek. When the rock was reached the hole on 
the north side was found to prospect well. Several 
flat pieces of gold that would weigh quite half a dollar 
were taken out; there was no mistake about it—the 
little nuggets fell into the ringing pan with a music 
particularly their own, a sound grateful to the ears of 
our four wanderers. The gravel prospected to the 
top of the ground, and they were experienced enough 
to know that at last Dame Fortune had kindly smiled 
upon them. Long into the night they sat around the 
fire, too pleased to turn in. Within each bosom had 
bloomed the hope of making .the home-stake and seeing 
friends and kindred once again; and when they slept 
it was to dream of civilization and of enjoying a good 
square meal. 

Hundreds of miners swarmed into Last 
Chance gulch as soon as the news of the dis¬ 
covery was made known, and only a few days 
after the discovery mining was commenced. A 
miners’ meeting was held on Last Chance 
creek on July 20, when the following laws and 


regulations were adopted for the government 
of the camp: 

That the gulch be named Last Chance gulch, and 
the district in which the discovery is made be named 
Rattlesnake district, to extend down three miles, and 
up to the mouth of the canyon, and across from sum¬ 
mit, to summit. That mining claims in this district ex¬ 
tend for two hundred feet up and down the gulch, and 
from summit to summit. That no person be allowed 
to hold more than one claim by preemption, and one 
by purchase, except as regards the discovery claims. 
That each member of the discovery party be entitled 
to hold, in addition to 200 feet by preemption, 100 feet 
for a discovery claim. That the discovery party shall 
have the prior right to the use of the gulch water. 
That claims when pre-empted shall be staked and re¬ 
corded. 

A supplementary regulation was adopted 
on August 3rd, as follows: 

That any person, besides his own claim, be allowed 
to record one for his actual partner, and one only, 
and that he can represent both; but if a partner be so 
recorded for, it must be specified, and the name given 
in full. That all claims must be recorded within three 
days of location. 

It was not long before preparations were 
made for the laying out of a town in the new 
camp, and on the 30th day of October a meet¬ 
ing was held to select a name and provide for 
a town government. The meeting was held 
in the cabin of George J. Wood, and there 
were present, among others, Geo. J. Wood, 
Orison Miles, Abraham. Mast, A. Peck, John 
Cowan, Robert Stanley, T. E. Cooper, C. L. 
Cutler, John Clore, Dr. Sales, John Somer¬ 
ville, H. Bruce, Folsom, Wilder, O. D. Keep, 
Murray, Marshall, Burke, Henry Sellick, P. 
B. Anthony, John Scanned and others. The 
naming of the town was the all important sub¬ 
ject, and the name Helena was selected only 
after many ballots had been taken and the sub¬ 
ject had been discussed at some length. Some 
desired the place to be named after John Cow¬ 
an, one of the discoverers, Robert Stanley, an¬ 
other of the discoverers, or G. J. Wood, a man 
who took a very active interest in the camp’s 
affairs. These propositions were all voted 






8 4 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


down. The light hearted disposition of the 
meeting is evidenced by the fact that among 
the other names proposed were Pumpkinville, 
Squashtown, Tomahawk, Tomah and other ti¬ 
tles of like nature. Finally the name St. Hel¬ 
ena was proposed by John Somerville, a jovial 
frontiersman from Minnesota. The name was 
finally shortened to Helena, and as such was 
adopted by one or two votes over Tomah, 
which was the only other name that was seri¬ 
ously considered. Mr. Somerville was very 
emphatic in his efforts to have the town named 
Helena, and among other arguments put forth 
was that Helena meant “a place far in the in¬ 
terior of the country.” In a letter to J. H. 
Mills written in 1885, Mr. Thos. E. Cooper 
told of the selection of the name as follows: 
“The question of naming the town came up, 
and there being a great diversity of opinion as 
to the name the town should bear, and not be¬ 
ing able to agree, the chairman, Somerville, 
got up and stated as follows : ‘That he be¬ 
longed to the best country in the world, and 
lived in the best state (Minnesota) in that 
country, and in the best county (Scott) of that 
state, and in the best town (Helena) in that 
county, and by the eternal this town shall bear 
that name.’ ” 

During the winter and spring succeeding 
the discovery of Last Chance other rich plac¬ 
ers were found in the vicinity. The town of 
Helena was located upon what was called Dry 
gulch, which could not be worked until water 
ditches were constructed. Oro Fino and 
Grizzly gulches united half a mile above the 
town, forming the celebrated Last Chance 
gulch. Nelson’s gulch headed in the moun¬ 
tains and ran into Ten-Mile creek. South 
from these were a number of rich gulches run¬ 
ning into Prickly Pear river. Confederate 
gulch, east of the Missouri river and southeast 
from Helena; Ophir gulch, west of the range 
and thirty miles from Helena; McClellan 
gulch, in the same neighborhood as the Ophir, 
and others all proved to be rich finds. John L. 


McClellan was the discoverer of McClellan 
gulch, and the Ophir was found by Bratton, 
Pemberton and others. For 150 miles north 
and south of Helena and 100 east of and west 
of the same point, mines of exceeding richness 
were discovered in 1865 and 1866. First 
Chance gulch, a tributary of Bear gulch, in 
Deer Lodge county, yielded nearly $1,000 a 
day with one sluice and one set of hands. New 
York gulch and Montana bar, in Meagher 
county, were fabulously productive. 

In the fall of 1864 rich placer discoveries 
were made in the vicinity of Butte, and the 
first mining district there was formed with 
William Allison as president and G. O. Hum¬ 
phreys as recorder. The old town of Butte 
came into existence in the fall of that year. 
It was located on what was known as Town 
gulch, adjoining the present townsite of Butte. 
Among the discoveries of 1864 was the Silver 
Bow or Summit Mountain district, at the head¬ 
waters of Deer Lodge river, on Silver Bow 
creek. The discovery was made in July by 
Bud Baker, Frank Ruff, Joseph Ester, James 
Ester, Peter Slater and others. The initial 
discovery was below the point where Silver 
Bow City now stands. The name of Silver 
Bow was given by these discoverers because of 
the shining and beautiful appearance of the 
creek, which here sweeps in a crescent among 
the hills. As was always the case when a new 
strike was made people began to pour in. A 
new district was formed at the lower end of 
the gulch, and named Summit Mountain Min¬ 
ing district, of which W. R. Coggswell was 
recorder. The district was twelve miles in 
length, and besides the discovery gulch, there 
were twenty-one discovered and worked in 
the following five years and about as many 
more were worked after the introduction of 
water ditches in 1869. During the winter of 
1864-65 there were probably 150 men in Silver 
Bow and vicinity, and many claims were re¬ 
corded. In the spring of 1865 Summit Moun¬ 
tain district was divided, claims No. 75 to 310, 




HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


85 


above discovery on Silver Bow creek, were 
organized into Independence district. From 
1864 to 1869 there were taken from these 
gulches $1,894,300 in gold dust. In the fall 
of 1864 German gulch was discovered by Ed 
Alfield and others. In the spring of 1865 a 
big stampede took place for the new discovery, 
and on the first of April there were nearly 
1,000 men in German gulch. 

While the discovery of the most noted 
placer gulches had been made in 1863 and 
1864, the year 1865 witnessed the discovery of 
more mines of great richness and immigration 
fo Montana continued at a rapid rate. During 
that year Elk creek, Bear, Lincoln and High¬ 
land gulches, in Deer Lodge county, and New 
York gulch and Montana bar, in Meagher 
county (already referred to) began their con¬ 
tributions to the mint. In 1869 another rich 
placer discovery was made on Cedar creek, in 
Missoula county. 

While these rich discoveries were being 
made in different parts of the territory and 
many were making their fortunes by a few 
months’ work, there were always many in each 
camp who were unable to secure claims, but 
who were always on the lookout for new 
strikes, ready at a moment’s notice to pack up 
and set out for new diggings. One of the most 
noted stampedes of the early days which re¬ 
sulted in disaster was made for the Sun river 
country in 1866. One, McClellan, left Helena 
between two days looking wise and intimating • 
that he had as good a thing as he wanted. Sev¬ 
eral hundred set out with all speed through 
deepest snow and coldest weather, scarcely tak¬ 
ing time to cook a meal or to rest at night, 
fearing some other party would get in ahead. 
No gold was found at the end of the trip, and 
many deaths resulted from exposure. 

The first arrival of hydraulic machinery in 
Montana was in November, 1865, when the 
Nelson Hydraulic Mining Co. imported four 
engines of ten horse power, throwing water 
eighty feet high, with iron piping and India 


rubber hose extensions. Another powerful hy¬ 
draulic machine was imported by N. G. Mc- 
Comb in September, 1866, and put up on Zol- 
ler’s bar, near Bannack. The construction of bed 
rock flumes and extensive ditches was only just 
begun. There were five hundred or more' 
gulches in Montana which produced well and 
about twenty that were remarkably rich. Some 
were soon exhausted, but a good number paid 
well for the introduction of improved means of 
mining. As early as 1867 there were over 
32 miles of ditching at French bar, near Can¬ 
yon ferry, east of Helena, and 96 flumes, the 
cost of which was $75,000, and was at that 
period the largest improvement of that kind in 
Montana. The Boulder ditch, owned by Mc¬ 
Gregor, Metcalf & Speigle, of California, 
which supplied the mines around Diamond 
City, was five miles long and cost $60,000. The 
excessive cost of work was occasioned by hav¬ 
ing to use 1,716 feet of pipe in crossing Con¬ 
federate gulch. The Eldorado bar ditch, north 
of French bar, was four and one-half miles 
long and cost $50,000; and many smaller 
ditches had been constructed east of the Mis¬ 
souri, whose aggregate cost was about a quar¬ 
ter of a million. The ten mile ditch at Helena 
was completed in June, 1867. It was built by 
Henry B. Truett, who came to Montana in 
1866. Deer Lodge county had in 1869 nearly 
three hundred miles of ditches, costing $498,- 
000, and carrying an aggregate of 20,350 
inches of water. A nine mile ditch, carrying 
2,500 inches of water, was completed to Nor¬ 
wegian gulch, in Madison county, in 1876. A 
flume was completed to Confederate gulch in 
1879. There had been one built in 1876. 
which a flood destroyed. It was rebuilt by the 
owner, James King. It was but one mile in 
length, but it was estimated that it would re¬ 
quire twenty-five years of constant work to 
exhaust the ground controlled by it. 

It has been estimated that during the first 
twenty years of Montana’s placer mining his¬ 
tory fully $150,000,000- was taken from the 





86 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


ground, arid the stories of the handling of 
some of the large finds are highly interesting. 
Old residents of Helena still love to relate that 
on the morning of the 18th of August, 1866, 
two wagons loaded with a half ton each of 
gold, guarded by an escort of 15 men, depos¬ 
ited their freight at Hershfield & Co.’s bank 
on Bridge street, this treasure having been 
taken from Montana bar and Confederate 
gulch in less than four months by two men 
and their assistants. And Helena bankers are 
still pleased to mention that in the autumn of 

1866 a four-mule team drew two and one-half 
tons of gold from Helena to Fort Benton, for 
transportation down the Missouri river, most 
of which came from those celebrated mines in 
one season, and the value of which freight was 
$1,500,000. The treasure belonged to John 
Shineman, A. Campbell, C. J. Friedrichs and 
T. Judson. 

During the early days the “dust,” as it was 
called, was the only money in circulation, and 
it was passed currently at eighteen dollars an 
ounce without regard to quality. Every busi¬ 
ness house, hotel, saloon and office was pro¬ 
vided with scales for weighing it. In 1879 
the United States assay office was opened in 
Helena, where gold and silver bullion was re¬ 
ceived on deposit. This, proved a relief to the 
miners, who had before been forced to send 
their bullion east at exorbitant charges. 

Many are the stories told of the richness 
of some of the claims staked by fortunate min¬ 
ers, and nearly every claim had its famous nug¬ 
get. In Brown gulch, five miles from Vir¬ 
ginia City, the gold was coarse and nuggets 
of ten ounces or more were not uncommon. In 

1867 a miner named Yager found in Fair- 
weather gulch, on J. McEvily’s claim, a piece 
of gold oblong in shape, with a shoulder at 
one end and worn smooth, weighing fifteen 
pounds, two ounces. One nugget was found 
in a tributary of Snowshoe gulch in 1865 
which weighed 178 ounces troy, and was worth 
$3,200. In July, 1865, a nugget was found in 


the claim of Maxwell, Rollins & Co., in Nel¬ 
son’s gulch, which was worth $2,073. ^ ie 
same gulch, from J. H. 'Roger’s claim, one 
worth $1,650 was found. From Deitrick & 
Brother’s claim in Rocker gulch, in 1867, a 
piece of gold worth $1,800 was found. Three 
valuable nuggets were taken from the claim of 
Captain Tandy on Scratch Gravel in 1875 and 
1876, weighing $375, $475 and $550. From 
McClellan’s gulch on the Blackfoot river, $30,- 
000 was taken from one claim in eleven days 
by five men. From a claim, No. 8, below Dis¬ 
covery claim, on the same gulch, $12,584 was 
taken out in five days. The dirt back of Black- 
foot City paid from twenty cents to one hun¬ 
dred forty dollars to the pan. 

So far we have spoken only of the placer 
mines, although the discovery of quartz ledges 
and the mining of quartz was contemporan¬ 
eous with that of the Bannack placers of 1862. 
Because of the richness of the placer mines 
very little was done in the direction of quartz 
mining in the early days, and almost without 
exception dismal failures resulted from at¬ 
tempts in that direction prior to 1870. People 
were not content to await slower returns that 
come from quartz mining, when the gold could 
be picked from the ground with comparative 
little expense. An authority on the mines of 
Montana has stated that a few thousand dol¬ 
lars would have, been sufficient to buy all the 
great bonanzas of Butte even as late as 1870. 
In August, 1864, however, there were fourteen 
gold mills in operation in the territory, of 
which ten were steam mills. The number of 
stamps employed at that time was 195, with 
several arrastras, all valued at a half million 
dollars. Some idea of the condition of quartz 
mining in the early days may be gleaned from 
the report of A. K. Eaton, made in 1867, as 
follows: 

A large number of mills for the working of gold 
ores have been erected in the territory, and few of 
them with more than partial success. The reason is 
obvious and in their partial failure, mining history only 




HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


87 


repeats itself. Some of them are to that untried char¬ 
acter of which it may be said'that whilst they show in 
construction some new features and some good ones, 
unfortunately the new things are not good and the 
good points are not new. Novel inventions, even if 
capable of success, are inevitably destined to failure 
in a new country. The principal difficulty, however, 
has been in the imperfect management of these differ¬ 
ent enterprises, arising sometimes from the incapacity 
of agents, but more frequently from the impossibility 
of anticipating in a country new and undeveloped, the 
exact requirements of the case. One great error has 
been made by almost all. It has arisen from the over- 
sanguine belief that quartz could be mined in quantity 
without preliminary expense in development. The mills 
are erected, the money and patience of the proprietors 
exhausted, and with untold wealth the machinery is 
left to rust and rot for want of ore. Today nearly 
every mill in the territory could be worked most profit¬ 
ably by the expenditure of a few thousand dollars in 
the thorough opening of the mines belonging to them. 

So early as 1861 there was published in 
the San Francisco Bulletin (August 28th) the 
testimony of an old California miner who had 
prospected in the Rocky mountain region to 
the effect that he had counted seven quartz 
lodes in one mountain. 

The first lode worked was the Dakota, 
bearing gold quartz, which was discovered 
near Bannack and located November 12, 1862. 
The Dakota was a large, irregular shaped 
vein, carrying free gold, varying from three 
to eight feet in thickness. The decomposed 
quartz from the surface of the vein was packed 
down from the bald hill on which it was sit¬ 
uated to the creek, where the gold was panned 
out. A mill to crush the quartz was begun by 
William Arnold in the winter of 1862 and was 
finished by J. F. Allen the following spring, 
the motive power for the mill being water. The 
mill was erected out of such material as was 
at hand. The stamp stems, four in number, 
were made of wood; the shoes and dies of old 
wagon tires welded together. Nearly all the 
material that went into the mill was furnished 
by the wagons abandoned at this point by the 
Salmon river emigrants. Out of the wagon 
tires, in a common blacksmith shop, were fash¬ 
ioned the stamps, weighing four hundred 


pounds each. Out of this simple and econom¬ 
ical contrivance more gold was extracted than 
from some mills that were erected later that 
cost ten times as much. This primative affair 
was followed in 1863 by the erection of other 
mills which had been transported from Color¬ 
ado and the east and from that time on the gold 
quartz near Bannack gave employment to sev¬ 
eral mills. The first steam quartz mill was put 
up in Bannack by Hunkins. Walter C. Hopkins 
placed a steam mill on No. 6 Dakota in August, 
1866. The Bullion Mining company owned a 
mill -in 1866, having three Bullock crushers. 
This mill was placed on New York ledge. The 
East Bannack Gold and Silver Mining com¬ 
pany owned a mill in 1866, which was oper¬ 
ated on the Shober ledge, and of which David 
Worden was manager. The Butterfield mill 
and the Kirby and Clark mill were also in oper¬ 
ation near Bannack in 1866. During the same 
year N. E. Wood placed a Bullock patent 
crusher on Dakota No. 12 for the New Jersey 
company. 

After the Bannack discoveries the next 
quartz locations were made in the vicinity of 
Helena, where on September 27, 1864, James 
W. Whitlatch discovered the famous Union 
lode. Concerning this discovery and the early 
working of quartz mines in the Helena neigh¬ 
borhood we quote from the history of Montana 
by H. H. Bancroft: 

In September, 1864, James W. Whitlatch, not much 
cultured in book learning, but with great shrewdness 
and an indomitable will, who had become acquainted 
with mining and milling ores in Nevada and Colorado, 
was looking for a quartz location, having prospected 
in several districts before he came to Prickly Pear, 
where he tried working some silver bearing galena 
ores which proved intractable from the presence of 
copper and antimony. The expenditure in the country 
of high prices reduced his exchequer to naught, and he 
sought Last Chance gulch, there to encamp- for the 
winter with eight companions. The placers were 
paying enormously, and believing that quartz is the 
mother of placer gold, he began searching for the veins. 
In this search he was assisted by his eight messmates, 
who, having less faith, and desiring to test their for¬ 
tunes in the placer diggings, bound him to an agree- 







88 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


ment to give up the pursuit if at the close of a cer¬ 
tain day of the month he had not found his bonanza. 
The day was drawing to a close and his companions 
had returned to camp when Whitlatch caught sight 
of a fragment of quartz, 'which on being broken open 
by his pick showed free gold. It was with a quickened 
pulse that he struck it in to the earth and uncovered 
the long sought lode. 

This was the famous Whitlatch mine. In order to 
work it a company was formed of succeeding claimants, 
called the Whitlatch Union Mining Company. In 1864- 
65 there was taken out a good quantity of ore worth 
on an average of $40 per ton, and in September, 1866, 
the mill of the National Mining and Exploring Com¬ 
pany commenced crushing it, followed by several others 
which were erected in this and the following year. 
These were the Turnley, Hendie, Sensenfelder & Whit¬ 
latch and Ricker & Price mills, the first two erected 
in 1866. Over 32,000 tons were worked before the close 
of 1867, yielding $1,001,500. The cost of mining and 
milling ores in Montana at this period was enormous, 
being $7 per ton to get out the ore and from $15 to $18 
for crushing it, in gold, when gold was worth a pre¬ 
mium of 100 per cent. The profit was, therefore, small, 
but such as it was, Whitlatch, with the true enterprise 
of a pioneer, devoted himself to the further development 
of his own and neighboring mines. IXL, owned by 
J. C. Ricker and M. A. Price, was claim No. 1 west 
from Whitlatch discovery claim. Whitlatch & Sen¬ 
senfelder was claim No. 3 east and claim No. 3 west 
on the lode, from discovery, a half interest in which 
was sold to Sensenfelder in June, 1869, and a thirty 
stamp mill erected thereon. The property was resold 
to a Philadelphia company under the name of the 
Columbia Mining Company of Montana, managed by 
B. H. Tatem. Claim No. 4 east was owned equally by 
this company and E. Mansfield & Co. Claim No. 2 
east was owned by Mansfield and E. Hodson. The 
westward extension on the Union lode was called the 
Parkinson and was owned by J. W. Whitlatch, J. Park¬ 
inson and C. McClure. On the extension the Essex 
Mining company, composed of Thomas Parkinson, W. 
Parkinson, Thomas Argyle and C. McClure, owned 
1800 feet. They received a patent for the ground from 
the United States, the first granted in Montana under 
a law of Congress concerning quartz claims. The mill 
site included ten acres on Grizzly gulch, one-quarter 
mile from the mine. More fortunate than many other 
men of his class, he secured a fortune for his own uses. 

The discovery of the Whitlatch lode led to a quartz 
excitement, not only about Helena, but in every other 
part of Montana. The Cliff was a promising lode at 
Helena, discovered by Worden & Hall, on which eigh¬ 
teen claims were located, nine of which were consoli¬ 
dated in one company known as the Croesus Mining 
company. The crevice of the Cliff was from 20 to 200 
feet wide, and it rose in many places 30 feet above the 
surface. It formed a dividing line between the slate 


and granite formations. It crossed the gulches in the 
vicinity of Helena, all of which paid well below it, and 
none paid above it, from which it would appear that it 
must have been the source of their riches. The Owyhee 
Park mines also were famous in 1866. Prof. Hodge 
was agent of the National Mining and Exploring com¬ 
pany of New York, which owned them. Turnley’s 
mill commenced running on the ores in the latter part 
of August, 1866. The Bullion Mining company, of 
Nilson’s gulch, commenced crushing their ores in No¬ 
vember, 1866. The Sultana, at the head of Grizzly 
gulch, had a ten stamp mill erected by J. Gormley & Co. 
at work in November also. It was erected by Richard 
Fisher. His partner, Clifford, was superintendent for 
a New York company which owned five mills in 
Georgia before the rebellion. The property being con¬ 
fiscated, Clifford migrated to Colorado and mined there 
five years before coming to Montana. Among other 
mines partially opened in 1865 near Helena was the 
Uncle Sam, owned by a miner from Scotland named 
Brown, who had formerly worked on the Gould and 
Curry lode o-f Nevada. This mine was said at the pe¬ 
riod of its discovery to be the richest in the known 
world, being a well defined ledge five feet wide, three- 
fourths of which was pure gold, and the .remainder 
principally bismuth. The quartz containing the vein, 
it was stated, would assay from $500 to $2,000. Making 
every allowance for over-enthusiasm, the Uncle Sam 
was undoubtedly a mine of very unusual richness, with 
one of those bonanzas at the top which have not been 
altogether unknown in other mines. 

While the mills were pounding out the gold 
in the Bannack and Helena districts, quartz 
mining was being also carried on in the vicin¬ 
ity of Virginia City. In Summit district, five 
miles south of Virginia City, four mills were' 
soon at work running on ores taken from mines 
near the capital city. Also in Hot Springs dis¬ 
trict, thirty miles north of Virginia City, there 
was considerable activity and three mills were 
kept busy. The first mill erected in Madison 
county was the Idaho, which began pounding 
ore with twelve stamps in December, 1865. 
It was not successful and was replaced by 
another about a year later. The following 
year Seneca Falls mill, in a large frame struc¬ 
ture, with excellent machinery; Scranton mill, 
with a Dodge crusher, in a stone building; and 
Excelsior mill, with twenty stamps, in a fine 
large building, were added to the Idaho mill. 
In a gulch just below Summit was the Forest 






HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


89 


mill with twenty-four stamps, which crushed 
the ore from the Mesler lode. A fifty stamp 
mill arrived the same year for the Mill creek 
mines, the owners of which were J. A. Dowdall, 
Manlius Branham and C. C. Branham. The 
first run was made on the Lady Suffolk lode. 
Two mills arrived in Summit in October for 
Frank Chistnot from Nebraska City. The 
best known lodes of Summit district were the 
Yankee Blade, Lucas, Caverone, Oro Cache 
and Keystone. There was a mill belonging to 
Raglan, Cope & Naptoon, a custom mill, and 
one to the Clark & Upson Mining Co., of which 
company Prof. Eaton was the agent. The 
mines in the Hot Springs district which were 
worked at this period were the Cotopaxi, Gold 
Hill, Esop, Oro Fino, Sebastapol, Buena Vista, 
Poco Tiempo, Alpha, Cleopatra, Mark Antony, 
May Reid, Megatherium. Brooklyn and Pony, 
the last named being the leading mine. There 
were several other mills running in this vicin¬ 
ity in 1867, owned by H. A. Ward, McAn- 
drews, Warre & Co., Isaac and L. W. Borton. 
At Pipestone, a few miles north of Hot 
Springs, a mill was erected in 1866. At Fish 
creek, a short distance south of Pipestone, the 
Red Mountain district was opened too late 
that season for the introduction of mills. 

Other important quartz mining districts in 
the sixties were Trout Creek, Crow Creek, 
Silver Bow, Blackfoot and McClellan. Again 
we quote from Bancroft concerning the mines 
in these districts: 

Northeast of and within about fifteen miles of 
Helena, on the east side of the Missouri, was the Trout 
Creek district, in which both mills and arrastras were 
busily at work grinding and pounding out gold from 
rock of great richness, at a place called New York, 
on a creek flowing into the Missouri, with a Brooklyn 
on the opposite side, the two towns having a_ population 
of about 400. John A. Gaston, one of the first comers, 
and an Englishman, was associated with Simpson in a 
thirty stamp quartz mill. Each stamp weighed 600 
pounds and dropped thirty-five times a minute, pound¬ 
ing 22 tons in 24 hours. It started up August 28, 1866. 
A water power mill, with an eleven foot overshot wheel, 
was located west of the steam mill and carried six 


500-pound stamps, crushing a ton a day each. This 
was the pioneer mill of the Trout Creek district and 
belonged to Wessel & Wilkes, and started August 25. 
It was an arastra attached. Another water mill was 
erected by Cullen, and a twenty stamp steam mill by 
Hendrie & Cass, during the summer. An' arastra be¬ 
longing to Rumlay & Watrous consisted of a circular 
basin twelve feet in diameter, with five mullers, weigh¬ 
ing in file aggregate 3,000 pounds. It reduced 1.000 
pounds of ore in six hours, and was run by water 
power for an overshot wheel, eight feet in diameter. 

The Star of the West was the first ledge developed 
in this district. Seven tons yielded $387.50 in Wessel 
& Wilkes’ arrastra, at a total expense of $97.50. The 
Nonpareil, Grizzly, Alta, Excelsior No. 2, Little Giant, 
Zebra, Chief of Montana, Hidbard, Trout, Keystone, 
Humbolt, Sampson and Old Dad were more or less 
worked in 1866. The mines, both placer and quartz, 
were discovered in January by four hunters returning 
from an exploring expedition to Sun river. These men 
were Moore, Price, Ritter and Spivey. The valley of 
Trout creek was two and one-half by one and one- 
fourth miles in extent. The stream furnished the 
famous New York gulches and numerous bars. 

In June, 1866, quartz and placer mines were dis¬ 
covered on Crow creek, on the west side of the Mis¬ 
souri, nearly due west of the south end of the Belt 
range of mountains, which has furnished so great a 
number of good mines on the east side. At this place 
the town of Radersburg was laid out in October, one 
mile from the road leading from Helena to 
Gallatin. The first lode found was the Blipp, by J. A. 
Cooper and George Beard. The Johnny Keating and 
Blacher, Ironclad, Leviathan, Twilight, Nighthawk, 
Ohio, Ultramarine, Robert E. Lee and twenty others 
were located during the summer. The district was a 
rich one and Radersburg had in 1868 six hundred in¬ 
habitants. 

In the Silver Bow and Blackfoot regions quartz 
was being daily discovered. In December, 1865, there 
had been discovered the Lioness, Rocker, Shamrock, 
Original, Alhambra, Wild Pat, Mountaineer, Polar 
Star, Lepley, Dewey, Arctic, Fairmont and a host of 
others. Quartz was discovered near McClellan gulch 
by Henry Prosser and Charles Melvin, 1.000 feet of 
which sold for $10,000. This was the Glencoe mine. 
But there appears to have been no mills introduced 
west of the Rocky mountains until later. 

We have next to consider the silvei: mining 
history of Montana. In mining- countries the 
usual succession is first placer mining, then 
quartz gold mining, and lastly silver quartz 
mining. But in Montana the discovery of gold 
and silver quartz was made at almost the same 
time. The first experiment with silver quartz 







90 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


was made in the Blue Wing and Rattlesnake 
districts, a few miles east and northeast of 
Bannack. The first lodes of the Blue Wing 
district where the Huron, Wide West, Blue 
Wing, Arizona and Silver Rose; of the Rattle¬ 
snake district, Legal Tender, White Cloud, 
New World, Watson and Dictator. The ores 
carried enough galena to make them reducible 
by the smelting process, furnaces being set 
up in* 1866 by several companies. James A. 
McKnight, an authority on the mines of Mon¬ 
tana, has written concerning the first silver 
mill erected within the state: “The first silver 
mill was unquestionably the old Pioneer. The 
pans for this mill were shipped by wagon all 
the way from San Francisco, and in crossing 
the Rio Virgin, in southern Utah, the team 
sunk in the quicksand and the pans were buried 
there for several weeks till they could be dug 
out and raised from the river by derricks.” 

The first smelter was erected at Marysville 
by the New York & Montana Mining, Pros¬ 
pecting and Discovering company. Their sci¬ 
entist was W. K. Eaton, and their general 
manager, E. Loring Pratt. In 1868 the St. 
Louis Smelting company erected furnaces at 
Argenta. The Rocky Mountain Gold and Sil¬ 
ver Mining company put up a cupelling fur¬ 
nace at Marysville, just east of Bannack. The 
ore smelted was from the Wide West in Blue 
Wing district. A blasting furnace was erected 
by Prof. Eaton; a furnace and a twenty-four 
stamp mill by Duran & Co.; a cupel furnace in 
the Rattlesnake district by Professor Augustus 
Steitz, on Legal Tender lode. The ore yielded 
80 per cent lead. The mine was owned by Es- 
ler and others. The Stapleton and Henry Clay 
ores were also worked in this furnace. The 
Huron Silver Mining company also erected 
furnaces-. 

This beginning created a sort of epidemic 
of silver mining. The fact that placer mines 
were not being discovered as rapidly as had 
been the case during the first few years of the 
rush to Montana led more people to turn their 


attention to quartz mining. In the rich and 
fertile valleys, where no one dreamed of look¬ 
ing for mineral, cropped up legions of silver 
lodes, notably in the country about the three 
forks of the Missouri. Silver Bow creek, 
which had received its name because of the 
shiny crescent of water which the creek 
formed, now meant that the crescent was 
backed by a wall of silver leads. Among the 
other early silver discoveries were in Jefferson 
county, notably the Gregory, owned by Axers 
& Mimmaw. 

The activity in mining circles, which had 
prevailed during the early days, began to wane 
about 1869, and during the few years follow¬ 
ing Montana was in comparative poverty. 
Large streams of gold were continually pour¬ 
ing out of the country, and the population was 
diminishing, owing to the migration of miners 
to new discoveries in other parts of the coun¬ 
try and the natural desire of many to return 
to their homes in the east as soon as they had 
made a “stake.” Besides the precious metals 
and a few hides and furs there were no exports 
from the territory, always a bad condition for 
any country. An extravagant system of gov¬ 
ernment added to the burdens of the people. 
This condition of stagnation lasted until about 
1873. But this period, however, discouraging, 
was not lost upon the permanent population, 
which was paving the way for more prosper¬ 
ous times. Those who owned quartz mines 
and mills, and who had not found them re¬ 
munerative by reason of defects in machinery 
or ignorance of methods, took time to right 
themselves, or found others willing to take 
the property off their hands at a discount and 
make improvements. Those who owned placer 
claims were driven to construct ditches and 
flumes whereby the dry gulches and creek beds 
could be mined. 

Strong reaction toward an increased produc¬ 
tion of the precious metals did not begin until 
in 1878. Then the silver yield was in excess 
of the gold. The most famous silver districts 




9i 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


which were being' developed at that time were 
at Butte, Phillipsburg, Glendale and Jefferson. 

Having purposely neglected to make very 
little mention of the mining history of the dis¬ 
trict about Butte, heretofore in this chapter, 
we shall now confine our attention to that won¬ 
derful district, than which there is no greater 
mining district on the continent, or perhaps in 
the world, no spot which presents such a pic¬ 
ture of human life and endeavor. The country 
round is entirely barren and desolate. Trees 
and vegetation of all kinds are an impossibility 
on account of the presence of the fumes from 
the smelters and reduction works in the valley, 
and every particle of timber has been cut down 
to be used as fuel. Concerning the Butte for¬ 
mation James A. McKnight has written: 

The vein systems of Butte have been so often de¬ 
scribed in scientific terms and so little understood that 
it may not be amiss to give an idea of them in plain 
language. The formation is granite, with occasional 
porphry. The trend of the veins is due east and west; 
their dip is generally south and the pitch of the ore 
shoots almost invariably west. These parallel veins 
occur at irregular intervals from the Utah & Northern 
depot to a point a mile north of Walkerville, and can 
be traced laterally for five miles in length. * * * They are 
true fissures, like most of the great mines of the world, 
and each seems to retain its uniformity as to width, 
depth and general characteristics. The larger veins 
vary in width from ten to one hundred feet, and seem 
to extend through the granite like vast channels filled 
with argentiferous or cupriferous ores, and showing 
vast spaces where they are merged. The ore, as before 
stated, occurs in shoots, usually varying in length from 
ioo to 1,000 feet. These shoots are the bonanza de¬ 
posits, and they differ from pockets or kidneys in that 
they are more lasting. A pocket is very seldom per¬ 
manent, and a miner sinking a shaft to strike a pocket 
is always likely to strike above or below it. Not so 
with the ore such as occurs at Butte. It often fills the 
vein from wall to wall. Its dip is uniform. It goes to 
the deep. No bottom has yet been found to the great 
ore shoots of the Butte mines. Permanence is their dis¬ 
tinguishing feature and the mighty three-compartment 
shafts which are sunk 400 feet without cross-cutting to 
the vein afford the best evidence of the confidence of 
capital in the downward continuity of the veins. There 
is enough ore in sight in the Butte mines today (1892) 
to last fifty years, and still not one claim in 20 is being 
opened. It is not a question of ore, but one of mills 
and smelters that sometimes agitates the people of 


Butte. As far as ore is concerned there never was a 
camp like Butte and may never be again. The whole 
district is laced by mineral veins. 

In May, 1864, G. O. Humphreys and Wil¬ 
liam Allison came to this now renowned spot 
and camped above where Butte now stands 
on what is known now as Baboon gulch, and 
prospected for a month in the vicinity. At 
that time there were no stakes struck nor any 
signs of work having been done in the camp, 
except upon what is now known as the Origi¬ 
nal lode, where there was an old hole sunk four 
or five feet. Near the hole were some elk 
horns, which had evidently been used for gads 
and handspikes. From all appearances the 
work had been done years before. By whom 
this work was done there is no telling, nor will 
it probably ever be known. Humphreys and 
Allison returned to Virginia City for provi¬ 
sions, and early in June came back to their old 
prospecting grounds. Near here during the 
month of May Charles Murphy, Major Wil¬ 
liam Graham and Frank Madison prospected 
and staked the first claim in the vicinity— 
named by them the Deer Lodge lode, but 
later known as the Black Chief. This was an 
enormous ledge, extending for miles. 

Humphreys and Allison discovered and 
staked the Missoula, Virginia and Moscow 
leads. During the months of June and July 
they ran a tunnel upon the first named, and 
organized what was known as the Missoula 
company, consisting of Frank and Ed Madi¬ 
son, Dent, G. Tutt, Col. R. W. Donnell, 
Swaope, Hawley, Allison and Humphreys. 
Soon after the discovery of the Missoula lode 
Dennis Leary and H. H. Porter, who were 
fishing on the Big Hole river, followed the 
wagon tracks of Humphreys and Allison into 
camp and were favorably impressed by the ap¬ 
pearance of the ore from the Missoula lode. 

Copper was soon found in the foothills in 
the same vicinity and soon a camp of seventy- 
five or a hundred men was in existence on 
Silver Bow creek—the foundation of the city 








92 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


of Butte. Although mineral was found in 
plenty the miners had neither mills nor smelt¬ 
ers, and had it not been for the finding of good 
placer diggings by Felix Burgoyne, the camp 
would probably have been abandoned. As it 
was the miners stayed in the vicinity, and in 
1866 a furnace for smelting copper was erected 
by Joseph Ramsdall, William Parks and Por¬ 
ter Bros. 

But the times were not prosperous in the 
camp and the original locaters of the claims 
did not have confidence enough in them to do 
the assessment work. In 1875 the time ex¬ 
pired when the discoverers could hold their 
claims without doing the assessment work 
fixed by a law of congress, and the discover¬ 
ers not appearing to make these improvements, 
W. L. Farlin relocated thirteen of the quartz 
claims located southwest of Butte, erected a 
quartz mill and infused new life into the camp. 
Five years later a substantial city, with five 
thousand inhabitants, occupied the place of 
the former shabby array of miners’ cabins. 
Twenty mills, arrastras, roasters and smelters 
were in existence and $1,500,000 was being an¬ 
nually turned out. 

For the early history of the other import¬ 
ant mining districts we quote again from the 
history of H. H. Bancroft: 

Cable district. Cable district, twenty-five miles 
northwest of Butte, took its name trom the Atlantic 
Cable gold mine, which yielded $20,000 from 100 tons 
of quartz, picked specimens from which weighing 200 
pounds contained $7,000 in gold. 

Algonquin district: Northwest of the Cable dis¬ 
trict was the silver district of Algonquin, on Flint 
creek, where the town of Phillipsburg was placed. 
Here were the famous Algonquin and Speckled Trout 
mines, with reduction works erected 'by the Northwest 
Company. In 1881 a body of ore was found in the 
Algonquin which averaged 500 ounces to the ton of 
silver, with enough in sight to yield $2,000,000. The 
Hope. Comanche and other mines in this district were 
worked by a St. Louis company, and produced bullion 
to the amount of from $300,000 to $500,000 annually 
since 1877. The Granite furnished rock worth $75 a 
ton. 

Phillipsburg district: Phillipsburg was laid out 
in 1867, its future being predicated upon the silver 


bearing veins in its vicinity. The first mill, erected at 
a great expense by the St. Louis & Montana Mining 
Company, failed to extract the silver, which for years 
patient mine ownerrs had been reducing by crude arras¬ 
tras and hand machinery to prove the value of their 
mines, and the prospects of Phillipsburg were clouded. 
A home association, called the Imperial Silver Mining 
Company, was formed in 1871, which erected a five 
stamp mill and roaster, and after many costly experi¬ 
ments, found the right method of extracting silver 
from the ores of the district. The stamps of their mill 
being of wood, soon wore out, and the company made 
contracts with the St. Louis Company’s mill to crush 
the ore from the Speckled Trout mine, the machinery 
having to be changed from wet to dry crushing, and 
two new roasting furnaces erected, the expense being 
borne by the Imperial company. The process which 
was adopted in this district was known as the Reese 
river chloridizing process. The cost of milling and 
roasting the ore was $40 per ton, and the yield $125. 
Eight tons per day of 24 hours was the capacity of the 
works. In 1876 the St. Louis company took $20,000 
worth of silver bullion from 157 tons of the Hope ore, 
and the average yield of medium ore rated at $65 per 
ton. As a result of the profitable working of the mines 
of this district, the population, which in 1872 was little 
over 200, by 1886 had doubled * * * 

Lewis and Clark county: In Lewis and Clark 
county the quartz gold mines held their own. The 
Whitlatch-Union, after producing $3,500,000, suspended 
that its owners might settle some points of difference 
between them, and not from any want of productive¬ 
ness. About 25 miles northwest of Helena was the Sil¬ 
ver Creek or Stemple district, the most famous of 
whose mines of gold is the Penobscot, discovered by 
Nathan Vestal, who took out $100,000, and then sold 
the mine for $400,000. The mines in this district pro¬ 
duced by milling about $10 per ton on the average. 
The Belmont produced with a twenty stamp mill $200,- 
000 annually, at a- profit of nearly half that amount. 
The Bluebird, Hickory, Gloster and Drum Lemond 
were averaging $10 to $12 per ton. 

Jefferson county: Silver mines were worked at 
Clancy, eighteen miles south, of Helena. At A. VVickes, 
25 miles south, were the most extensive smelting works 
in Montana, erected by the Alta-Montana company, 
which had a capital stock of $5,000,000, and calculated 
to treat all classes of ores in which silver and lead 
combined. • 

Clark’s Fork: Silver was discovered on Clark’s 
Fork of the Yellowstone in 1874, and F. D. Pease went 
to Pennsylvania in the spring of 1875 to arrange for 
erecting smelter works; but Indian troubles prevented 
mining in that region until 18 77 . when the Eastern 
Montana Mining and Smelting Company erected fur¬ 
naces. In 1873 the famous Trapper silver lode was dis¬ 
covered, followed immediately by others in the vi¬ 
cinity. 








HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


93 


The product of gold and silver from Mon¬ 
tana mines during the first nineteen years after 
the discovery of gold, according to figures con¬ 
tained in .Strahorn’s “Montana,” was as 
follows: 


1862 . 


1863 . 


1864 . 


1865 . 


1866. 


1867 . 


1868. 


1869 . 

. 11,000,000 

1870 . 

. 9,000,000 

1871 . 

.. 8,000,000 

1872 . 


1873 . 


1874 . 


1875 . 


1876 . 



1877 . $3,750,000 

1878 . 4,867,000 

1879 . 5,000,000 

1880 . 6,500,000 


Total . $164,517,000 


According to the same authority these 
sums were divided among the several counties 
as they existed at the time as follows: 

Madison .$79,500,000 

Lewis and Clark .. 29,000,000 

Deer Lodge. 26,367,000 

Meagher . 13,000,000 

Beaver Head .... 19,500,000 

Jefferson . 5,500,000 

Missoula . 1,000,000 

Gallatin . 650,000 


CHAPTER VIII 


THE REIGN OF TERROR. 


The history of Montana would be woefully 
incomplete without the narration of the law¬ 
lessness in the different mining camps in the 
early sixties and its suppression by a bold band 
of the best citizens from the several camps, 
who styling itself a vigilance committee, 
hung the worst of the offenders, banished 
others, and in a short time restored compara¬ 
tive order where before murder, robbery and 
social vice had brazenly presented an organized 
front and offered open contest for supremacy. 

The history of civilization has demonstra¬ 
ted that society cannot exist without laws; that 
whenever even a few have gathered in one lo¬ 
cality, some one must take the reins of govern¬ 
ment and administer justice; that without or¬ 


ganized principles civilization cannot prosper. 
Man in his most savage state lived without any 
form of government. However, during times 
of scarcity of food he would organize war 
parties, some one being chosen chief, that he 
might capture other human beings for food. 
From this beginning of organized government 
there has been a steady advance toward a 
higher organization, which has resulted in 
modern policies of government, where every 
subject is assured the protection of life, the 
security of property and the pursuit of happi¬ 
ness. 

There have been times in the newly settled 
portions of our country when the government 
was not adequate to cope with the lawless ele- 




































94 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


ment, when the lives of subjects were im¬ 
periled, and when property was subject to no 
protection. During such times the law abiding 
have found it necessary to put into execution 
such measures as would provide protection, and 
such organizations in our western country 
were known as vigilance committees. 

In no other portion of the civilized world 
were the lawless in such complete control of 
affairs as they were in the mining comps of 
Montana before the vigilantes organized. 
When gold was discovered here-the most des¬ 
perate characters swarmed in. Most of these 
first came from the mines of Idaho, where they 
had bad, records. Having committed desperate 
deeds in other places and finding public senti¬ 
ment against them, they had come to the new 
“diggings,” well aware that if they were taken 
prisoner and removed to the places where their 
criminal acts had been committed, the law 
would have no mercy upon them. Others 
flocked into the new country whose past re¬ 
cords were not stained by nefarious deeds, but 
whose temperaments were such that when 
brought face to face with the opportunity of 
acquiring a fortune without labor and with little 
liability of punishment, and when coming in 
contact with men of a lawless nature, they 
needed but little encouragment to induce them 
to become members of the outlaw class. Such 
men as these are known to all new mining 
countries. 

We of today can hardly realize to what ex¬ 
tent these desperadoes gained control of the 
early mining camps of Montana. Never be¬ 
fore, since man became civilized, had the law¬ 
less gained the upper hand in a civilized com¬ 
munity to such an extent as they did here. The 
work of this class is generally done by stealth, 
in darkness, and as far away from society as 
it is possible to get. Here it was in the open. 
Men openly boasted of their crimes and feared 
not punishment. Think of a community of 
several thousand people in which the criminal 
element is greater than the peaceful element 


and you may be able to realize something of 
the condition here. When the Montana vigi¬ 
lantes entered upon their work they did not 
know how soon they might have to encounter a 
force numerically greater than their own—and 
the committee was composed of nearly all law 
abiding citizens of the territory. For a long 
time no organized effort was made to bring 
about a change of condition for the reason that 
the friends of law and order believed the power 
of evil to be in the ascendant and that it would 
be impossible to check the lawlessness. Thus 
encouraged, the ruffian power increased in 
audacity and threatened all that portion of the 
community which did not belong to its or¬ 
ganization. “An issue involving the destruc¬ 
tion of the good or bad element actually ex¬ 
isted at the time that the people entered upon 
the work of punishment,” says Mr. Nathaniel 
P. Langford in “Vigilante Days and Ways.” 

As Bannack was the first Montana camp, 
here the desperadoes came first. Early in the 
winter of 1862 from the mines west of the 
Rocky mountains came Henry Plummer, soon 
afterward elected sheriff, Charlie Reeves, 
Cyrus Skinner and Augustus Moore. These 
were the van guard of the desperate characters 
to come to Montana. They no sooner got the 
lay of the country than they began operations. 
These ruffians served as a nucleus for the or¬ 
ganization of an outlaw band, composed of all 
the disloyal, desperate and dishonest of the 
camp. The condition of affairs in Bannack at 
that time is very entertainingly told by Mr. 
Langford as follows: 

The Very composition of the society of Bannack 
at the time was such as to excite suspicion in all minds. 
Outside of their immediate acquaintances, men knew 
not whom to trust. They were in the midst of a peo¬ 
ple who had come from all parts of the country and 
from many of the nations of the old world. Laws 
which could not be executed were no better than none. 
A people, however, disposed to the preservation of 
order and punishment of crimes, was powerless for 
either so long as every man distrusted his neighbor. 
The robbers, united by a bond of sympathetic atrocity, 
assumed the right to control the affairs of the camp by 




HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


95 


the bloody code. No one was safe. The miner for¬ 
tunate enough to accumulate a few thousands, the 
merchant whose business gave evidence of success, the 
saloonkeeper whose patronage was supposed to be pro¬ 
ductive, were all marked as victims by these lawless 
adventurers. If one of them needed clothing, ammuni¬ 
tion or food, he obtained it on^a credit which no one 
dared refuse, and settled it by threatening to shoot the 
person bold enough to ask for payment. Such a con¬ 
dition of society as all foresaw, must sooner or later 
terminate in disaster to the lovers of law and order or 
to the villains who depredated upon them. Which were 
the -stronger? The roughs knew their power, but their 
antagonists, separately hedged about by suspicion as 
indiscriminate as it was inflexible, knew not how to 
establish confidence in each other upon which to base 
an effective opposition. Meantime the carnival of 
crime was progressing. Scarcely a day passed unsignal¬ 
ized by outrage or murder. The numerous tenants 
of the little graveyard had all died by violence. Peo¬ 
ple walked the streets in fear. 

The roughs kept the law abiding citizens 
in a constant state of terror; wanton and un¬ 
provoked murders were the order of the day. 
But there was method in their lawlessness. The 
more daring of the rough element organized 
as a band of road agents. After other camps 
were established and communication was es¬ 
tablished, these robbers systemised a plan of 
highway robbery. Members of the band were 
in both Bannack and Virginia City and cor¬ 
respondence was constantly kept up. The 
roads throughout the territory were under the 
surveillance of members of the gang and to 
such a system was their work reduced that 
horses, men and coaches were marked in some 
understood manner, to designate them as fit 
objects for robbery. When a coach or “train” 
was about to leave a town some member of 
the road agents was always on hand to get 
the particulars of its destination and amount of 
gold carried, and with the system of markings 
those who were lying in wait received all the 
information necessary. 

Thomas J. Dimsdale, in “The Vigilantes 
of Montana,” tells of the' usual method of 
operating: “The usual arms of a road agent 
were a pair of revolvers, a double-barreled shot 
gun, of large bore, with the barrels cut down 


short, and to this they invariably added a knife 
or dagger. Thus armed and mounted on fleet, 
well-trained horses, and being disguised with 
blankets and masks, the robbers awaited their 
prey in ambush. When near enough they 
sprang out on a keen run, with leveled shot 
guns, and usually gave the word, ‘Halt! Throw 

up your hands, you ___j* jf 

this latter command were not instantly obeyed, 
that was the last of the offender; but, in case 
he complied, as was usual, one or two sat on 
their horses, covering the party with their 
guns, which were loaded with buck-shot, and 
one dismounting, disarmed the victims and 
made them throw their purses on the grass. 
This being done, and a search for concealed 
property being effected, away rode the robbers, 
reported the capture and divided the spoils.” 

From the confession of Erastus Yaeger, 
commonly known as “Red,” at the time of his 
execution by the vigilantes, the members of the 
band became known for the first time. Henry 
Plummer was chief of the band; Bill Bunton, 
stool pigeon and second in command; George 
Brown, secretary; Sam Bunton, roadster; 
Cyrus Skinner, fence, spy and roadster; 
George Shears, horse thief and roadster; Frank 
Parish, horse thief and roadster; Hayes Lyons, 
telegraph man and roadster; Bill Hunter, tel¬ 
egraph man and roadster; Ned Ray, council- 
room keeper at Bannack City; George Ives, 
Stephen Marshland, Dutch John (Wagner), 
Alex Carter, Whiskey Bill (Graves), Johnny 
Cooper, Buck Stinson, Mexican Frank, Bob 
Zachary, Boone Helm, Clubfoot George 
(Lane), Billy Terwilliger, Gad Moore were 
roadsters. “Red” was also a member of the 
band. According to this statement these men 
were bound by oath to be true to each other, 
and were required to perform such services as 
came within the defined meaning of their sep¬ 
arate positions in the band. The penalty of 
disobedience was death. If any of them, un¬ 
der any circumstances, divulged any of the 
secrets or guilty purposes of the band, he was 










96 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


to be followed and shot down at sight. The 
same doom was prescribed for any outsiders 
who attempted an exposure of their criminal 
designs, or arrested any of them for the com¬ 
mission of crime. Their great object was de¬ 
clared to be plunder, in all cases without taking 
life if possible; but if murder was necessary, 
it was to be committed. Their pass-word was 
“Innocent.” Their neckties were fastened with 
a sailor’s knot, and they wore mustaches and 
chin whiskers. 

Henry Plummer, the leader of the gang, 
was no ordinary criminal. When he first came 
to Bannack he held the esteem of all citizens. 
So popular was he that he was elected sheriff, 
which office he held for a long time. Con¬ 
cerning this man, who finally met death at the 
hands of the vigilantes, Mr. Langford, who 
was intimately acquainted with him, has said: 
“He possessed great executive ability—a 
power over men that was remarkable, a fine 
person, polished address, and prescient knowl¬ 
edge of his fellows—all of which were mel¬ 
lowed by the advantages of a good early edu¬ 
cation. Withal the concerns of a mining 
camp experience had made him familiar, and 
for some weeks after his arrival in Bannack 
he was oftener applied to for counsel and advice 
than any other resident. Cool and dispassionate, 
he evinced on these occasions a power of analy¬ 
sis that seldom failed of conviction. He speed¬ 
ily became a generad favorite. We can better 
imagine than describe the mixed nature of 
those feelings, which, fired with ambitious de¬ 
signs and virtuous purposes, beheld the way to 
their fulfilment darkened by a retrospect of un¬ 
paralleled atrocity. So true it is that the worst 
men are the last to admit to themselves the 
magnitude of their offences, that even Plum¬ 
mer, stained with the guilt of repeated mur¬ 
ders and seductions, a very monster of iniquity, 
believed that his restoration to the pursuits 
and honors of virtuous association could be 
established but for the possible exposure by 
some of his guilty partners. He knew their 


watchful eyes were upon him; but they were 
ready to follow him as a leader or crush him 
as a traitor.” Professor Dunsdale has written 
of the chief of road agents: “Plummer was a 
man of most insinuating address and gentle¬ 
manly manners under ordinary circumstances, 
and had the art of ingratiating himself with 
men and even with ladies and women of all 
conditions. Wherever he dwelt, victims and 
mistresses of this wily seducer were to be 
found. It was only when excited by passion 
that his savage instincts got the better of him 
and that he appeared in his true colors—a very 
demon.” 

Space prohibits our telling of the many 
crimes committed by the lawless element of 
Bannack in 1862, all of which were unre¬ 
strained. Not even a protest of any kind had 
been made against this state of affairs—the 
law abiding believing the lawless to be the 
numerically stronger, and that any attempt to 
bring any of the outlaws to justice would re¬ 
sult in disaster to all who took part in the pro¬ 
ceedings. 

The first attempt to mete out punishment 
was early in the year 1863, and was brought 
about by one of the most atrocious and un¬ 
provoked crimes that had yet been committed. 
Charley Reeves, a member of the gang, had 
bought a squaw from the Sheep Eater tribe of 
Bannacks. She refused to live with Reeves, 
claiming that she was ill treated, and returned 
to live with'her friends. The tepee in which she 
was stopping was located on an elevation south 
of that portion of the town known as Yankee 
Flat, a few rods to the rear of the street. 
Reeves proceeded to the tepee to compel the 
squaw to return with him. She refused and 
he then used force. An old chief interfering, a 
scuffle ensued and in the melee the chief re¬ 
ceived a blow from Reeves’ pistol, one barrel 
of which was harmlessly discharged. 

The next evening while intoxicated, Reeves 
and Moore entered Goodrich’s saloon and de¬ 
posited upon the bar two double barreled shot 










HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


97 


guns and four revolvers, declaring that if the 
people of Yankee Flat were afraid of the In¬ 
dians, they were not and that they would soon 
set the ball rolling. They carried their implied 
threats into execution, and going to the rear of 
the houses, opposite the Indian camp, they 
emptied their weapons into the tepee. The 
result was highly unsatisfactory to the desper¬ 
adoes, only one Indian being wounded. They 
then returned to the saloon, where they boasted 
of what they had done, and took several more 
drinks. Then, accompanied by William 
Mitchell, they went back to the vicinity of the 
Indian camp determined to complete their mur¬ 
derous work. All three fired a volley into the 
tepee with the result that there were killed the 
old chief, a lame Indian, a pappoose and a 
Frenchman by the name of Cazette, who had 
come to the tepee to learn the cause of the 
firing. Several other persons who were there 
for the same reason were wounded. When the 
murderers were afterward told that they had 
killed white men, Moore with a profusion of 
profane appellations said “they had no business 
there.” 

For the first time in the history of Bannack 
indignation was aroused to such an extent 
that the matter of punishing the perpetrators 
was discussed. A mass meeting of citizens was 
held the next morning and guards were ap¬ 
pointed to prevent the escape of the murderers. 
Moore and Reeves, hearing of the contem¬ 
plated action, fled on foot in the direction of 
Rattlesnake. Henry Plummer preceded them 
on horseback, evidently to provide means for 
their protection, but as he afterwards asserted 
through fear that in the momentary excitement 
the people might hang him for the shooting of 
Jack Cleveland, which crime had been com¬ 
mitted only a short time previous. When it 
was found that Moore and Reeves had gone 
volunteers were called for to pursue and ar¬ 
rest them. Messrs. Lear, Higgins, Rockwell 
and Davenport offered their services and came 
up with the fugitives about twelve miles from 
7 


town, where they were hidden in a thicket of 
brush near the creek. They at first refused to 
surrender, but aiming their pistols at the ap¬ 
proaching party ordered them to approach no 
farther if they valued their lives. The pur¬ 
suers were entirely at the mercy of the murder¬ 
ers, who could easily have shot down every 
one of the attacking party. A parley ensued 
in which the position of both parties was fully 
discussed. The attackers admitted that it 
would be impossible for them to effect a cap¬ 
ture, but they argued that ultimate escape was 
entirely out of the question, as their failure to 
return with the prisoners would result in the 
sending out of such a party that the capture 
of the criminals would surely result. An agree¬ 
ment was reached by the surrender of the fugi¬ 
tives upon the express condition that they 
should be granted a jury trial. All then re¬ 
turned to Bannack. 

Plummer was put upon trial immediately 
and was acquitted, the verdict apparently meet¬ 
ing a popular approval, the claim being made 
at the trial that the shooting was done in self 
defence. Early the next morning the whole 
population of Bannack assembled for the trial 
of Reeves, Moore and Mitchell. Business in 
the camp was suspended. The miners quit 
their work, the stores and hotels were aban¬ 
doned, and the whole population, numbering at 
least four hundred people, assembled at the 
large log building which had been designated 
as the place for conducting the trial. 

The account of this trial, the most remark¬ 
able one that has ever come to our notice, we 
shall present in the words of Mr. N. P. Lang¬ 
ford, who was one of the jurymen—the only 
one who had the courage to render a verdict 
in accordance with his conviction : 

Every man was armed, some with rifles and shot 
guns, others with pistols and knives. The friends of 
the prisoners gave free utterance to threats, whioh they 
accompanied with much profane assumption of supe¬ 
rior power and many defiant demonstrations. Pistols 
were flourished and discharged, oaths and epithets 
freely bestowed upon the citizens, and whatever ve- 







9 8 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


hemence of gesture and expression 'could do to intimid¬ 
ate the people, was adopted. Amid all this bluster it 
was apparent from the first that the current of popular 
opinion set strongly against the prisoners. There was 
an air of quiet determination manifested in every 
movement preparatory for the trial. The citizens were 
ready for an outbreak, and the least indication in that 
direction would have been the signal for a bloody and 
decisive battle. It is not improbable that an attempt 
at rescue was prevented by the presence of the over¬ 
powering force of armed and indignant citizens. 

The efforts of the roughs to suppress the trial 
only increased the indignation of the people, and after 
electing a temporary chairman, a motion was made 
that the accused be tried by a miners’ court. * * * 
When the motion was made to substitute the miners’ 
court it fell into their midst like a thunderbolt. They 
regarded a trial by the mass as certain of conviction 
as a trial by jury would be acquittal, not because the 
later would be any less likely than the former too per¬ 
ceive their guilt, but because fear of personal conse¬ 
quences would prevent them from declairing it. Men 
whose identity was lost in a crowd would do that which 
if they were known, would mark them as victims for 
future assassination. The friends of the prisoners 
showed the estimation in which they regarded this 
consideration when they openly threatened with death 
every individual who participated in the trial. They 
anticipated that, as none would dare in defiance of this 
threat to act upon a jury, all proceedings would be 
suppressed, thus renewing the license for their con¬ 
tinued depredations. 

The statement of the motion by the chairman was 
the signal for a violent commotion among the roughs. 
One long howl of profanity, mingled with the most dia¬ 
bolical threats and repeated discharge of pistols, filled 
the room. Many shots were turned from their deadly 
aim by timely hands and discharged into the ceiling. 
Knives were drawn and flourished in the faces of prom- 
inent citizens, accompanied with threats of death in 
case the motion prevailed. The scene was fearful in j 
the extreme. The miners in different parts of the j 
crowd could be seen getting their guns and pistols 
ready for a collision which at one stage of the tumult i 
it seemed impossible to avoid. At length the repeated 
cries of the chairman for order, and the earnest voices | 
of several persons who were desirous of discussing the 
proposition, allayed the noise and confusion, so that 
they could be heard. The guilt of the prisoners was 
so palpable that the people deemed any sort of a trial 
which would not speedily terminate in their condem¬ 
nation a farce. A very large majority were in favor 
of a miner’s court, because they foresaw that any other 
form of trial afforded opportunity for escape. Three 
hours were spent in determining the question. Many 
short, emphatic arguments were made. In the mean¬ 
time the disturbance made by the roughs waxed and 
waned to suit the different stages of the discussion. 


Shots at one moment and shouts at another betrayed 
their approval of the sentiments of the speaker. I had 
from the first made myself offensive to my own immed¬ 
iate friends and intimates by pertinaciously claiming 
for the prisoneers a trial by jury, and mounting a 
bench I embraced an early opportunity to give, in a few 
pointed words addressed to the assembled miners, my 
views. I reminded them of the constitutional pro¬ 
vision which secured to everyone accused of crime a 
trial by jury. It was the law of the land, as appli¬ 
cable on this as on any other occasion. The men were 
probably guilty; if so, the fact should be proved; if not, 
they had the right by law. on proving it, to an acquittal. 
Moreover they had surrendered at a time when they 
could not have been captured, upon the express con¬ 
dition that they should be tried by jury. I asked, 
“Shall we ignore the agreement made with them by our 
officers?” I concluded by offering a motion that they 
be tried by jury. It was negatived by three to one. 
Immediately a cry rose in the crowd, “Hang them at 
once;” this was followed by other cries of “String 
’em up,” “To the scaffold with ’em.” Pistols were 
drawn and flourished more freely than before, and 
many personal collisions, resulting in bloody noses, 
black eyes and raw heads took place in all parts of the 
room. Another hour was spent in discussion, and 
finally by a bare majority it was agreed to give the 
prisoners the benefit of a trial by jury. 

It is impossible to portray with accuracy of de¬ 
tail the fearful effects of passion which were exhibited 
by the assembly while this question was being deter¬ 
mined. On a limited scale it could not have been unlike 
some of the riotous gatherings in Paris in the days of 
the first revolution. It wanted numbers, it wanted the 
magnificent surroundings of those scenes, but as an 
exhibition of the passions of depraved men, when in¬ 
flamed with anger, drink and vengeance, it could not 
have been greatly surpassed by them. 

Order at length being restored, a portion of the 
room was enclosed with scantling for the accommoda¬ 
tion of the court and jury. J. F. Hoyt was elected 
judge, Hank Crawford sheriff and George Copley 
prosecutor. The jury was next ichosen by a vote of the 
people. My own appointment on the jury was urged 
by the roughs as a compliment for my efforts to ob¬ 
tain for them a jury trial. I was regarded by them as 
a friend, and they hoped confidently for acquittal 
through my influence. 

At first it was determined that the examination of 
the witnesses for both prosecution and defence; should 
be conducted by George Copley, the prosecutor, but 
upon an appeal for justice in behalf of the prisoners 
it was at length decided by a small majority that the 
accused should be allowed the assistance of counsel, 
with the understanding that all the questions of their 
counsel were first to be submitted to the prosecutor. 
Hon. William C. Rheem was chosen to defend the pris¬ 
oners, and there were many threats of violence toward 








HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


99 


him for consenting to conduct the defence. It was 
agreed that the arguments to be made on either side 
should be brief, and that the trials should be urged to 
their conclusion with all possible expedition. Mr. 
Rheem’s ability as a lawyer was unquestioned—which 
fact furnished to those who objected to a jury trial 
their principal reason for opposing his employment as 
counsel for the prisoners. As the extent of Mitchell’s 
criminality was uncertain, he was allowed a separate 
trial. His case was first brought under examination. 
It appeared in evidence that he accompanied Moore and 
Reeves on their second murderous visit to the tepee, 
but he was able to show that he did not once fire his 
gun, and consequently could not be guilty of murder. 
His trial was soon terminated. The jury recommended 
that he should be immediately banished from the gulch. 

The guilt of Moore and Reeves was fully estab¬ 
lished. This result was foreseen by their friends; and 
while the trial was in progress they sought by threats 
and ferocious gesticulations to intimidate the jury. 
Gathering around the side of the enclosure occupied 
by the iury, they kept up a continued conversation, the 
purport of which 'Was that no member of that court 
or jury would live a month if they dared to find the 
prisoners guilty. Occasionally their anger waxing 
hot, they would draw their pistols and knives, and 
brandishing them in the faces of the jurymen, utter a 
number of filthy epithets, and bid them beware of their 
verdict. Crawford was an object of their especial hate. 
Their abusive assaults upon him and threats were so 
frequent and violent that at one time he tendered his 
resignation and refused to serve, but upon the promise 
of his friends to stand by and protect him he retained 
his position. The case was given to the jury at about 
seven o’clock in the evening. A friend of the prisoners 
in the court room nominated me as foreman, but upon 
my refusal to serve under that nomination I afterwards 
received the appointment by a vote of my fellow-jury- 
men. 

The jury were occupied in their deliberations until 
after midnight. No doubt was entertained, from the 
first, of the guilt of the prisoners, but the exciting 
question was whether they could afford to declare it. 
They all felt that to do so would be to announce their 
awn death sentence. They knew that the friends of 
the prisoners fully intended to have life for life. They 
had sworn it. One of the jurymen said that the pris¬ 
oners ought never to have been tried by a jury, but in 
a miners’ court, that he should not be governed in his 
decision by the merits of the case, but that, as he had a 
family in the states to whom his obligations were 
greater than to that community, he should have to 
vote for acquittal. After much conversation of this 
sort, which only served to intensify the fears of the 
jurymen, a vote was taken which resulted as follows: 
not guilty, ix; guilty. I; myself, the supposed friend 
of the roughs, being the only one in favor of the death 
penalty. It was apparent that further deliberation would 


not change this decision, and the jury compromised by 
agreeing to a sentence of banishment, and a confiscation 
of the property of the prisoners for the benefit of those 
they had wounded. 

The court met the ensuing morning, when the ver¬ 
dict, under seal, was handed to the judge. He opened 
and returned it to the foreman, with the request that 
he read it aloud. An expression of blank astonishment 
sat upon the face of every person in the room, which 
was followed by open demonstrations of general dis¬ 
satisfaction, by all but the roughs, who, accustomed to 
outrages and long immunity, hailed it as a fresh con¬ 
cession to their bloody and lawless authority. 

That this, the first test of strength be¬ 
tween the roughs and the law abiding citizens, 
was a complete victory for the tough element 
was demonstrated by the events of the next 
few days. Mitchell remained away only a few 
days—if he ever left the town—and was not 
molested upon his return. Shortly afterwards 
a miners court was called, and the verdict of 
banishment against Moore and Reeves was re¬ 
scinded. This action was taken in view of the 
fact that the sentence against Mitchell was not 
enforced. The roughs now considered them¬ 
selves in complete control of the town. They 
believed, and rightfully, that the people were 
afraid of them. All who had taken an active 
part in the trial lived in constant fear because 
of treats against their lives. Especially bitter 
were the roughs against the judge, J. F. 
Hoyt; the sheriff, Hank Crawford; and N. P. 
Langford, the juryman who voted for the 
death sentence. Now the lovers of law and 
order and the criminal element were brought 
into open, public antagonism—and the crimi¬ 
nals had the upper hand. 

Shortly after the trial the gang of toughs 
held a meeting, at which it was agreed to kill 
every active participant in the trial of Moore 
and Reeves. The victims were all named, as 
were the men who were to dispose of them, and 
the work was deliberately planned. This 
wholesale vengeance was to be accomplished 
secretly, or by provoking into a quarrel those 
who were marked for slaughter and then dis¬ 
patching them under the guise of self defense.. 








IOO 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


So thorough were they in this work that within 
five months after the trial, not more than seven 
of the twenty-seven who participated in the 
trial as judge, prosecutor, sheriff, witnesses 
and jurors, were left alive in the territory. 
Eight or nine were known to have been killed 
by members of the band, and others had fled 
to escape a fate which they knew had been de¬ 
termined upon. 

Crime became rampant and no man’s life 
was safe. Murderers walked the streets of 
Bannack and feared not punishment. It would 
be hard to imagine a more deplorable state of 
society. Mr. Langford has written of this 
period of the camp’s history: “Had it been 
possible at any time during the period I have 
passed under review, for the peaceable citizens 
of Bannack to return to their old homes in 
safety, such was the terror that environed 
them, I doubt not that nearly all would joy¬ 
fully have gone. The opportunity for speedy 
accumulation of fortune from a prolific gold 
placer offered small compensation for the daily 
risk of life in obtaining it, and the possibility 
of ultimate destruction to the entire settlement. 
The people were spellbound, and knew not 
what to do. They assented almost passively to 
the belief that the ruffian population, when dis¬ 
posed, was strong enough to crush them; and 
when a murder was committed, or a robbery 
made, expressed no stronger feeling than that 
of thankfulness for their own escape.” 

Up to June, 1863, Bannack was the only 
camp in the territory. Then came, the discov¬ 
ery of rich placers in Alder gulch, and Virginia 
City came into existence, destined to become 
the most important camp in the territory. With 
the stampede that followed came nearly all the 
rough element from Bannack, as well as hun¬ 
dreds of others from different parts of the 
country, and almost immediately the road 
agent gang had control of the camp. Henry 
Plummer, the leader of the gang, who was 
sheriff of Bannack, by means of threats suc¬ 
ceeded in getting himself elected sheriff of Vir¬ 


ginia City. He was now sheriff of both camps, 
and three of his deputies, Jack Gallagher, 
Buck Stinson and Ned Ray, were members of 
the road agent gang. Another of his deputies, 
however, was a man named Dillingham, who 
was of an entire different character. By 
means of his office he learned the names of 
the road agent band and many of their plans, 
although he was entirely innocent of crime 
himself. This fact, of course, brought him a 
speedy death. 

Dillingham was murdered in cold blood by 
Hayes Lyons, Buck Stinson and Charley 
Forbes. Again was the people’s ire aroused 
as it had been at the time of the shooting 
into the Indian tepee, and vengeance was de¬ 
manded. A people’s court was organized and 
the three murderers were tried by the people 
en masse. Stinson and Lyons were tried first 
and by an almost unanimous verdict were de¬ 
clared to be guilty. The death sentence was 
imposed. Forbes was cleared, although he 
was equally guilty with the others. Prepara¬ 
tions were at once made to carry out the sen¬ 
tence imposed upon Lyons and Stinson; a gal¬ 
lows was erected and graves dug; the men 
were taken to the place of execution. Then 
so strong were the pleas for mercy by the con¬ 
demned themselves and several ladies who had 
assembled to witness the hanging that a vote 
was ordered taken to determine whether or not 
the execution should proceed. After several 
votes had been taken, in which the friends of 
the condemned men successfully increased the 
vote by unfair means, it was decided to liber¬ 
ate the men, and horses were furnished them 
to leave the camp. Thus terminated another 
miscarriage of justice, and no crime had yet 
been punished in the future territory of 
Montana. 

This failure of justice naturally caused a 
deterioration in the condition of society, bad as 
it had been before. No man felt that he could 
call his life his own in Virginia City or the 
neighboring camps in Alder gulch. Wounded 






HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


IOI 


men lay almost unnoticed about the city. A 
writer of these times has said that “a night or 
a day without shooting, knifing or fighting 
would have been recognized as a small and 
welcome installment of the millenium.” To 
give an idea of the conditions in Virginia City 
at a time just prior to the organization of the 
vigilance committee, we reproduce the follow¬ 
ing from Mr. Langford’s “Vigilante Days and 
Ways 

Gold was abundant, and every possible device was 
employed by the gamblers, the traders, the vile men and 
women that had come with the miners to the locality to 
obtain it. Nearly every third cabin was a saloon where 
vile whiskey was peddled out for fifty cents a drink in 
gold dust. Many of these places were filled with 
gambling tables and gamblers, and the miner who was 
bold enough to enter one of them with his day’s earn¬ 
ings in his pocket seldom left until thoroughly fleeced. 
Hurdy-gurdy dance houses were numerous, and there 
were plenty of camp beauties to patronize them. There 
too, the successful miner, lured by siren smiles, after 
an evening spent in dancing and carousing at his ex¬ 
pense, steeped with liquor, would empty his purse into 
the lap of his charmer, for an hour of license in her 
arms. Not a day or night passed which did not yield 
its full fruition of fights, quarrels, wounds or murders. 
The crack of the revolver was often heard above the 
merry notes of the violin. Street fights were frequent, 
and as no one knew when or where they would occur, 
every one was on his guard, against a random shot. 

Sunday was always a gala day. The miners then 
left their work and gathered about the public places in 
the towns. The stores were all open, the auctioneers 
specially eloquent on every corner in praise of their 
wares. Thousands of people crowded the thorough¬ 
fares. ready to rush in any direction of promised ex¬ 
citement. Horse-racing was among the most favored 
amusements. Prize rings were formed, and brawny men 
engaged at fisticuffs until their sight was lost and their 
bodies pommelled to a jelly, while hundreds of on-look¬ 
ers cheered the victor. Hacks rattled to and fro between 
the several towns, freighted with drunken and rowdy hu¬ 
manity of both sexes. Citizens of acknowledged re¬ 
spectability often walked, more often perhaps rode 
side by side on horseback, with noted courtesans in 
open day through the crowded streets, and seemingly 
suffered no harm in reputation. Pistols flashed, bowie- 
knives flourished, and braggart oaths filled the air, as 
often as men’s passions triumphed over their reason. 
This was indeed the reign of unbridled license, and men 
who at first regarded it with disgust and terror, by 
constant exposure soon learned to become part of it, 
and forgot that they had ever been aught else. All 


classes of society were represented at this general ex¬ 
hibition. Judges, lawyers, doctors, even clergymen, 
could not claim exemption. Culture and religion af¬ 
forded feeble protection where allurement and indul¬ 
gence ruled the hour. 

Underneath this exterior of recklessness there was 
in the minds and hearts of the miners and business 
men of this society a strong and abiding sense of 
justice—and that saved the territory. 

An instance of the overbearing and high 
handed rule of the desperadoes is shown by 
the custom of George Ives, who was the first 
one of the band to be executed. When in need 
of money he would mount his horse, and with 
his ever ready pistol in hand, ride into a saloon 
or store, and throw his empty buckskin purse 
upon the counter with the request that it be 
filled with gold dust as a loan. The proprietor 
or clerk of whom the demand was made knew 
better than to refuse. Often while the gold 
was being weighed Ives would amuse himself 
by firing his revolver at the lamps or other 
articles of furniture that would make a crash 
when hit. This outrage occurred so many 
times it attracted very little attention, and peo¬ 
ple submitted to it, believing that there was 
no redress—and there was not until later. 

While conditions in the camps were as we 
have described them, life there was compara¬ 
tively safe when we consider the dangers that 
beset those who undertook a journey when any 
great amount of money was carried. The only 
stage route in the country was between Virgin¬ 
ia City and Bannack, a region admirably ad¬ 
apted to the operations of the road agents. 
From the former place to Salt Lake City, the 
objective point for all who were leaving the 
country, lay a route nearly five hundred miles 
long through a wild and unsettled country. 
Lucky, indeed, was the miner who was success¬ 
ful in making this trip on his way out of the 
country if he had any considerable amount of 
gold dust. It is impossible to even estimate the 
number of persons who fell victims to the road 
agents on this long and perilous journey. The 
inquiries of relatives and friends for hundreds 










102 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


of them for months and years after their depar¬ 
ture from the mining - camps of Montana leaves 
no doubt that the robbers did a thriving busi¬ 
ness and that many a bloody deed was commit¬ 
ted on that trail. 

It was not until the last day of 1863 that 
the people became aroused to such an extent 
that summary vengeance was demanded and 
that the first member of the road agent gang 
met death at the hands of an outraged people. 
The beginning of this reign of terror to the law¬ 
less was brought about by the murder of a 
young German by the name of Nicholas Tbalt, 
who was foully murdered by George Ives for 
a small sum of money. 

Tbalt, who was in the employ of Burtchy 
& Clark, had sold that firm a span of mules and 
had received the money for them. The ani¬ 
mals were in charge of herders at Dempsey’s 
ranch, and the young German left, taking the 
gold with him, to bring the mules. Several 
days elapsed without the return of the young 
man, and his employers believed that he had 
left the country, taking the money and mules 
with him. As a matter of fact he had secured the 
mules and was returning with them, when he 
met George Ives, who murdered him, robbed 
him of the money and took the mules. Nine 
days later the body was found, almost miracul¬ 
ously, by William Palmer- who was hunting 
grouse in the neighborhood of the cabin of 
John Franck—better known as Long John. 
Palmer had shot a grouse, and upon going to 
the spot where he saw it fall, the dead bird 
was found lying upon the dead body of the mur¬ 
dered man, the location being in a clump of 
heavy sage brush, completely concealed and at a 
distance from the road—a spot which would 
never have been visited except by chance. The 
hunter went at once to the wakiup occupied 
by Long John and George Hilderman, a dis¬ 
tance of a quarter of a mile, informed them of 
the finding of the body, and asked their assis¬ 
tance in placing the corpse in his wagon that 
he might bring it to town. 


“We’ll have nothing to do with it.” said 
Long John. “Dead bodies are common 
enough in this country. They kill people every 
day in Virginia City, and nobody speaks of 
it, nobody cares. Why should we trouble our¬ 
selves who this man is after he’s dead?” 

Without assistance Palmer contrived to 
place the corpse into the wagon and brought it 
to Nevada. Here it was identified, and for 
half a day lay exposed in the wagon, being 
visited by hundreds of people from the differ¬ 
ent camps in the gulch. A bullet wound over 
the left eye showed the cause of death. The 
body bore the marks of a lariat about the 
throat, which had evidently been' used to drag 
him, while still alive to the hiding place. The 
hands were filled with small pieces of sage 
brush, showing that the unfortunate man still 
lived while being dragged to this out of the 
way place by his murderer. 

The sight of the dead body, bearing evi¬ 
dence of cruel death, aroused the indignation 
of the people to an extent never before equalled 
in the community. Then and there they re¬ 
solved to avenge the death. The reaction - 
against the criminal element had commenced. 
A campaign against crime was inaugurated, 
which ceased not until the country was entirely 
freed of the bloodthirsty brigands. 

At ten o’clock in the evening of the same 
day that the corpse was brought to Nevada 
twenty-five citizens of that camp left in search 
of the murderer. All subscribed to an obli¬ 
gation of mutual support and protection, and 
a more determined band of men never set forth 
on an errand of justice. Before daylight the 
next morning the party arrived at the wakiup 
of Long John, where were found asleep Long 
John, “Old Tex,” Alex Carter, Bob Zachary, 
Whisky Bill, Johnny Cooper and a couple of 
innocent strangers who had fallen in with the 
roughs the evening before. Long John was 
arrested for the murder, who, after a severe 
examination, declared Ives was the guilty 
party. Ives and “Old Tex” were also taken 








HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


103 


into custody and the march back to the camp 
was commenced, George Hilderman being 
taken on the way back. A daring attempt to 
escape was made by Ives on the return march, 
but was defeated, and the cavalcade arrived 
in Nevada soon after sunset, on the 18th of 
December, 1863. 

Then began the usual controversy as to the 
mode of trial. The roughs became alarmed 
and sent a messenger to Plummer at Bannack 
to inform him of the high handed outrage that 
was being perpetrated in defiance to law and 
.with no regard whatever to the constitutional 
authorities. They asked that he come at once 
and demand the prisoners for trial by the “civil 
authorities,” in which case he, as sheriff, would 
have the selecting of the jurors. Plummer, 
however, did not put in an appearance, and the 
trial proceeded without any interference from 
the “civil authorities.” 

Before ten o’clock on the morning of the 
19th fifteen hundred or two thousand people 
had gathered in the town of Nevada to partici¬ 
pate in the trial, and the camp took on holiday 
appearance. After considerable discussion it 
was determined that the trial should be held in 
the presence of the entire asssemblage, the 
miners reserving the right of final decision on 
all questions. An advisory commission or 
jury of twelve men from each of the two dis¬ 
tricts were also provided for. Col. W. F. San¬ 
ders, a resident of Bannack, but at the time so¬ 
journing at Virginia City, was sent for to con¬ 
duct the prosecution and he was assisted by 
Chas. S. Bagg. Messrs. Smith, Ritchie, 
Thurmond, Colonel Wood and Davis appeared 
for the prisoners. It was decided to try Ives 
first, and that gentleman, secured by chains, 
was brought before the miners’ court. 

Late in the afternoon of the 19th the trial 
began and it continued until after dark of the 
21 st. A strong defense was made and the ar¬ 
guments of the attorneys at times were long 
and eloquent. On the evidence of George 
Brown and “Honest Whiskey Joe,” Ives en¬ 


deavored to establish two alibis, bqt because 
of the poor reputations of the witnesses the 
attempts failed. Long John testified under the 
rule admitting the reception of state’s evidence 
and told a straightforward story, although he 
was not an eye witness to the killing. He 
swore that Ives had boasted to his companions 
after this fashion: “When I told the Dutch¬ 
man I was going to kill him, he asked me for 
time to pray. I told him to kneel down then. 
He did so and I shot him through the head just 
as he commenced his prayer.” The testimony 
was not restricted to the crime in question, but 
evidence was admitted showing many past 
crimes which he and his friends had committed, 
and this evidently had considerable weight in 
determining a verdict. As a result of this evi¬ 
dence, also, several of the desperadoes whose 
names were brought into conspicuousness 
hastily departed the territory. Prof. Dimsdale 
thus graphically describes the scene at the trial: 

The crowd which gathered around that fire in 
front of the court is vividly before our eyes. We see 
the wagon containing the judge and an advocate plead¬ 
ing with all his earnestness and eloquence for the 
dauntless robber, on whose unmoved features no shade 
of despondency can be traced by the fitful glare of the 
blazing wood, which lights up at the same time the 
stern and impassive features of the guard, who, in 
every kind of habiliments, stand in various attitudes, in 
the circle surrounding the scene of justice. The atten¬ 
tive faces and compressed lips of the jurors show their 
sense of the vast responsibility that rests upon them, 
and of their firm resolve to do their duty. Ever and 
anon a brighter flash than ordinary reveals the expect¬ 
ant crowd of miners, thoughtfully and steadily gazing 
on the scene, and listening intently to the trial. Beyond 
this close phalanx, fretting and shifting around its 
outer edge, sways with quick and uncertain motion the 
wavering line of desperadoes and sympathizers with 
the criminal; .their haggard, wild and alarmed count¬ 
enances showing too plainly that they tremble at the 
issue which is, when decided, to drive them in exile 
from Montana, or to proclaim them as associate crimi¬ 
nals, whose fate icould neither be delayed nor dubious. 
A sight like this will ne’er be seen again in Montana, 
lit was the crisis of the fate of the territory. Nor was 
the position of prosecutor, guard, juror or judge one 
that any but a brave and law-abiding citizen would 
choose or even accept. Marked for slaughter by des¬ 
peradoes, these men staked their lives for the welfare 






104 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


of society. A mortal strife between Col. Sanders and 
one of the opposing attorneys was only prevented by the 
prompt action of wise men, who corralled the com¬ 
batants on their way to fight. The hero of that hour 
of trial was avowedly W. F. Sanders. Not a despera¬ 
do present but would have felt honored by becoming 
his murderer, and yet, fearless as a lion, he stood there 
confronting and defying the malice of his armed ad¬ 
versaries. The citizens of Montana, many of them his 
bitter political opponents, recognized his actions with 
gratitude and kindly feeling. Charles S. Bagg is also 
remembered as having been at his post when the storm 
blew loudest. 

It was dark when the evidence was all in and 
the arguments had closed. The advisory jury 
retired and within a half hour returned with a 
verdict of guilty, only one of the twenty-four 
jurymen voting for acquittal. “Thank God for 
that!” “A righteous verdict!” and other like 
expressions broke from the lips of the as¬ 
sembled crowd of miners, while from the outer 
edge of the crowd, where were collected the 
friends of the criminal were heard curses, exe¬ 
crations and howls of indignation, the quick 
click of guns and revolvers. One of the ruf¬ 
fians exclaimed, “The murderous, strangling 
villains dare not hang him, at any rate.” The 
motion prevailed, with some opposition from 
Ives’ attorneys, that the assembly adopt the 
verdict of the jury. 

Then came the crucial test. Prompt ac¬ 
tion was necessary; in the previous murder 
trials justice had been defeated because of 
lack of it. Col. Sanders moved that “George 
Ives be forthwith hanged by the neck until he 
be dead,” and the motion was carried almost 
unanimously. Then came pleas for delay until 
morning for the execution. The appeals for 
mercy and delay were piteous, but they lost 
much of their weight when some one in the 
crowd said, “Ask him how long a time he gave 
the Dutchman.” 


Preparations for the execution were made 
at at once, A. B. Davis and Robert Hereford 
preparing the scaffold. The butt of a small 
pine, forty feet in length, was placed on the 
inside of a half enclosed building standing 
near, under its rear wall, the top projecting 
over a cross-beam in front. Near the upper end 
was fastened the fatal cord; a large dry goods 
box, about five feet high, was placed beneath 
for the trap. Accompanied by the whole 
crowd, Ives was taken to the place, and after 
only a short delay came the command, “Men, 
do your duty!” The click of a hundred gun 
locks was heard as the guards brought their 
weapons to the shoulder and leveled them upon 
the crowd to check any possible attempt at 
rescue. The box flew out from under the feet 
of the murderer, and the first member of the 
road agent gang was launched into eternity. 

George Hilderman was put upon trial at 
once, found guilty, and banished from the ter¬ 
ritory. Long John, having given state’s evi¬ 
dence, was allowed his freedom. Nothing ap¬ 
pearing against “Old Tex” at the time, he was 
released. 

Ives’ execution had a terrifying effect upon 
the desperadoes, though a few of them put on 
a bold face and were as loud in their threats 
as before. Intense popular excitement pre¬ 
vailed throughout the territory immediately 
following the hanging of Ives. Those who 
participated in the trial were threatened with 
death, as had been those who took part in the 
trial of Moore and Reeves. The prominent 
ones were singled out for death, and the ven¬ 
geance of the ruffian horde would doubtless 
have been as great as in the former case, had 
not events so shaped themselves that the road 
agents and murderers had other business to at¬ 
tend to than seeking vengeance. 










CHAPTER IX 


THE VIGILANTES. 


In the preceding chapter we have told of 
the state of society in the mining camps of 
Montana prior to the beginning of the year 
1864. The ruffians had complete control, and 
the law abiding were apparently powerless to 
bring about any kind of order. Now we shall 
tell of a complete reversal of conditions, 
brought about by the vigilantes of Montana. 

Going a little ahead of our story, we shall 
here tell of the results of the organization of 
the vigilantes. Within one short month the 
gang of murderous road agents was entirely 
broken up, and all but one or two of the mem¬ 
bers were hung. This was accomplished by 
an organization comprising nearly every good 
man in the territory—an organization which 
promised to, and did, render impartial justice 
to friend and foe, without regard to clime, 
creed, race or politics. It became known that 
the voice of justice, so long stilled, had spoken 
in tones that must not be disregarded. The 
face of society was changed as if by magic. 
In the words of Professor Dimsdale: “The 
vigilantes, holding in one hand the invisible yet 
effectual shield of protection, and in the other 
the swift descending and inevitable sword of 
retribution, struck from his nerveless grasp the 
weapon of the assassin, commanded the 
brawler to cease from strife, warned the thief 
to steal no more, bade the good citizen take 
courage, and compelled the ruffians and ma¬ 
rauders who had so long maintained the ‘reign 
of terror’ in Montana to fly. the territory, or 
meet the just rewards of their crimes.” 

Between the first of the new year and the 
third of February the following members of 
the gang which had so long terrorized the 
people met untimely deaths at the hands of 
the vigilantes on the dates and at the places 


mentioned: Erastus Yager (commonly called 
Red) and G. W. Brown, Stinkingwater valley, 
January 4, 1864; Henry Plummer, Ned Ray 
and Buck Stinson, Bannack City, January 10, 
1864; John Wagner (commonly called Dutch 
John) and Joe Pizanthia, Bannack City, Janu¬ 
ary 11, 1864; George Lane (commonly called 
Club-foot George), Frank Parish, Hayes Ly¬ 
ons, Jack Gallagher and Boone Helm, Virgin¬ 
ia City, January 14, 1864; Steven Marsh¬ 
land, Big Hole Ranch,, January 16, 1864; 
William Bunton, Deer Lodge valley, January 
19, 1864; George Shears, Frenchtown, Jan¬ 
uary 24, 1864; Cyrus Skinner, Alexander Car¬ 
ter and John Cooper, Hell Gate, January 25, 
1864; Robert Zachery, Hell Gate, January 25, 
1864; William Graves (commonly called 
Whisky Bill), Fort Owens, January 26, 1864; 
William Hunter, Gallatin valley, February 3, 
1864. By discoveries of the bodies of the vic- 
times, the confession of the murderers before 
execution, and other reliable information se¬ 
cured by the vigilantes, it was determined that 
the men had taken the lives of 102 people 
in different places. That is the record 
deduced from reliable information. However, 
it is not believed that that number any where 
near covered their actual murders. Scores of 
unfortunates had undoubtedly been murdered 
and their bodies buried, whose fate were never 
definitely ascertained. All that is known is 
that parties had started, with greater or less 
sums of money for various places and were 
never heard of again. 

The following were banished from the ter¬ 
ritory: Judge H. P. A. Smith and J. Thur¬ 
mond, the road agents’ counsel; H. G. Sessions 
and H. D. Moyer, manufacturing and circulat 





io6 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


ing bogus gold dust; a man named Kustar for 
reckless shooting. 

On December 22, 1863, the day after the 
execution of George Ives, was taken the first 
step toward the organization of the vigilance 
committee. The state of the public mind was 
excited, brought about by the disclosures made 
at the Ives trial. Alec Carter’s name had been 
frequently mentioned in connection with the 
Tbalt murder, and the miners determined that 
he should be brought to justice. Stinson and 
Lyons, the murderers of Dillingham, had es¬ 
caped punishment, and their death was also 
decided on. 

The scheme of organizing to bring the mur¬ 
derers to justice was originated by five men in 
Virginia City and one man in Nevada City. 
On the 22nd these gentlemen met and talked 
over plans, and before the close of the next day 
a league had been formed to carry out the plans 
of dealing justice to the cummunity and bring¬ 
ing to a close the reign of terror. 

The birthplace of the Montana vigilantes 
was a back room of a store owned by John 
Kinna and J. A. Nye on Jackson street, op¬ 
posite the gambling house and saloon known in 
those days as “No. 10.” In the “Story of 
Montana,” McClure’s magazine, August, 1906, 
Mr. C. P. Connolly has described this initial 
meeting. He states that Mr. Paris S. Pfouts 
was elected president, Colonel W. F. Sanders 
official prosecutor, and Captain James Wil¬ 
liams executive officer. After this election the 
candles were extinguished, and standing about 
the room in a circle, with hands uplifted, the 
assembled company took this oath: 

“We, the undersigned, uniting ourselves 
together for the laudable purpose of arresting 
thieves and murderers and recovering stolen 
property, do pledge ourselves on our sacred 
honor, each to all others, and solemnly swear 
that we will reveal no secrets, violate no laws 
of right, and never desert each other or our 
standard of justice, so help us God.” 


One of the by-laws adopted by the vigilan¬ 
tes read as follows: 

“The only punishment that shall be inflicted 
by this committee is death.” 

A few days more and such strength was 
secured as promised the best of success. Be¬ 
fore the organization had been completed a 
new incentive was given the people for desir¬ 
ing the punishment of the roughs. This was 
the cold blooded murder of Lloyd Magruder on 
his way home to Lewiston from Virginia City. 

Prof. Thos. J. Dimsdale has written: “The 
reasons why the organization was so generally 
approved and so numerously and powerfully 
supported were such as appealed to the sympa¬ 
thies of all men who had anything to lose, or 
who thought their lives safer under the domin¬ 
ion of a body which, upon the whole, it must 
be admitted has from the first acted with a 
wisdom, a justice and vigor never surpassed on 
this continent, and rarely, if ever, equalled. 
Merchants, miners, mechanics and professional 
men alike joined in the movement, until, with¬ 
in an incredibly short space of time, the road 
agents and their friends were in a state of con¬ 
stant and well-grounded fear, least any re¬ 
marks they might make confidentially to an 
acquaintance might be addressed to one of the 
much-dreaded committee.” 

The committee mustered in a party of 
twenty-four men, which set out on the 23rd 
to capture Alec Carter and such others as were 
believed to be implicated in murder. The mem¬ 
bers of the party were armed with revolvers, 
rifles, shot guns and rope. Liquor was for¬ 
bidden and only light rations were carried. 
Carter was known to have left Alder gulch im¬ 
mediately after the trial of Ives, in company 
with Bill Bunton, Whisky Bill Graves and sev¬ 
eral others, fearing arrest because of the dis¬ 
closures made at the trial, and was supposed to 
have crossed to the west side of the range. The 
pursuers followed on his trail and as rapidly 
as possible into the Deer Lodge valley. 









HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


107 


On Deer Lodge creek the party came upon 
Red (Yager), who had just warned Carter 
and his associates that the vigilantes were after 
them. None of the party were acquainted with 
Red and his mission was not known at that 
time. He informed the party that Carter, Bun- 
ton, Graves and others were lying at Cotton¬ 
wood (now Deer Lodge City) drunk. The 
next day the vigilantes proceeded to Cotton¬ 
wood, where they expected to surprise and 
capture the ruffians without great difficulty. 
What was their great surprise to.find that Car¬ 
ter and his companions had fled. It afterwards 
was learned that the intelligence of the pur¬ 
suit by the vigilantes was sent them from Vir¬ 
ginia City. Red was the messenger and 
George Brown the writer of the letter that 
gave the warning. The scouts, thoroughly 
disheartened, now returned to Beaver Head 
rock, determined to arrest both Brown and 
Red, if possible, for their interference. 

They stayed at Beaver Head two days, 
suffering much from cold and hunger. Being 
informed that Red was at Rattlesnake, volun¬ 
teers were called for and dispatched to accom¬ 
plish his arrest, while the rest of the party, on 
the homeward march, stopped at Dempsey’s 
to await the return of the volunteers who had 
gone after Red. The small party captured 
Red without any trouble and brought him to 
the rendezvous. Brown, who was acting as 
bar keeper at Dempsey’s, was also taken into 
custody. The men were accused of being 
members of the gang, which they both emphat¬ 
ically denied. The scouts gave them a trial 
and decided that there was no doubt as to their 
guilt. A vote being taken it was unanimously 
decided that the two men should hang. 

The culprits were taken to Lorrain’s ranch, 
on the road to Virginia City. Here at ten 
o’clock that night preparations were made for 
the execution of the two men. Red made a full 
confession of all his crimes and told of the 
secret workings of the gang, of which he ad¬ 
mitted he was a member. He gave to the vigi¬ 


lantes the names of all the members and the 
history of their crimes. The substance of this 
confession has been given in the preceding 
chapter. 

Less than a quarter of a mile from the 
Lorrain ranch, on a beautiful curve of the Pas- 
sam-a-ri (or Stinkingwater), stood several 
large and majestic cottonwood trees, and from 
two of these trees was executed the sentence 
of the two criminals. The lower branches 
were clipped from the trees, ropes were suspen¬ 
ded, and two stools placed one upon the other 
served the purpose of a drop. Brown met his 
doom first. With the petition on his lips, “God 
Almighty, save my soul,” the stools were 
jerked from under him, and he died without 
a struggle. Red was unmoved by the death 
of his comrade. When it came his turn, he 
shook hands with all his executioners and said, 
“Let me beg of you to follow and punish the 
rest of this infernal gang.” Then, just before 
the drop, he cried, “Goodbye, boys; you’re on 
a good undertaking. God bless you.” The 
stools fell, and another of the Plummer gang 
had gone to meet his reward. On the back of 
Red was pinned this label, “Red! Road Agent 
and Messenger” The other corpse was given 
the inscription, “Brown! Corresponding Secre¬ 
tary.” The bodies were left suspended, and 
were not buried for several days afterwards. 

The little band now returned to Nevada. 
Here they found the vigilantes more thorough¬ 
ly organized than before their departure, and 
that their execution of Red and Brown was 
highly approved. The crisis was past, and the 
law abiding were no longer in fear of their 
lives for telling what they knew of crimes that 
had been committed. A meeting of the com¬ 
mittee was at once called to learn of the dis¬ 
closures made by Yager, and to act upon the 
information received. It was decided to pur¬ 
sue the criminals and not cease operations until 
every one of the gang was hanged or had fled 
the country. 

There was consternation among the rob- 





io8 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


bers when it became known that two of their 
number had met death at the hands of vigi¬ 
lantes, and it would have been much greater 
had they known of the revelations made bv 
their messenger. Many, both at Bannack and 
Virginia City, fled at once; others, not antici¬ 
pating treachery from their comrades, believed 
themselves safe. So strong was the Plummer 
gang in the belief that evidence could not be 
brought against them that very few members 
of that order left the county, and so, almost 
without exception, all those who had been listed 
because of Red’s disclosures were captured and 
summarily executed. 

The news of the hanging of two of the 
gang and the fact that the vigilantes were de¬ 
termined to rid the country of the lawless char¬ 
acters of course reached Bannack as soon as 
horsemen could carry it. There Plummer and 
his road agent friends learned which way the 
wind was blowing and thought best to leave 
the country, although as yet they had no direct 
information that they were marked for slaugh¬ 
ter. On the ninth of January an effort was 
made to organize a vigilance committee in 
Bannack. A'public meeting was called to dis¬ 
cuss the question and many looked upon the 
formation of a committee with favor. Among 
others present were Buck Stinson and Ned 
Ray. One energetic citizen present, knowing 
these men in their true light, threw cold water 
on the proposition, deeming it best to carry out 
the plans more secretly, and the meeting ad¬ 
journed without anything definite being done. 

At midnight that same night four vigi¬ 
lantes from the Virginia City organization ar¬ 
rived in Bannack, bearing the information of 
the organization and work of the order at that 
place, and asking the co-operation of the miners 
of Bannack in carrying out the work of rid¬ 
ding the country of the rough element. A few 
trusted ones met with these men, and before 
daylight of the ioth a branch organization 
was organized in the older mining camp. The 
four vigilantes from Virginia City bore an 


order for the execution of Plummer, Stinson 
and Ray as leader and members of the road 
agent band. The newly organized branch con¬ 
curred in the decision of the older organiza¬ 
tion that these men must die. It was resolved 
that the next day, which was Sunday, should 
be spent in increasing the membership of the 
order; no great progress was made in this, 
'however. 

Sunday night three horses were brought 
into town and were recognized as belonging 
to the three men slated for execution. It was 
good enough evidence that the murderers were 
about to leave the country, and their immediate 
arrest and execution was decided upon, the de¬ 
cision being reached at a speedily called meet¬ 
ing. Squads were detailed to arrest the three 
men, which was accomplished without much 
difficulty. Under a formidable guard the men 
were marched to the gallows, a structure which 
had been erected the year before by Plummer, 
and from which had been hung one John 
Horan. The pleadings of the chief of the 
road agents were piteous. He begged to be 
chained down in the meanest cabin; offered to 
leave the country forever; wanted a jury trial; 
implored time to settle his affairs; asked to 
see his sister-in-law; declared that he was too 
wicked to die. “Do with me anything else you 
please,” he said. “Cut off my ears, and cut 
out my tongue,_ and strip me naked this freez¬ 
ing night, and let me go. I beg you to spare my 
life. I want to live for my wife—my poor ab¬ 
sent wife.” Again: “I am too wicked to die. 
I cannot go bloodstained and unforgiven into 
the presence of the Eternal. Only spare me, 
and I will leave the country forever.” Mean¬ 
time his companions in crime and misery dis¬ 
charged volley after volley of oaths and vile 
epithets at the vigilantes, employing all the of¬ 
fensive language of their copious vocabulary. 
Pleadings and curses alike failed to move the 
men who had set out to do the work. 

The first rope being thrown over the cross 
beam, the command was given, “Bring up Ned 




HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


109 


Ray.” Struggling wildly and cursing fear¬ 
fully, he was strung up. Being loosely pin¬ 
ioned, he got his fingers between the rope and 
his neck and so prolonged his misery. It was 
necessary to grasp his hands, and by a violent 
effort to draw his fingers from between the 
noose and his throat. Stinson was soon dang¬ 
ling besides the first. 

Then came the order, “Bring up Plum¬ 
mer.” The fatal noose being adjusted several 
of the vigilantes lifted the frame of the un¬ 
happy criminal as high as they could reach, 
when they suddenly let it fall, and Henry 
Plummer, the chief of the road agents fell to 
the death which he was so justly entitled tu 
die. The guards remained at the scaffold un¬ 
til satisfied that death was certain; then they 
quietly withdrew. A large number of people 
gathered at the hanging, but there were no at¬ 
tempts at rescue, the friends of the criminals 
not being so vociferous as on former occasions. 

The execution of these men produced a 
marked tone for the better in public sentiment. 
Men breathed freer, for the sheriff and his 
deputies were feared by nearly everyone in 
camp. Plummer was known as a wily, red 
handed, and politely merciless chief. Ray was 
a brutal murderer and robber. Stinson was 
especially dreaded. Professor Dimsdale has 
described him as belonging to that type of 
brutal desperado whose formula of introduc¬ 
tion to a western bar room was: “Whoop! 
I’m from Pike county, Missouri; I’m ten feet 
high; my abode is where lewd women and 
licentious men mingle; my parlor is the Rocky 
mountains; I smell like a wolf; I drink water 
out of a brook like a horse. Look out, you 
-, I’m going to turn loose.” Public sen¬ 
timent sustained the vigilantes, and the order 
was rapidly increased in numbers. 

The next day, January 11, the vigilantes of 
Bannack executed two more men. The first 
one of these was Jo Pizanthia, a Mexican, who 
lived in a little cabin on a side hill overlooking 
the town. “The Greaser,” as he was called, 


was not a member of Plummer’s band, but he 
had borne a shady reputation since coming to 
Bannack. It was decided to arrest him and in¬ 
vestigate his career since coming to the terri¬ 
tory.. The party started for his cabin, and 
upon reaching it, demanded that the inmate 
come out. There was no answer, and Smith 
Ball and George Copley entered, contrary to 
the advice of the rest of the party. They had 
no sooner entered than they received the fire 
of the concealed Mexican. Copley was shot 
through the breast and died within a few 
minutes. Ball was not so seriously wounded. 

The shooting of Copley raised the public 
excitement nearly to madness, and Pizanthia’s 
death was immediately decided on. A moun¬ 
tain howitzer, which had been left by a wagon 
train, was procured and brought within range 
of the cabin. Three shots were sent through 
the cabin and then a storming party was 
formed. The Mexican was found badly 
wounded. Unceremoniously he was taken from 
the building and stretched up. A clothes line 
was fastened about the neck of Pizanthia. The 
leader of the vigilantes, holding the other end 
of the rope, then climbed a pole, and, while 
his comrades held up the body, he wound the 
rope around the top of the stick, making a 
jam hitch. Before the leader had a chance to 
come down, the crowd blazed awaj' with their re¬ 
volvers and rifles at the form of the murderer 
swinging beneath his feet. Over a hundred 
shots were put into the swinging corpse. Then 
the Mexican’s cabin was razed to the ground, 
and a huge bon-fire kindled. A proposition to 
bum the body was received with cheers, and 
with a shout of exultation the maddened peo¬ 
ple tore down the body and hurled it upon the 
flames. When the fire had done its work there 
was not even a bone left of what a short time 
before had been Jo Pizanthia. The next 
morning a number of notorious women 
the town prospected the refuse, panning 
out the ashes of the ill-fated desperado 
in search of gold, which he might have had 
in his pockets at the time of his death. 





no 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


On the evening of the same day that the 
Mexican was hung, another of the road agent 
gang met his fate. This was John Wagner, 
commonly called Dutch John, one of the brav¬ 
est and most daring of Plummer’s men. Wag¬ 
ner had been captured without assistance some 
days before by Neil Howie, while the brigand 
was on his way out of the country, fearful less 
summary vengeance should overtake him. He 
and Steve Marsland only a short time before 
had robbed a train, and the fact that he was 
one of the party was known. With the as¬ 
sistance of John Fetherstun, Howie had safely 
conducted Dutch John to Bannack, where they 
were guarding him at the time his execution 
was ordered by the vigilantes. He had con¬ 
fessed his many crimes and had corroborated 
the story of the gang as told by Red. 

The committee met to determine the fate of 
Dutch John, and after some preliminary dis¬ 
cussion, his execution was unanimously ad¬ 
judged the only penalty that would fit his many 
crimes, he having been a murderer and robber 
for years. His execution was set for one hour 
later, and one of the party went to inform the 
prisoner of his doom. Like Plummer had 
done the day before he begged hard for his 
life. He said: “Do with me as you please. 
Disable me in any way; cut off my hands and 
feet; but let me live. You can certainly de¬ 
stroy my power for harm without taking my 
life.” 

Of course his pleadings were in vain, and 
he was taken at the appointed time to the 
scaffold upon which his leader had been hung 
the day before. Here he mounted the barrel; 
the noose was placed about his neck; the man 
laid hold of the rope that encircled the barrel, 
and when all was ready, the barrel was jerked 
■from beneath him, and the stalwart form of 
the robber was soon cold in death. 

While the executions just mentioned had 
been taking place in Bannack, the vigilantes 
at Virginia City were not inactive. Six mem¬ 


bers of the band were known to be in the city, 
and it was decided to attend to their cases at 
once. On the thirteenth .orders were sent 
out for the vigilantes to assemble in force to 
make the arrests and conduct the trials. That 
evening the city was encircled by more than 
five hundred men, who formed a cordon to 
prevent the escape of the men wanted while 
the executive council was in session deliberat¬ 
ing upon the evidences of guilt of the six men. 
So quietly was the guard placed about the city 
that not until the next morning did the people 
of Virginia City learn about it. One of the 
doomed men, however—Bill Hunter—suspect¬ 
ing danger, had crawled away along a drain 
ditch and made his escape. 

“While the committee was deliberating in 
secret,” writes Prof. Dimsdale, “a small party 
of men who were at that moment receiving 
sentence of death were gathered in an upper 
room at a gambling house, and engaged in 
betting at faro. Jack Gallagher suddenly re¬ 
marked, “while we are here betting, those vig¬ 
ilante - --are passing sen¬ 

tence upon us.’ This is considered to be the 
most remarkable and most truthful saying of 
his whole life; but he might be excused telling 
the truth once, as it was entirely accidental.” 

When the morning of the fourteenth broke 
the citizens were very much astonished to see 
the pickets of-the vigilantes surrounding the 
town. The city was like an entrenched camp. 
Hundreds of men with guns on their should¬ 
ers were marching through the snow on all 
the surrounding hillsides, with military regu¬ 
larity and precision. People knew what was 
coming and talked with abated breath of the 
doom which certainly awaited those of the 
gang who were still in the city. Messengers 
were sent to the other towns in the gulch to 
come and assist in the trials. Other members 
of the vigilantes were detailed to arrest and 
bring before the committee the following men : 
Jack Gallagher, George Lane (Club-foot 
George), Boone Helm, Frank Parish, Hayes 







HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


hi 


Lyons and Bill Hunter. The members of the 
branch organizations from Nevada, Junction, 
Summit, Pine Grove and Highland came to 
town in detachments and formed in a body on 
Main street. The town was soon full of 
people. 

So thorough were the preparations that 
all the men wanted except Hunter, who had 
made his escape, were captured with little dif¬ 
ficulty, and brought before the executive board. 
Here each was given a hearing, and nothing 
being adduced to change the minds of the vig¬ 
ilantes, it was decided to proceed with the exe¬ 
cution at once. 

Before being taken to the place of execu¬ 
tion, the prisoners were thus addressed by the 
president of the vigilantes: “You are now to 
be conducted to the scaffold. An opportunity 
is given you to make your last requests and 
communications. You will do well to improve 
it by making a confession of your own crimes 
and putting the committee in possession of in¬ 
formation as to the crimes of others.” All re¬ 
fused to confess or to make a statement of any 
kind. The prisoners were then pinioned, and 
the chief called upon men that could be de¬ 
pended upon to take charge of the condemned 
criminals. The plan adopted was to march 
the criminals, each between two vigilantes, 
who grasped an arm of the prisoner with one 
hand, and held in the other a navy revolver 
ready for instant use. Some six or eight 
thousand people were present at the execution, 
and the vigilantes were exceptionally careful 
to prevent an attempt at rescue. The doomed 
men were marched into a hollow square which 
was flanked by four ranks of vigilantes. A 
column in front and rear, armed with shot 
guns and rifles carried at half present, ready 
to fire at a moment’s warning, completed the 
precautions to prevent the escape of the pris¬ 
oners and possible aid from their friends in 
the crowd. Pistol men were distributed 
throughout the crowd to attend to the general 
deportment of outsiders. 


The central cross-beam of an unfinished 
log building at the corner of Wallace and Van 
Buren streets was selected for a scaffold. The 
building was roofless, and its spacious open 
front exposed the interior to the full view of 
the crowd. Five ropes were drawn across the 
beam to a proper length and fastened firmly 
to the logs in the rear basement. Under each 
noose was placed a large empty dry goods box, 
with cord attached for the drops. The pris¬ 
oners were marched in and each one stepped 
upon one of the boxes. It was decided to ex¬ 
ecute the men one at a time, and at the now 
familiar words, “Men, do your duty,” the box 
upon which one of the criminals was standing 
would be jerked away, and a dangerous out¬ 
law would be launched into eternity. Thus 
one by one five more of Plummer’s gang was 
made away with. 

These executions were a fatal blow to the 
road agents, who now saw that the vigilantes 
were in earnest in their intentions to bring to 
justice every one of the road agents. They no 
longer hesitated, but every one endeavored to 
get out of the territory. People no longer 
feared to express opinions on the side of right. 
All the ruffians had now fled from Virginia 
City and Bannack, having taken their way 
over the range to Deer Lodge and Bitter Root, 
intending to return to their old haunts in the 
mining camps of Idaho. The vigilantes had 
decreed, however, that all members of the 
gang must suffer death for their crimes, and 
plans were laid to hunt down and execute all 
who were on the list. 

A company of twenty-one men started out 
from Nevada on the 15th, the day after the ex¬ 
ecution of the five bandits at Virginia City. 
They proceeded to Big Hole and from there 
sent out a small detachment to Clarke’s ranch 
in pursuit of Steve Marshland, who with 
Dutch John had attacked Forbes’ train and 
been wounded. The party found Marshland in 
bed with his feet badly frozen. On being in¬ 
formed of the purpose of the visit Marshland 








112 


HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


denied everything, but later confessed his 
crimes, and begged for mercy. A pole was 
stuck into the ground and leaned over the cor¬ 
ral ; a box was placed for him to stand on, and 
from this improvised scaffold he was hung. 
This was on the 16th. The detachment re¬ 
turned to the main body of vigilantes and re¬ 
ported the hanging. 

The party now pushed on to Deer Lodge, 
where they found that nearly all the men 
wanted had taken flight and left the town. 
However, they found two whom they wanted 
—Bill Bunton and “Tex.” These were cap¬ 
tured and tried. Bunton was unanimously sen¬ 
tenced to death, while “Tex” was cleared. 
Bunton was executed on the 19th from an im¬ 
provised scaffold ‘formed by a corral gate. 
Without waiting for the “All ready, boys,” he 
leaped from the plank and died without a 
struggle. 

The next few days witnessed the execu¬ 
tion of several more members of the gang. 
Learning that several of the men wanted were 
at Hell Gate, a little settlement about ninety 
miles down the river, the vigilantes at once set 
out for that place. After many hardships they 
reached the place and entered the town on a 
dead run. They found Cyrus Skinner, one of 
the men wanted, in the doorway of his saloon, 
and that road agent was taken without much 
trouble.' Alec Carter, another, member of the 
gang and one who had a part in the murder of 
Tbalt, was found in the building next to Skin¬ 
ner’s saloon, and taken into custody. The two 
men were taken to Higgins’ store and their ex¬ 
amination was immediately commenced. Be¬ 
fore the examination of these men was com¬ 
pleted Johnny Cooper, another of the road 
agent gang, was arrested. All were found 
guilty, and Carter confessed to complicity in 
the murder of Tbalt. 

While these trials were in progress a de¬ 
tachment of eight men left Hell Gate in search 
of Bob Zachary, whom they found at the cabin 
of Barney O’Keefe. Zachary was taken and 


the party started back toward Hell Gale. It was 
learned that a stranger, who answered the de¬ 
scription of George Shears, another of the 
band, was stopping at Van Dorn’s cabin, in 
the Bitter Root Valley. Three vigilantes left 
to investigate and captured Shears without an 
effort. He was immediately conducted to the 
barn, where, a rope being cast over a beam, he 
met his doom. To save the trouble of prepar¬ 
ing a drop, the prisoner was requested to climb 
a ladder and jump off as soon as the noose was 
prepared. This he did without any apparent 
reluctance. This hanging occurred on the 24th. 

Skinner and Carter were executed early in 
the morning of the 25 th. Scaffolds were 
hastily erected by placing poles over the fence 
of Higgins’ corral, dry goods boxes being used 
for the drop. Each man, as he was being 
launched into eternity, exclaimed, “I am inno¬ 
cent,” the password of the band. Later the 
same day Johnny Cooper was hanged from 
the same scaffold. He was quite badly woun¬ 
ded at the time and had to be drawn to the 
place of execution in a sleigh. The party which 
had captured Zachary brought him to Hell 
Gate the same day. He was tried and found 
guilty. On the scaffold he prayed that God 
would forgive the vigilantes for what they 
were doing, as it was the only way to clear the 
country of road agents. He died without ap¬ 
parent fear or- suffering. 

The execution of William Graves (Whis¬ 
key Bill) took place on the 26th at Fort 
Owen. Intelligence had been received at Hell 
Gate that Whisky Bill was at Fort Owen, and 
three men were sent immediately to arrest and 
execute him. He had repeatedly sworn that 
he would kill any vigilante that came his way, 
and when found he was armed and on the look¬ 
out. His captors swooped down on him so 
suddenly, however, that he did not have time 
to make resistance, and was easily captured. 
He refused to make a confession. Mr. Lang¬ 
ford tells of his execution as follows: “A rope 
was tied to the convenient limb of a tree, and 




HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


the drop extemporized by placing the culprit 
astride of a strong horse, behind a vigilante. 
When all was ready the rider, exclaiming 
‘goodbye, Bill,’ plunged the rowels into the 
sides of the horse, the fatal noose swept the 
robber from the seat, breaking his neck by the 
shock, and killing him instantly.” 

This had been one of the most successful 
raids of the vigilantes since starting out, and 
the work was fully appreciated by the people 
living in the Hell Gate neighborhood. There 
had been a reign of terror in the neighborhood 
since the desperadoes had been driven out of 
Bannack and Virginia City. Their work having 
been completed, the vigilantes set out on the 
return to Nevada. 

It will be remembered that when Boone 
Helm and his comrades were hung at Virginia 
City, the death penalty had also been pro¬ 
nounced upon Bill Hunter, who, however, 
managed to escape through the pickets. Soon 
after it was learned that this man was living 
in the Gallatin valley. On February 3rd he 
was captured and executed—the last of the 
Plummer gang of road agents. A number of 
vigilantes, under the pretence of joining the 
Barney Hughes stampede to a new placer dis¬ 
covery, set out to effect his capture. As soon 
as his whereabouts were definitely known four 
resolute men volunteered to capture and ex¬ 
ecute him. On the evening of the 2nd these 
men arrived, after a long and perilous journey, 
at a log cabin in the neighborhood of the rocky 
jungle where their game had taken cover. He 
was taken captive, and a return journey in the 
direction of Virginia City was commenced. 
About two miles from the cabin the party 
halted under a solitary tree. Here breakfast 
was had, and then ensued a brief consultation as 
to what disposition should be made of the 
prisoner, it being decided after some discussion 
that his execution should take place at once. 
A noose was prepared and the rope passed 
over the limb of the tree. When everything 
was in readiness the men took hold of the rope 
8 


113 


and at a given signal, by a rapid pull, the pris¬ 
oner was run up so suddenly that he died with¬ 
out apparent suffering. So strong is the rul- 
ing passion in death that as he was suspended 
in the air and, certainly, unconscious, he 
reached as if for his revolver and pantomimi- 
cally cocked and discharged it six times. Leav¬ 
ing the corpse suspended from the tree, the 
vigilantes now hurried homeward at a rapid 
pace. 

Thus perished the last one of Henry Plum¬ 
mer’s road ag'ent band. The bloody reign of 
terror was at an end. The punishment of the 
wrong doers had been severe, but severe meas¬ 
ures were necessary. We quote at some length 
from two authorities on the vigilante question 
of Montana, showing the opinions of the people 
on the methods adopted to bring a condition 
of law and order out of one that had before 
been one of lawlessness. Mr. N. P. Langford 
has written: 

The retribution, almost Draconic in severity, ad¬ 
ministered to these daring freebooters had in no re¬ 
spect exceeded the demands of absolute justice. If the 
many acts I have narrated of their villainies were not 
sufficient to justify the extreme course pursued in their 
extermination, surely the unrevealed history, greater 
in enormity, and stained with blood of a hundred or 
more additional victims, must remove all prejudices 
from the public mind against the voluntary tribunal of 
the vigilantes. There was no other remedy. Practic¬ 
ally, they had no law, but, if law had existed, it could 
not have afforded adequate redress. This was proven 
by the feeling of security consequent upon the destruc¬ 
tion of the band. When the robbers were dead the 
people felt safe, not for themselves alone, but for their 
pursuits and their property. They could travel with¬ 
out fear. They had a reasonable assurance of safety 
in transmission of money to the states, and in the ar¬ 
rival of property over the unguarded route from Salt 
Lake. The crack of pistols had ceased, and they could 
walk the streets without constant exposure to danger. 
There was an omnipresent spirit of protection, akin to 
that omnipresent spirit of law which pervaded over 
civilized communities. Men of criminal instincts were 
cowed before the majesty of an outraged people’s 
wrath, and the very thought of crime became a terror 
to them. Young men wlro had learned to believe that 
the roughs were destined to rule, and who, under the 
influence of that guilty faith, were fast drifting into 
crime, shrunk appalled at the thorough work of the 







HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


114 


vigilantes. Fear, more potent than conscience, forced 
even the worst of men to observe the requirements of 
civilized society, and a feeling of comparative security 
among all classes was the result. 

Prof. Thos. Dimsdale has written: 

On looking back at the dreadful state of society 
which necessitated the organization of the vigilantes, 
and on reading these pages, many will learn for the 
first time the deep debt of gratitude which they owe to 
that just and equitable body of self-denying and gallant 
men. It was a dreadful and disgusting duty that de¬ 
volved upon them; but it was a duty, and they did it 
Far less worthy actions have been rewarded by the 
thanks of congress, and medals glitter on many a 
bosom, whose owner won them lying flat behind a 
hillock, out of range of the enemy’s fire. The vigilantes, 
for the sake of their country, encountered popular dis¬ 
like, the envenomed hatred of the bad, and the cold 
toleration of some of the unwise good. Their lives 
they held in their hands. “All’s well that ends well.” 
Montana is saved, and they saved it, earning the bless¬ 
ings of future generations, whether they receive them 
or not. 

After the vigilantes had executed the last 
of the road agent band, they considered that 
their work was nearly completed. They had 
freed the country from highwaymen and mur¬ 
derers—at any rate there was no organized 
band in the territory. There being no regular 
civil authority, the people decided to establish 
what was known as a people’s court, where all 
offenders should be tried by judge and jury 
and where all civil matters should be disposed 
of. This was the nearest approach to civil 
order that the circumstances permitted, and, 
while not strictly legal, the people determined 
that its decrees should be enforced. The vig¬ 
ilantes did not at once disband, however, and 
for some time afterward the fact that the or¬ 
ganization was still in existence caused a re¬ 
straint on acts of the lawless. Several more 
executions were made by this band before 
their place was taken by civil authorities. A 
few reckless spirits remained who, after the 
excitement was over, forgot the lessons that 
had been taught. 

The vigilantes were censured quite severely 


for some of these latter acts, it being consid¬ 
ered that they were carrying their self-consti¬ 
tuted power too far. The first execution after the 
work detailed in this chapter was that of J. A. 
Slade of Virginia City, a man who had many 
friends among the best people of the commun¬ 
ity but who was terrorizing rough when drink¬ 
ing and made life miserable for the people of 
Virginia City. We shall not go into detail 
in telling of these latter doings of the vigi¬ 
lantes, but simply give an outline of their work. 

Early in the summer of 1864 James Brady 
was hung near Nevada for the attempted mur¬ 
der of one Murphy, a saloon keeper. In Sep¬ 
tember of the same year Jem Kelly was hung 
by the Virginia vigilantes for the robbery of 
a coach going from Virginia City to Salt Lake. 
The hanging took place near Portneuf. On 
September 17, 1864, John Dolan was hung at 
Nevada for the robbery of James Brady and 
for suspicion of having been connected with 
stage robbery. He escaped to Salt Lake City, 
but was brought back. In the fall of the same 
year R. C. Rawley was hung at Bannack, upon 
the same gallows that Plummer had met his 
doom. Rawley was hung principally for his 
threats against the vigilantes and the fact that 
he was suspected of having been a spy for the 
Plummer gang. He had left the country when 
the vigilantes first made their appearance, but 
had come back that summer. 

Soon after the discovery of the precious 
metal in Prickly Pear valley and the springing 
up of the town of Helena John Keene was ex¬ 
ecuted there for the murder of Harry Slater. 
Many roughs came to the new diggings and 
to protect themselves the citizens of the new 
town organized a branch of the vigilantes, 
many of the members of the older organiza¬ 
tion becoming members. Shortlly after this 
organization Jake Silvie was arrested at Dia¬ 
mond City, about forty miles east of Helena, 
on the charge of robbery, obtaining goods under 
false pretenses and various other crimes of a 
similar nature. He was brought to Helena 







HISTORY OF MONTANA. 


US 


and at his trial admitted that he had been a 
robber for twelve years and that during that 
time he had taken part in twelve murders. He 
was hanged. 

The last execution by the Virginia vigil¬ 
antes were two horse thieves named John Mor¬ 
gan and John Jackson. These , were executed 
for horse stealing, but before death admitted 
that they were road agents. 

The committee at Helena and a newly or¬ 
ganized one at Diamond Gulch were occasion¬ 
ally called upon to make examples of outlaws 
who had come to those camps, and several ex¬ 
ecutions were necessary before order was re¬ 
stored. The most remarkable case here was 
that of James Daniels for the murder of a man 
named Gartley at Helena. Daniels was tried 
by the civil authorities and found guilty of 
manslaughter. He was sentenced to serve a 
term of three years in the territorial peniten¬ 


tiary. He was reprieved by the executive and 
promptly returned to Helena, where he was 
hanged by the vigilantes. 

So much confidence did the people of Mon¬ 
tana have in the vigilantes that when the ter¬ 
ritory was organized many people scouted the 
idea of having any better law for their protec¬ 
tion. When the new officers arrived they were 
told by some that the courts might be called 
upon to settle the civil cases, but that the peo¬ 
ple wanted no other laws than those laid down 
and executed by the vigilantes. When, how¬ 
ever, they found the courts adequate to their 
necessities, vigilante rule gradually gave way 
to the civil authorities. In some extreme cases 
the court’s slow action was anticipated and the 
old organization was again called into vogue, 
but this occurred only when the offence was of 
a very aggravated character. 













































PART II 

PARK COUNTY 

CHAPTER 1 


EXPLORATION AND EARLY 

It was on Tuesday, the 15th day of July, 
1806, that the first white man set foot on soil 
that is now within the boundaries of Park 
county. On that date a party consisting of 
twenty men, one squaw, one papoose and 50 
horses, under the command of Captain William 
Clark, crossed the belt range of mountains at 
the point which in later years became known as 
the Bozeman pass and descended the east side. 
Details of this journey are in another chapter 
of this work. 

The operations of the various fur traders 
and trappers are given in the chapter entitled 
“The Fur Traders.” 

Jim Bridger, he of Rocky mountain fame, 
spent the winter of 1844-45 i n that part of 
the county now known as Emigrant gulch 
with a band of Crow Indians. This statement 
has been vouched for by C. R. Glidden, who 
has stated that the fact was verified by certain 
marks and signs used by all mountaineers and 
which has been accurately described to the 
first settlers in Emigrant gulch. 

Mr. D. B. Weaver, who began mining in 
Emigrant gulch in 1864, has this to say of 
evidences of Mr. Bridger having been there 
at an early day. According to this account, 


SETTLEMENT—1806 TO 1882. 

the time of Mr. Bridger’s residence here would 
appear to have been earlier than the date given 
by Mr. Glidden: 

“In Curry’s district (in 1864), about a 
mile from the valley, stood a lonely pine tree, 
some twenty inches in diameter, around whicl 
was placed eighteen or twenty large elk horns 
with the concave side next to the tree. In the 
course of a number of years the growth of 
this tree caused the tree to expand and caused 
the horns to be tightly fastened around the 
tree so they could not be -removed. It was a 
problem no one could solve who had placed 
the horns around the tree or how long ago it 
had been done. This was a question that none 
could answer. During the fall of 1864 Cap¬ 
tain Fridley built a log house in Bozeman 
which was used by the traveling public as a 
place to stop in over night, by spreading their 
blankets on the ground floor. Here one night 
in the fall of 1864 a number of travelers were 
resting, among the number Jim Bridger, Rich¬ 
ard Owens and others. One of the men was 
telling about these elk horns around the tree 
over in Emigrant gulch. Old Jim Bridger 
spoke up, saying, ‘I helped to put them elk 
horns there twenty-five years ago.’ Now, tak- 





HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


ing Bridger at his word, we arrived at the con¬ 
clusion that Bridger was the first white man to 
reside in this gulch and this part of the Yellow¬ 
stone valley. Likely his party were trapping 
for beaver along the river and this gulch af¬ 
forded them a safe place to encamp from hos¬ 
tile Indians.” 

By the terms of the treaty signed Septem¬ 
ber 17, 1851, a part of the Yellowstone valley 
was set aside as a reservation for the Crow In¬ 
dians. The boundary line of this reservation 
commenced at the mouth of the Powder river 
and followed that river to its source, thence 
along the main range of the Black Hill and 
Wind River mountains to the headwaters of 
the Yellowstone river then down the Yel¬ 
lowstone river to the mouth of Twenty- 
five Yard creek, or Shields river, and across 
to the headwaters of the Musselshell, thence 
down the Musselshell to its mouth, thence to 
the headwaters of Dry creek and down that 
creek to its mouth. In this reserve was all 
that part of the present Park county east of 
the Yellowstone river, and Shields river. As 
there were no settlers in this part of the coun¬ 
try it made no difference whether Park county 
was included in an Indian reservation or not 
at this time, but before the boundaries were 
finally moved to the eastward, by the treaty of 
1880, there had been many prospectors over 
the country to the east of the Yellowstone, who 
had found rich prospects. 

Fifty-three years after the expedition under 
Clark had crossed Park county on its way to 
the east another government expedition 
crossed the county. It was in the spring of 
1859 that Lieutenant Maynadier, of the expedi¬ 
tion under Capt. W. F. Raynolds, of the corps 
of topographical engineers, U. S. A., passed 
through the southern part of the county, going 
from east to west. He kept close to the flank 
of the mountains until he reached the valley of 
the Yellowstone; then he hastened to join his 
commanding officer at the three forks of the 
Missouri, the appointed rendezvous, which 


place he reached on the third day of July. One 
of the objects of this expedition was the ex¬ 
ploration of the upper Yellowstone, but its 
primary object was to observe an eclipse of 
the sun at some point further west and north. 
Owing to the fact that there was only a little 
time to reach the appointed place of observa¬ 
tion, the further exploration of the Yellow¬ 
stone was abandoned. 

Prior to the year i860 Montana was prac¬ 
tically unknown except to the fur traders and 
a few Catholic missionaries, who had taken up 
their place of abode west of the mountains. 
During the next year or two rumors of gold 
in the Rocky mountain country brought a few 
prospectors into the country. It was not until 
the discovery of the Bannack mines in 1862, 
however, that there was any attempt made at 
permanent settlement. Then came the discov¬ 
ery of the rich placers at Alder gulch the fol¬ 
lowing year, and the rush to the land of gold 
was on. No part of the mountain country was 
overlooked by the prospectors, who swarmed 
over the hills and gulches looking for the pre¬ 
cious metal. It was the work of these gold 
seekers that led to the settlement of Park 
county. 

We find that in 1863 several such parties 
penetrated the country which is now within the 
limits of Park county. In April of that year 
a party of prospectors and prospective town 
builders, who had elected James Stuart as their 
captain, set out for Bannack with the inten¬ 
tion of prospecting in the Yellowstone valley 
and of laying out a townsite at some point in 
that unknown country. The members of the 
party were James Stuart, Cyrus D. Watkins, 
John Vanderbilt, James N. York, Richard Mc- 
Cafferty, Jas. Hauxhurst, D. Underwood, S. 
T. Hauser, H. A. Bell, Wm. Roach, A. S. 
Blake, Geo. H. Smith, H. T. Gerry, E. Bost- 
wick and Geo. Ives. The party left Bannack 
on April 9th and proceeded to the Gallatin 
river. Thence they crossed to Shields river, 
down that stream to the Yellowstone, and then 



























* 

























































































































EMIGRANT PEAK 









HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


on their search to the east. Concerning the 
trip through Park county, Mr. Stuart in his 
journal said: “From Bannack City to a point 
between the Madison and Gallatin rivers we 
traveled to suit ourselves, in regard to course, 
etc.; then we were suckers enough to try to 
travel by Lewis and Clark’s notes and maps, 
and the consequences were that from there to 
the mouth of Shields river we traveled 75 miles 
without getting any nearer our destination. 
After that we laid Lewis and Clark aside and 
traveled to suit the lay of the country.” 

In the preceding chapter of this work we 
have told of the many hardships encountered 
by this party during the subsequent part of the 
journey. 

That year another prospecting party, num¬ 
bering thirty or forty men, traversed the county 
from north to south, ascending the Yellowstone 
river into what is now the National Park. 
There all their horses were stolen by Indians. 
The party then divided into two parts and both 
prospected the country in the vicinity of Clark’s 
fork for several days. They finally returned 
and descended the Yellowstone, and found 
good prospects near the southern boundary of 
the present Park county, but did not follow up 
their discoveries. 

Gold was found in Emigrant gulch in 1863 
by Thos. Curry, who remained in the vicinity 
for some time, living with the Indians and put¬ 
ting in his time hunting and prospecting. 
Curry was an Irishman and by trade, a tailor. 
He left Emigrant gulch for the diggings 
further east, and early in the summer of 1864 
we find him starting out with two companions 
from Virginia City to return to his prospects. 
Soon after they commenced work in the gulch 
the Crows came upon them and robbed them of 
all their provisions and nearly all the rest of 
their equipment. Nothing daunted by this 
treatment, the men returned to Virginia City, 
where they laid in a new supply of provisions 
and such other articles as was necessary to 
carry on their work, and returned to the gulch. 


119 


Now, during the summer of 1864 there 
was a great rush to the gold fields of Mon¬ 
tana at Bannack, Virginia City and other 
points where the precious metal had been 
found. Much of this travel was by boat up 
the Missouri to Fort Benton, but John Boze¬ 
man successfully opened up a new overland 
route, and on July 30 reached the present site 
of the city of Livingston with a large emigrant 
train. From here the train proceeded west¬ 
ward, via the Bozeman pass, and the present 
site of the city of Bozeman, to the mining 
camps further west. Another large train was 
brought over the Bozeman route that summer 
as far as the mouth of Shields river, piloted by 
Jim Bridger, the famous trapper and hunter. 
From that point Bridger took his train up 
Shields river and thence to the western mining 
camps. Other parties not connected with either 
of these trains and traveling in smaller compan¬ 
ies, came over the Bozeman route, all bound 
for the renowned gold fields of the Rockies. 

Curry and his companions having found 
gold in Emigrant gulch some 25 miles above 
the point where the Bozeman trail left the Yel¬ 
lowstone, and desiring to share their good for¬ 
tune with the emigrants from the east, met 
some of the first parties at that point and in¬ 
duced some few of the gold seekers to abandon 
the trip to Virginia City and to try the new 
diggings up the Yellowstone. These found 
good prospects and at once went to work. A 
meeting was called and Curry mining district, 
in honor of the discoverer of the mines, was 
formed about the middle of August, of which 
Dr. Hull, of Iowa, was the recorder. It was 
not long before there were two or three hun¬ 
dred people digging up the ground in Emi¬ 
grant gulch. Each party that passed over the 
Bozeman route would lose a few members, 
who would decide to try their luck in the newly 
discovered mines up the Yellowstone. 

David R. Shorthill, D. B. Weaver and 
Alexander Norris arrived at Emigrant gulch 
August 27. Weaver has written as follows of 





120 


HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


the camp as it appeared to him that day in 
August, 1864: 

“Here for the first time I saw men washing 
dirt or ground for gold. The bank or bar of 
this gulch had stakes set in the ground every 
200 feet with the owner’s name written on it. 

I estimate that there must have been two miles 
of ground staked off. The owners of these 
claims had formed a company, sawed out lum¬ 
ber and made a long string of sluice boxes, into 
which they were shovelling the gravel and dirt. 
They were trying to get to bed rock in the ex¬ 
pectation of finding ‘pay dirt.’ ’’ 

Although the prospectors were busily en¬ 
gaged in turning over the ground in great 
quantities at this point the yields were not rich. 
Mr. Shorthill, who was an experienced Colo¬ 
rado miner, concluded that the source of the 
gold was higher up the gulch and at once be¬ 
gan prospecting. On Tuesday, August 30, he 
struck coarse gold in paying quantities, and 
the camp became quite famous in a small way. 

By-laws in Emigrant Gulch, Shorthill’s District. 

Resolved, By the miners of said district that the 
limits of said district shall be from the second falls of 
the main stream up said gulch to the forks of said 
stream and extending in width from summit to sum¬ 
mit along said gulch. 

Resolved, That no mining claim in said district 
shall exceed in length along said gulch one hundred 
feet, but all claims shall extend in width from summit 
to summit across said gulch. 

Resolved, That no person shall hold more than one 
claim as above specified by pre-emption, and but one 
by purchase except discovery claim. 

Resolved, That any preempted claim upon which 
the owner thereof shall not have performed, or cause 
to be performed, actual mining labor within ten days, 
next after his preemption thereof, shall be liable to be 
preempted by any person entitled to preempt the same 
and that after labor shall have been performed upon 
claim if an interval of five days shall elapse without 
additional labor being performed thereon said claim 
shall be liable to be preempted by any other person en¬ 
titled to preempt the same, provided that if any com¬ 
pany or copartnership for the purpose of mining who 
shall own claims in said district shall labor upon any 
one claim owned by said company or copartnership said 
labor shall be deemed to be performed upon the several 
claims owned by them. 


Resolved, That there shall be one recorder elected 
from the mines of said district, whose duty it shall be 
to record the claims of said district and for which he 
shall receive for each claim fifty cents. 

Resolved, That all disputes arising concerning 
claims in this district shall be settled by the miners 
of said district. 

Resolved, That the time for quitting labor in this 
district during the coming winter shall be the first day 
of October, and further that the time of resuming labor 
the ensuing summer shall be the first day of June, 
1865—provided that claim holders may resume work 
upon their own claims if by them deemed expedient. 

Resolved, That the recorder shall call a meeting 
of the miners upon request of three miners of said 
district. 

September 12, ’64. 

The original copy of these laws is in the 
possession of Mr. Hackney, the secretary, who 
lives at the national soldiers’ home at Los An¬ 
geles, California. The laws were not signed by 
the secretary at the time of their adoption, but 
the following addition to the records will show 
that they are now in the proper legal form: 

National Soldiers’ Home, 

Los Angeles, Cal., 9-12-1906. 

This is to certify that at a miners’ meeting held 
in the Shorthill district in Emigrant Gulch, Montana, ^ 
Sept. 12, 1864, I was elected secretary of said meeting 
and wrote the above by-laws; but as there was some 
unfinished business 'when the meeting adjourned I did 
not sign them, but do mow, 42 years later. 

W. H. HACKNEY. 

Preparations for founding a town were be¬ 
gun before mining ceased, in the fall of 1864. 
A site was surveyed at the mouth of Emigrant 
gulch and named Yellowstone City. The first 
building erected was a house put up by Thos. 
McGronagle. At the time, the house was con¬ 
sidered a commodious one, put up with a view 
to architectual beauty, but in this latter day 
civilization it would in all probability be prop¬ 
erly termed a “shack.” The town was built 
up rapidly, and practically the whole popula¬ 
tion of Emigrant gulch passed the winter “in 
town.” The cabins up the gulch were deserted 
and everything was “packed” down to Yellow- 









HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


121 


stone City. In a letter to a friend in the east, 
dated Yellowstone City, March 15, 1865, Mr. 
D. B. Weaver said: “Yellowstone City is sit¬ 
uated at the mouth of Emigrant gulch. It has 
about 75 log houses and a couple hundred 
inhabitants, 15 being women. It was com¬ 
menced last fall. It is the only settlement in 
this valley and the most eastern town in this 
territory, except Fort Laramie. This promises 
to be quite a place the coming summer.” 

Yellowstone City consisted not alone of 
miners’ cabins. In the fall there arrived in 
Emigrant gulch four or five freight wagons, 
loaded with merchandise and articles for trade 
with the Indians. These goods were the prop¬ 
erty of Aguste Archambeau and Frank Cin 
Cin, two French explorers and trappers, both 
described as estimable gentlemen. They 
erected a large log building for their store, and 
carried on the largest establishment in the 
town. The camp was a comparatively orderly 
one, composed of the best class of miners. Al¬ 
though outside the jurisdiction of peace of¬ 
ficers and courts, the people banded to¬ 
gether and formed laws of their own. 
A meeting was held in the fall when a 
justice of the peace was elected and penalties 
prescribed for different offenses. Hanging 
was to be the pepalty for murder, thieving or 
for insulting women. In the fall of 1864 a 
baby boy was born to the wife of Mr. Miller, 
and was named Montana. This was probably 
the first white child born in what is now Park 
county, or for that matter in the Yellowstone 
valley. Another child born at a very early 
date was the son of Mr. and Mrs. John J. Tom¬ 
linson, the sawmill man. This child was 
named Philo. 

The winter of 1864-65 will never be for¬ 
gotten by any who passed that season in Yel¬ 
lowstone City. They were the vanguard of 
civilization. For hundreds of miles to the east 
there was nothing but the wild animals and 
wilder savages; to the north and south it was 
no better; to the west the nearest mining camp 


was Virginia City, 120 miles distant. Con¬ 
cerning the state of society here that winter, 
Mr. C. R. Glidden has written: 

“Notwithstanding their perilous position 
the residents enjoyed life to the utmost. Balls 
and parties were frequent and well attended, 
the most cordial good fellowship prevailing. 
The gentlemen were soon dressed in true 
frontier style—that is in buckskin suits with 
long fringes attached to the seams of their gar¬ 
ments, a la Buffalo Bill. The ladies were com¬ 
pelled to replenish their wardrobes with gar¬ 
ments made from empty flour sacks, and, as it 
was impossible to erase the original brands, 
their clothes lines presented an amusing specta¬ 
cle, seldom seen except in the far west.” 

When the emigrants came to the gulch in 
the summer they were generally well supplied 
with groceries of all kinds, but in most cases 
these ran out long before the winter was over. 
The deep snows on the ranges to the west pre¬ 
vented an easy replenishment of their stock, 
and many were reduced to the necessity of liv¬ 
ing on “meat straight” during the latter part 
of the winter. Some also had been unable to 
secure profitable claims, and their diet of “meat 
straight” was due, in some cases, to lack of 
funds, as well as the inability to reach markets. 
But game of all kinds was abundant and none 
was so poor that he could not have plenty. The 
snow in the mountains drove the wild game 
down into the valley and on the foothills. An¬ 
telope, black tailed deer, common deer, Rocky 
mountain sheep, elk and bear were the most 
common varieties, and often such game wan¬ 
dered down within plain sight of the town 
Because of the heavy snows on the mountains, 
making it very difficult to bring in stocks of 
goods, and the steady diminishing of the food 
supplies of Yellowstone City, it was but natural 
that prices for such goods went soaring. Con¬ 
cerning the prices of merchandise during this 
winter, we quote again from the letter already 
referred to, written March 15, 1865, by Mr. 
Weaver: 






122 


HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


I shall now give you the dust, or gold, prices of 
articles (you must double the sum to get it in green¬ 
backs) : Flour, $20 to $25 per sack or ioo pounds; 
bacon, 6o cents per pound; coffee, 75 cents; sugar 75 
cents per pound; dried apples, 50 cents per pound'; po¬ 
tatoes, 12 to 16 cents per pound; turnips, 5 cents per 
pound; onions, 10 cents; butter, $1.00 to $1.25 per 
pound; canned fruit, $1.50 per can; ax and pick handles 
$1.00 a handle; writing paper. 5 cents per sheet. The 
largest profit last summer was on flour. It could be 
purchased in Omaha for three dollars per hundred in 
greenbacks and sold here for $20 to $25 in gold. Flour 
is now selling here at $40 per hundred in gold, or $80 
in U. S. currency. Virginia City is our nearest post- 
office. It costs 37 j /2 cents to send a letter and 75 cents 
to get one here in gold by private conveyance. 

Now, as the mining season lasts but six months, 
to pay the above prices a man is bound to make big 
wages. Last summer my average wages at mining was 
thirteen dollars a day in gold, and I expect the coming 
summer equally as good. 

But not all the events of the year were 
centered in Emigrant gulch. As stated before, 
the whole of the mountain country of Mon¬ 
tana was prospected that year, and several of 
these parties found their way into other parts 
of Park county. G. J. Batch elder and a party 
of prospectors who were coming up the Yel¬ 
lowstone valley stopped at the mouth of 
Shield’s river, and near there washed some 
dirt, which showed what in later years would 
have been called good prospects, but the find¬ 
ings were not rich enough to satisfy the eager 
gold hunters of that day. John T. Lilly was 
a member of the party and took out a small 
nugget that weighed six cents. Some years 
thereafter considerable excitement was aroused 
among the upper Yellowstone miners over re¬ 
ported gold discoveries in the Shields river val¬ 
ley, some distance up the stream, but no dis¬ 
coveries of value were found. As late as the 
spring of 1884 there was another excitement 
of the same nature in the same place, but it 
resulted in nothing but excitement, and there 
has never been any mining in that valley. 

Another party of 73 men, commanded by 
Jas. Stuart, prospected and hunted Indians 
across Park county in the summer of 1864. 
One of the objects of the trip was to punish the 


Indians for the outrages committed upon the 
Stuart party of the year before. They came 
from Deer Lodge to the Yellowstone valley 
and thence around the east base of the Absa- 
roka range into the valley of the Shoshone 
river. At the latter place the party was com¬ 
pelled to separate into groups. One small 
party went as far south as the Sweetwater, and 
recrossed the continental divide at Two Ocean 
pass. They descended the Yellowstone, passed 
the Yellowstone lake and the Grand canyon, 
and crossed Park county on their way home. 

Another event of the year 1864 was the dis¬ 
covery of Hunter’s hot springs by Dr. A. J. 
Hunter. That gentleman, accompanied by his 
wife and three children, the youngest a baby 
in its mother’s arms, left* their home in Mis¬ 
souri on the 2nd of April, 1864, and started 
westward by wagon for California. On the 
Platte river below Denver, they met about 500 
wagons, loaded with excited emigrants and 
gold seekers. They had just heard of the new 
“diggings” in Montana, and many decided to 
abandon the California trip and come to Mon¬ 
tana, Dr. Hunter and his wife among the 
others. 

John Bozeman had started for the new gold 
field with his big party just a day ahead of the 
Hunter party, and the latter followed him all 
the way into the territory. Besides Mrs. Hun¬ 
ter there was but one woman in the party, 
which included sixteen men, two women and 
three children. This little band of pioneers 
crossed Wind river on the fourth of July by 
swimming and converting the wagon beds into 
boats, and on the twentieth they crossed the 
Yellowstone in the same manner, and reached 
the site of the present city of Livingston on 
July 30. 

But before reaching this point the party 
had encamped one day near the present site of 
Hunter’s hot springs, which in those days, and 
probably for hundreds of years, had been 
known to the Indians and recognized for the 
medicinal and curative qualities of the waters. 






HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


123 


One day while Dr. Hunter was making a hunt¬ 
ing trip some distance from the wagon train 
he came upon hundreds of Indians camped 
about the hot springs, in which they were bath¬ 
ing. There were many sick among them who 
were carried into the water by companions, 
and the instincts and training of the white doc¬ 
tor told him the value of his discovery. He 
believed he had found a gold mine of new char¬ 
acter, and immediately staked out a claim to 
the springs. Then he proceeded on his way 
with his companions up the Yellowstone, ar¬ 
riving in Bozeman on the 4th day of August, 
where he caught up with the Bozeman party 
and witnessed the erection of the first house in 
the Gallatin valley, built by Bozeman, Beal and 
Rouse. It was six years later when Dr. Hun¬ 
ter returned to his property. 

The miners of Emigrant Gulch raised a 
trouble with the Indians during the year 1864, 
but in the spring of the following year an event 
took place which put them on their guard. It 
was in the month of May that a miner named 
Hughes, originally from Keokuk, Iowa, was 
brought into Yellowstone City, badly wounded, 
bringing the report that he and two compan¬ 
ions had been attacked by Indians and that 
his companions had been shot down. 

The miners of Emigrant gulch raised a 
purse for him and he was started on his way 
home. As there were not enough rich claims 
for all the miners in the camp when the spring 
of 1865 came, quite a number left for the 
camps further west. This left the camp much 
smaller than it had been the preceding year, 
and those that remained put in part of their 
time building for better protection up in the 
mouth of the canyon, against a possible attack 
by Indians. 

An important addition to the community 
this year was the erection of a sawmill on the 
Yellowstone, just below the mouth of Mill 
creek, nine miles down the valley from Emi¬ 
grant gulch. This was operated by John J. 
.Tomlinson, who brought the machinery with 


him across the plains. Here he sawed out lum¬ 
ber for the manufacture of boats for the use 
of those who desired to make the trip down 
the Yellowstone and home in the fall. 

The year 1865 was quite a profitable one 
in Shorthill’s district, but it proved the Curry 
district to be of little value. 

So many had left Emigrant gulch in the 
fall of 1865 that by the following spring the 
population was so small that it was a question 
if it were safe to continue operations there, 
because of the threatened hostilities of the In¬ 
dians. And the fears of the miners were not 
groundless. One party which decided to seek 
fortunes in the camps further west consisted 
of Joseph Davis and family, Charles Hopkins, 
Isaac Dawson, Benj. Strickland, D. B. Weaver 
and the Hackney brothers. These departed 
for Helena and other camps. 

At the time of departure of these men quite 
a large number of others were fitting up boats 
at the mouth of the canyon, prepatory to 
making the trip back to the states by way of 
the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers. One boat 
containing five men started out ahead of the 
rest, and at some distance down the river were 
attacked by Indians, who had concealed them¬ 
selves in the bushes along the river. Mr. 
Lawrence, one of the party, was killed. The 
rest then hastily paddled for the opposite shore, 
landed safely, and then hastened back to warn 
the others of the danger. About a dozen men 
had decided to remain in Yellowstone City 
during the 1866 season, but when the news of 
the Indian attack was brought to them, all 
hastily packed such articles as they could take 
with them, loaded them on an ox cart and set 
out with all possible speed for Bozeman, going 
over the Trail creek route. Emigrant gulch 
was entirely deserted, and remained so until 
August, when, the Indian alarm having sub¬ 
sided, miners began to return. 

Concerning the events of the fall of 1866 
Mr. Weaver has written: 

“The Indian alarm having quieted down, 




124 


HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


John S. Hackney and I each got a riding 
horse and 'a pack horse, and, leaving Helena, 
returned to Yellowstone City, and found the 
place without a living soul in it. The houses 
were just as they had been when the last man 
left the place. We went up to our old claims, 
and not a living person was here either. So 
we had the choice of claims, sluice boxes, cab¬ 
ins and tools. We were not here long before 
men began to come in to these mines to make 
a ‘grub stake’ for the coming winter, saying 
that if they could get enough gold dust to buy 
their flour and salt, they could kill all the wild 
meat they would need and would live well till 
next spring. Mr. Hackney and I continued 
digging gold until the 13th of October, when a 
heavy fall of snow interrupted our gold min¬ 
ing and we returned to Helena. * * * 

When I left Yellowstone City on the 13th the 
empty cabins were being reoccupied by men 
who had come here to pass the coming 
winter.” 

It was in 1866 that one of the first parties 
to enter what is now the Yellowstone National 
Park made its way from Virginia City up the 
Madison river to the geyser basins. This 
party, which was under Geo. Huston, crossed 
to the Yellowstone at Mud geyser, ascended 
the river to Yellowstone lake, passed com¬ 
pletely around the latter, discovering Heart 
lake on the way, and then descended the Yel¬ 
lowstone by the falls and canyon and finally 
came to Emigrant gulch, where by this time 
the miners were again at work. Here they 
were interviewed by a newspaper reporter, L. 
R. Freeman, who chanced to be in the camp, 
and an account of the travels through the park 
was published in the Omaha Herald. The 
members of the party were Geo. Huston, Geo. 
Hubbard, Rube Lilly, Soors, Lewis and a Mex¬ 
ican. After the year 1866 mining was, carried 
on in Emigrant gulch for many years, but 
never to the extent that it was during these 
first three years. 

D. B. Weaver estimated that during these 


three years there was less than $30,000 taken 
out. However, as mining was continuous for 
many years, the total amount recovered from 
the sands of Emigrant gulch may have reached 
quite a respectable figure in later years. In 
1889 C. R. Glidden estimated the amount at 
that time at $250,000, and stated that 250,- 
000 cubic yards of gravel had been worked, 
thus making an average yield of one dollar 
per yard. 

While the greater part of the people who 
came to Montana in the early sixties were ac¬ 
tuated by the sole desire to obtain wealth by 
mining operations, a few turned to the less 
strenuous pursuits, with which they were more 
familiar, and this was true of those who came 
to Park county at that early date. A few years 
after the discovery of gold in Emigrant gulch 
we find that a few scattered settlers had begun 
tilling the soil. This would have been more 
general but for the fact that the choicest lands 
in the vicinity of the mines lay on the east side 
of the Yellowstone river, and that was a por¬ 
tion of the Crow Indian reservation and not 
open to settlement. The first practical attempt 
at farming was made near the present site of 
Fridley. Before long a few scattered settlers 
might be found in that part of the valley now 
called Paradise valley. These raised produce 
for the camp at the gulch besides supplying 
their own wants. Sometimes driven out of the 
country by hostile Indians, they returned and 
resumed their work when the scare was over. 
These few scattered settlers proved the worth 
of the country from an agricultural standpoint. 

In the spring of the year 1867 occurred the 
death, at the hands of Indians, of John Boze¬ 
man, that intrepid pioneer who had opened the 
route across the plains that crossed Park 
county and who had brought the first train 
over it. The place of his death was just east 
of Mission creek, about seven miles east of the 
present city of Livingston. The spot is near 
the present line of the Northern Pacific rail¬ 
road, and in the early days stood a cairn, or 




HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


125 


small stone pile, upon the spot. The story of 
the tragic taking away of this pioneer is told 
in Topping’s “Chronicles of the Yellowstone:” 

“In March of this year (1867) John Boze¬ 
man and Tom Coover started from Bozeman 
to go to Fort C. F. Smith, where they expected 
to get a contract. They stopped the first night 
out at Louis Reshaw’s cabin, at the Yellow¬ 
stone crossing. Indians were prowling about 
the cabin all night and stole one horse. The 
next morning Reshaw advised Bozeman to 
wait till night and then travel far enough to 
get away from the war party, but it was not 
taken and they went on. At noon they camped 
at a little stream below Mission creek. Just 
after they had eaten, Coover saw six Indians 
coming up the bottom afoot, and started for 
the horses. Bozeman stopped him, saying, 
‘they are Crows.’ When the Indians were 
about 200 yards distant, Bozeman said, ‘I do 
not think they are Crows. You get the horses 
and I’ll stand them off.’ Coover started for 
the horses, which were about 200 yards away 
and on the opposite side of the camp from the 
visitors. 

“The Indians carried their guns in buck¬ 
skin covers and Bozeman must have still 
thought they were Crows, for he let them come 
up to within fifteen feet of him. Then one 
raised a gun quickly and fired through the 
cover, hitting Bozeman in the breast, and he 
fell. Bozeman was holding Coover’s rifle and 
his own, and as the Indians came near, Coover 
ran back and when they shot was about the 
same distance from Bozeman as they were. 
He ran toward Bozeman as he fell, shooting 
his pistol rapidly as he did so, and the Indians 
backed off. When Coover had secured his gun 
and found that Bozeman was dead, he re¬ 
treated slowly and reached the bush with but a 
slight wound in the shoulder. He came to Re¬ 
shaw’s cabin that night, and the second day 
after a party went down and buried Boze¬ 
man’s remains. In 1870 the body was taken 
up and buried with ceremony in the cemetery 


of the town that bears his name * * * .” 

It was also in 1867 that Montana’s militia 
came to that part of the territory which is now 
Park county on the proposed war against the 
Indians. The militia, 600 strong, was sent 
out by acting Governor Meagher to protect the 
settlers who were fast settling up the Gallatin 
valley and other portions of eastern Montana. 
It was doubtless also the intention to engage 
in battle with the Sioux, who were on the war 
path, but this event did not come off, partly 
because of the action of the general govern¬ 
ment and partly because of the acts of the 
militia, about to be related. 

The state soldiers crossed the divide between 
the Gallatin and Yellowstone valleys and spent 
the winter of 1867-8 at the mouth of Shields 
river. Taken as a whole these soldiers were 
a pretty hard class of citizens, though they 
were all brave, energetic and adventurous, and 
some few of the number later became highly 
respected citizens of the territory and state. 
But they were all men accustomed to think for 
themselves and men who revelled in personal 
freedom; hence the discipline of army life had 
but little effect on these rough frontiersmen. 
Of the doings in this camp on the Yellowstone 
that winter a writer in the Livingston Enter¬ 
prise, under date of September 8, 1888, said: 

“Among the number were many outlaws, 
renegades, horse thieves and others who were 
too glad to seek shelter from the law by enroll¬ 
ing under its protection. As the winter went 
on, however, provisions commenced to get 
scarce. None were forthcoming from the gov¬ 
ernor and no pay could be obtained. The 
vouchers issued by the territory were worth¬ 
less. A mutinous spirit grew apace and raids 
on the commissary by hungry men became a 
daily occurrence. All discipline soon come to an 
end and a mutiny was soon in full sway. Whole 
squads of men deserted, taking with them what 
they could. Officers found themselves without 
men and many a member of the organization 
was killed in' the numerous quarrels which per- 






126 


HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


vaded the camp. It is said by some who were 
there that more men were killed among them¬ 
selves than were ever killed by the Indians 
during the whole organization. A strong 
guard of trusties tried to preserve the scanty 
commissary from maurauders, but it was al¬ 
most useless. Captain Hart was killed in de¬ 
fending the stores, and many others whose 
names are long since forgotten. What was left 
of the regiment gradually dwindled away, 
some being discharged, many, however, not 
waiting for that ceremony to be completed, but 
quietly went away and engaged in other busi¬ 
ness. It is claimed by some that the territory 
owes these men their pay yet and that it could 
be collected up to the present time, but we think 
that most of them were so glad to get out of 
the scrape that they have not thought twice 
about the matter of pay since they left the 
camping ground.” 

‘Many years after this event, when Living¬ 
ston had become quite a city, a few graves 
were still discernable just below the town— 
graves that marked the last camping grounds 
of some of Montana’s first militiamen. 

By a treaty signed May 7, 1868, the bound¬ 
aries of the Crow reservation were changed, 
so that now it took in only that country boun¬ 
ded by the 107th meridian of longitude, the 
Yellowstone river and the southern boundary 
of the territory. This cut off all the country 
between the Yellowstone and Musselshell 
rivers which had heretofore been included. 
The only effect of this treaty, so far as Park 
county was concerned, was the opening of the 
northeast corner of the county to settlement— 
that part east of Shields river. At this time 
the white people were interested only in that 
part of the country which was adjacent to the 
Emigrant gulch mines, and the changing of the 
boundary lines had not the slightest effect 
upon these. 

The spring of 1868 marked a few Indian 
depredations upon the white settlers. The home 
of the Whitman family was attacked, all the 


household goods burned and their cattle run 
off. The miners organized a company and 
pursued the Indians. After a short skirmish, 
in which no lives were lost, the miners suc¬ 
ceeded in recapturing the stock. Some of the 
miners then returned with the stock, while the 
rest of the party pursued the raiders to a point 
on the mountains nearly opposite to where Liv¬ 
ingston is now located. 

In accordance with the provisions of the 
Crow treaty of May 7, 1868, before referred 
to, in July, of the same year, Captain LeMott 
disbursed the first annuities ever received from 
the government by the Crows. This took 
place on Little Timber creek, in the present 
Sweet Grass county. A short time 
after this event Major Camp, of the United 
States army, was appointed agent and at once 
commenced building an agency on Mission 
creek. A ferry boat was put in there by Billy 
Lee for the government, and the place later be¬ 
came known as Benson’s Landing. About the 
same time “Buckskin” Williams built a cabin 
for a saloon and trading post on the north side 
of the Yellowstone, opposite the agency. 

It was in 1873 that this post was christened 
Benson’s Landing. In the summer of that year 
Amos Benson and Dan Naileigh built a log 
house for a liquor saloon, near the ferry boat 
landing, and the place was named in honor of 
one of the partners. The place became quite 
a noted point and was headquarters and main 
resort of the trappers, miners and frontiersmen 
of the upper river. 

Here the trappers brought their furs and 
here the traders came to buy, and here also for 
poor whiskey was spent a great part of the 
money for which the hunters imperiled their 
lives. 

Benson and Naileigh established and main¬ 
tained a scantily supplied store for the accom¬ 
modation of trappers and hunters. In the years 
that followed Benson’s advent to this place, 
when staging over the route was a safe mode 
of travel, this point became a stage station and 




HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


127 


postoffice, and though only a small cluster of log 
cabins marked the site, it became as well known 
as any point on the Yellowstone. Here in 
x 873 an( ^ r ^74 Hugo J. Hoppe, afterwards 
quite prominent in the history of Park county, 
was also engaged in business. 

The tales of prospectors and trappers con¬ 
cerning the wonderful freaks of nature in that 
part of the country which we now term the 
Yellowstone National Park led to several trips 
to that country by parties who went to verify 
these tales and to learn of the wonders which 
were reported as being there. These different 
parties invariably passed through the country 
whose history we are writing, as have thou¬ 
sands upon thousands of people done since the 
first one in 1869. The first of these parties 
consisted of only three men, David E. Folsom, 
C. W. Cook and Wm. Peterson. They started 
out from Diamond City, Montana, on Septem¬ 
ber 6, 1869. Their route lay up the Missouri 
river to the three forks, thence by way of Boze¬ 
man and Fort Ellis to the Yellowstone, and 
thence up the Yellowstone into the park. The 
writings of these explorers gave to the world 
the first authentic accounts of some of the won¬ 
ders to be found in the country of the upper 
Yellowstone. 

Another party explored the park in 1870, 
being composed of General Henry D. Wash¬ 
burn, commander of the expedition; N. P. 
Langford, Cornelius Heges, Samuel T. Hau¬ 
ser, Warren C. Gillette, Benj. Stickney, Tru¬ 
man C. Everts, Walter Trumbull and Jacob 
Smith. There were also two assistants, Mr. 
Reynolds and Elwyn Bean, and two African 
boys for cooks. At Fort Ellis (near the city 
of Bozeman) the party was joined by a detach¬ 
ment of United States soldiers under command 
of Lieutenant Gustavus C. Doane, 2nd U. S. 
cavalry. The soldiers in the escort were Ser¬ 
geant William Baker and Privates John Wil¬ 
liamson, Geo. W. McConnell, William Leipler 
and Chas. Moore. The start was made from 
Helena August 17th and on the 22nd the ex¬ 


pedition, accompanied by the soldiers, set out 
from Fort Ellis. 

On August 26, the Washburn party entered 
the park and visited nearly all of the points of 
interest therein. To the explorations of this 
party was due the first agitation that brought 
about the setting apart of this wonderful coun¬ 
try into the Yellowstone National Park. 

Dr. A. J. Hunter, who had in 1864 staked 
the hot springs which now bear his name and 
who for several years after that date had spent 
his time in the different mining camps of Mon¬ 
tana, returned to the springs in the spring of 
1870 and built his home there, at a point op¬ 
posite the present hotel. He also built a big 
dam between the cold creek and the hot creek, 
and in the big pond white men and Indians 
bathed for years—in fact, at that early date 
was started the sanitarium, which has since be¬ 
come famous all over the country. In 1873 
Dr. Hunter built more pretentious bath houses. 
These were built from lumber that cost $80 
per thousand feet in Bozeman, with an addi¬ 
tional charge of $60 per thousand for hauling 
to the springs. The Crows, who inhabited this 
part of the territory, were friendly to Dr. 
Hunter and his family and did not resent the 
encroachment, nor did the doctor attempt to 
deprive the natives of their rights to the use 
of the water for bathing purposes. The only 
thing the Indians protested against was the 
cultivation of the soil, which they wisely said 
would bring rain and spoil their hunting sea¬ 
son. Nevertheless, Dr. Hunter engaged in 
agricultural pursuits to a limited extent. 

For years after first settling here Dr. Hun¬ 
ter and his family spent only the winter at the 
springs, being compelled to return to Boze¬ 
man after the spring crops were put in, for in 
May the Crows went out on their hunting trips, 
and they were immediately followed by the 
murderous and thieving Sioux and Blackfeei. 
A few times the Hunter home was attacked by 
bands of these tribes before they could get out 
of the country. Lieutenant Jas. H. Bradley, 






128 


HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


who visited the springs in 1876, wrote of con¬ 
ditions there at that time as follows: 

“Two miles from camp are Dr. Hunter’s 
warm springs, which I visited. Found the 
water very hot, but did not learn the tempera¬ 
ture nor the mineral constituents, though sul¬ 
phur evidently predominates. Gypsum is 
abundant in this neighborhood. Dr. Hunter’s 
family is now at the springs, but full of dread 
of the Sioux. His house is, in the summer 
season, something of a resort for the afflicted, 
but the Sioux frequently appear in the vicinity, 
and once attacked the house—facts which do 
not attract custom. The springs pour out a 
copious stream of steaming water, and the day 
will come when the property will be very 
valuable.” 

Even the wild animals recognized the good 
of the waters, and for years after Dr. Hunter 
settled there they would come and drink of 
the warm water. On one occasion, Mrs. Hun¬ 
ter declared, she saw a band of not less than 
5,000 elk come to the springs for a drink, pass¬ 
ing the cold waters of the Yellowstone river 
on the way. 

Again in 1871 the present Park county 
was traversed by a party on the way to the 
country of the National Park. There were, in 
fact, two expeditions under the direction 01 
the government—one in command of Dr. 
Hayden and the other under Captains Barlow 
and Heap, of the engineer corps of the army. 
Both traveled under the same military escort, 
although the work of the two expeditions was 
different. The route was the usual one up the 
Yellowstone, leaving the present Park county 
at the mouth of Gardiner river. Mammoth 
hot springs, which had heretofore escaped the 
notice of all the previous expeditions, were 
found by these parties. 

Now let us turn our attention to the dis¬ 
covery of the mines, and the early history of 
the mining operations, in that part of the 
county which was known as the Clark’s Fork 
district—in the extreme southeastern portion 


of the present Park county. As before stated, 
that part of the county east of the Yellowstone 
river was, according to the treaty of 1868, in¬ 
cluded within the Crow reservation. Among 
other stipulations of the treaty was the provi¬ 
sion that this territory 

Shall be, and the same is, set apart for the absolute and 
undisturbed use and occupation of the Indians herein 
named, and for such other friendly tribes or individual 
Indians as from time to time they may be ■willing, with 
the consent of the United States, to admit amongst 
them; and the United States now solemnly agrees that 
no persons, except those herein designated and author¬ 
ized so to do, and except such officers, agents and em¬ 
ployes of the government as may be authorized to enter 
upon Indian reservations in discharge of duties en¬ 
joined by law, shall ever be permitted to pass over, 
settle upon, or reside in the territory described in this 
article for the use of said Indians, and henceforth they 
will, arid do hereby, relinquish all title, claims, or 
rights in and to any portion of the territory of the 
United States, except such as is embraced within the 
limits aforesaid. 

This article was plain enough but the pros¬ 
pectors of the early sixties, in their search for 
the precious metal, paid not much attention to 
the boundary lines of Indian reservations. It 
was in 1870 that a small party discovered very 
rich silver ore in three or four places near the 
head of Clark’s Fork of the Yellowstone, and 
this, too, cropping out in such large bodies as 
to leave no doubt of the permanent values. 
But, of course, title could not be obtained. The 
mill stone of the Clow reservation hung over 
this country, and white men had no right there. 
Although it was believed to abound in rich 
mineral, the country was of no benefit to any¬ 
one. 'Not even the Indians, to whom the coun¬ 
try belonged, ever visited this part of their 
domain on hunting trips. 

Notwithstanding the fact that they had no 
right there, in 1870, 1871 and 1872 a few 
prospectors found their way into this country, 
and good prospects were found. Some little 
time after this prospecting, in spite of all ob¬ 
structions from difficult transportation, hostile 
Indians and the impossibilty of obtaining title 






HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


129 


to their holding's, a Bozeman company erected 
a smelting furnace at the place now known as 
Cooke. In 1877 the Eastern Montana Mining 
& Smelting company made a run of silver ore 
in the old stone smelter. The bullion obtained 
from this run was not removed until the 
Northern Pacific railroad was built into the 
country in 1883. But it was not until the open¬ 
ing of the reservation in 1882 that mining to 
any extent was carried on in that part of our 
county. 

The year 1875 witnessed the last act of 
hostility by the Indians in Park county, with 
the exception of the raid of the Nez Perce two 
years later. It was in July, 1875, that James 
Hughes and a driver named Anderson, each 
having a six or eight mule team, left Boze¬ 
man for the new agency of the Crows upon 
Rosebud creek. Hughes and his companion 
camped the first night west of the Bozeman 
pass. Next day about midday, while they 
were between the divide and the site of the 
present city of Livingston, they were attacked 
by a marauding band of Sioux. Hughes, who 
was the owner of the two teams, stopped to 
catch a mule he was leading behind his wagons, 
the same having broken the lead rope during 
the first onslaught of the savages. Having 
secured the animal, he turned his attention to 
the enemy, when a rifle ball pierced his heart. 
Anderson jumped from his wagon, sought 
safety in the bush of Billman creek, cached 
himself under this shelter till dark, and then 
made his way to Fort Ellis, near Bozeman, 
and gave the alarm. 

Major Benham, then in command at Fort 
Ellis, sent out Lieutenant Jerome with his 
company of the 2nd cavalry, together with 
seven volunteers from Bozeman, in pursuit of 
the Indians. Nineteen days and nights were 
spent by the pursuing party in an endeavor to 
overtake the murdering savages. Without 
blankets, overcoats or bedding of any kind, 
through cold, bleak, rainy and snowy weather 


they continued their search, which resulted 
only in failure. 

The Nez Perce war of 1877 had but little 
bearing upon the history of Park county, al¬ 
though many events of considerable historical 
importance were enacted in the Yellowstone 
National Park, just south of this county. One 
or two small detachments of the marauding 
Indians, however, entered the confines of the 
present Park county and committed depreda¬ 
tions. The main body of the hostiles under Jo¬ 
seph entered the park on August 23 by 
Targhee pass and camped on Firehole river 
that night. On the 24th the Indians, with 
Chief Joseph at their head, moved to the Yel¬ 
lowstone river at the site of the ford near Mud 
geyser. Here they remained during the 25th. 
On the following day the bulk of the command 
crossed the river, ascended its right bank to 
the lake, and took the Pelican creek trail to 
the Lamar river valley in the northeast cor¬ 
ner of the park. A small body of marauders 
separated from the main body at Mud geyser, 
descended the Yellowstone by the Mt. Wash¬ 
burn trail, attacking a Helena tourist party 
on the way, killing one man, burned and par¬ 
tially destroyed Baronett bridge near the junc¬ 
tion of the Yellowstone and Lamar rivers, 
made a raid upon Mammoth hot springs, kill¬ 
ing one man there, and went down the valley 
as far as Henderson’s ranch, where Cinnabar 
now stands. Here they committed numerous 
depredations, stole a number of horses, and 
then returned without having suffered any loss 
whatever. 

The main body of the Indians left the park 
by the way of Miller creek, guided by a white 
man named Shively, whom they had captured 
and made to act as guide. One party visited 
the smelter which had been making the run 
there that year, partially destroyed the smelter 
and machinery, and stole some of the bullion. 

While some prospecting and a little mining 
had been done in the Clark’s Fork district dur- 


9 





130 


HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


ing the seventies, it was not until 1882 that 
the district was thrown open and active opera¬ 
tions begun there. The Indians caring little 
for this part of the reservation, it was a sim¬ 
ple matter to get their assent to its relinquish¬ 
ment, but the United States government moved 
with its proverbial slowness, and it was June 
30, 1880, before a treaty was made, and nearly 
two years after that date before the district 
was finally thrown open to white settlement. 
From the earliest discovery of mineral here in 
the late sixties until this date the prospector 
had been impatiently waiting and hoping for 
the chance to get into this country. 

The treaty of 1880 provided for the sale to 
the United States of that part of the reserva¬ 
tion bounded as follows: “Beginning in the 
mid-channel of the Yellowstone river at a point 
opposite the mouth of Boulder creek; thence up 
the middle of the channel of said river to the 
point where it crosses the southern boundary 
of Montana territory, being the 45th degree 
of north latitude; thence east along said par¬ 
allel of latitude to point where said parallel 
crosses Clark’s fork, thence north to a point 
six miles south of the first standard par¬ 
allel, being on the township line between town¬ 
ships six and seven south; thence west on said 
township line to the noth meridian of longi¬ 
tude; thence north along said meridian to a 
point east or west of the source of the east¬ 
ern branch of Boulder creek; thence down 
Boulder creek to the place of beginning.” 

Under this treaty all of the present Park 
county was taken out of the reservation, al¬ 
though it left within it a large part of the 
county as it was originally created and re¬ 
mained until the counties of Sweet Grass and 
Carbon were formed in 1895. Before the new 
territory could be opened for settlement under 
the terms of the treaty, it was necessary to 
survey the lands and make the Indian allot¬ 
ments. This took nearly two years, and it 
was not until April 11, 1882, that the land was 
actually opened. 


The prospectors and miners were not slow 
in getting into the new country. They came 
from all the mining camps of the country, 
wherever the reports of the richness of the 
Clark’s Fork mines had penetrated. Some 
prospectors had waited all winter in the moun¬ 
tains, ready to make locations as soon as the 
treaty was signed; • others were stationed in 
Bozeman and hastened over the mountains as 
soon as the telegraph brought the news of the 
relinquishment of the Indian title. The snow 
was still 'deep and the last twenty or thirty 
miles had to be made on snow shoes'. Swarm¬ 
ing into the country, the prospectors spread out 
upon each other in ever increasing parts of cir¬ 
cles, having the original discoveries at the pres¬ 
ent town of Cooke as a common center. Their 
search was not in vain; for go where they 
would, they found the precious ore, covering a 
gigantic mineral belt. 

In 1883 some Pittsburg men made a short 
run in the old Eastern Montana Mining & 
Smelting company’s smelter under the direc¬ 
tion of A. Wills. Several other runs were made 
in the same smelter in 1885. Large sums of 
money were spent by the Republic Mining 
company that year in building a smelter and 
development work. The Republic smelter be¬ 
gan running in 1885 and was in operation one 
year. Of the later history of this district we 
shall tell in another chapter. 

Undoubtedly the most important event in 
the history of Park county was the building 
of the Northern Pacific railroad, which was 
completed through that part of Montana terri¬ 
tory which later became Park county in De¬ 
cember, 1882. Prior to this time the county 
was little better than a desert wilderness. True 
there had been considerable activity in differ¬ 
ent parts of the county at one time or another, 
but there had been no permanent development, 
such as was to follow the building of the rail¬ 
road. Scattered over the county, in the valleys, 
were a few improved farms, but these were 
more in the nature of an experiment than any- 






HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


thing else. Besides these, the only other occu¬ 
pants of this broad country were a few hunters 
and venturesome prospectors. Before 1882 
there was not a town in the county, if we ex¬ 
cept the little group of prospectors at Cooke 


I 3 I 


City and the station called Benson’s Landing, 
near the present site of Livingston. Of the 
wonderful change in conditions between the 
years 1882 and 1907 we shall tell in the next 
chapter. 


CHAPTER II 


PASSING EVENTS—1883 TO 1907. 


The year 1883 marked the beginning of a 
new era in the territory which a few years later 
was set off as Park county. With the building 
of the main line of the Northern Pacific rail¬ 
road across the county and the completion of 
the Natioanl Park branch to the southern 
boundary of the county came a new order of 
things. Where before there had been only a 
few scattered settlers and prospectors, now 
came large numbers of people of all classes 
and conditions. Prospecting and mining be¬ 
came more active; farmers and stock raisers 
came and settled upon the miles of heretofore 
unoccupied government and railroad lands; 
railroad laborers were employed by the hun¬ 
dreds; towns sprang up at several different 
points along the line of the railroads and were 
rapidly populated; all was life and activity; a 
boom was on. 

So great was the influx of population and 
so firm was the belief of the people that the 
growth was bound to be permanent, that agita¬ 
tion for the formation of a new county was 
early begun. Before we take up the story of 
the several attempts to bring about the forma¬ 
tion of a new county from the country sur¬ 
rounding the new town of Livingston, let us 
go back and review the political history of this 
part of the territory of Montana. 

When the first Montana legislature was in 
session at Bannack during the winter months 


of 1864-65, a law was passed, approved Feb¬ 
ruary 2, 1865, dividing the territory into nine 
county divisions. Among these was one named 
Gallatin. Now the members of this first leg¬ 
islature were not very well informed concern¬ 
ing the geography of Montana (in fact, neither 
was anybody else), and the bounding of these 
counties was largely the result of guess work. 
But least capable of being traced than any of 
the political divisions was the county of Galla¬ 
tin. With a map of the state of Montana and 
a copy of the territorial session laws of 1864- 
65 in front of one at this time, one is at a loss 
to discover just what were the intentions of 
the law makers of that day regarding the 
boundaries of Gallatin county. But with pa¬ 
tience one may arrive at something like this: 
Gallatin county, as created at that time, prob¬ 
ably included the greater part of the present 
county of that name, all of the present Park 
and Sweet Grass counties, and greater or less 
portions of the present counties of Carbon, 
Yellowstone, Fergus, Meagher and Cascade. 
Since that time many changes have been made 
in the boundaries of this old county, until to¬ 
day it contains only a small portion of its origi¬ 
nal territory. We shall mention only a few of 
these changes—those that had direct bearing 
upon the territory embraced within the bound¬ 
aries of the present county of Park. An act 
passed by the legislature of 1871-72 made the 












1 3 2 


HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


Yellowstone river the eastern boundary of 
Gallatin county, the rest of the former county 
being included in the Crow Indian reservation. 
Thus, for some years after this act, that part 
of Park county which is west and north of the 
Yellowstone was included in Gallatin county, 
while the rest was in the reservation. An act 
approved February 14, 1881, provided that 
that portion of the reservation which was to be 
ceded according to the provisions of the treaty 
of 1880 should again become a part of Galla¬ 
tin county, and when the treaty was finally rat¬ 
ified on April 11, 1882, all of Park county was 
again in Gallatin county. In 1883 a part of 
east Gallatin county was taken for the forma¬ 
tion of Yellowstone county, but none of the 
territory so taken came from the present Park 
county, and when, in 1887, Park county -was 
finally created, it was taken wholly from Galla¬ 
tin county. 

It was in the latter part of the year 1882 
that agitation was begun for the creation of a 
new county from that part of Gallatin county 
east of the Belt range mountains. Livingston 
was then but a hamlet of log huts, but with am¬ 
bition; the Park branch had not yet been com¬ 
pleted and none of the towns which are now 
along that route had yet come into existence; 
Cooke and its surrounding ore deposits had 
just begun to attract attention; the other min¬ 
ing districts of the proposed new county, with 
the exception of Emigrant, had not been devel¬ 
oped; the fertile farming valleys had a very 
meager population; the stock ranges were al¬ 
most unpastured—and yet the people of Liv¬ 
ingston and vicinity asked for a county of their 
own. In the first issue of the first newspaper 
published in Livingston and Park county 
(Livingston Gazette, December 19, 1882,) we 
find this request for the new county of Villard: 

Considerable talk is indulged in concerning the 
division of Gallatin county. As at present constituted, 
it is a bulky empire and a great inconvenience for citi¬ 
zens of this section and further down the Yellowstone 
to be forced to travel to Bozeman to attend court. We 
are told that Custer, Dawson and Meagher counties 


will demand division during the approaching session 
of the legislature; and while at it we advise that the 
legislative knife be drawn across Gallatin county and 
deliver this portion from the hands of the Philistines. 
In the future geography it will be known as Villard 
county, with Livingston as the county seat. 

The plan for the division was hastily con¬ 
ceived and hastily acted upon. But at the leg¬ 
islative session which convened January 8, 
1883, the divisionists came near accomplishing 
their desires, the bill being defeated only by 
a small majority. The opposition to the bill 
was solely on the grounds of doubt as to the 
permanency of the settlement of this part of 
the country, then just begun. 

The National Park branch of the Northern 
Pacific railroad was completed on August 30, 
1883, and the first through train made the trip 
over the line on September 1. This line, a lit¬ 
tle less than fifty-two miles in length, extend¬ 
ing from Livingston southward to Cinnabar, 
was an important factor in the development of 
Park county. New towns sprung up at dif¬ 
ferent points along the line. Farmers no 
longer hesitated about making homes in the 
upper valley of the Yellowstone, and mining 
men no longer delayed the work of develop¬ 
ment of mines in the vicinity. The road as¬ 
sured the travel of tourists to and from the 
Yellowstone National Park for all time to 
come through Park county. In less than five 
months from the time wOrk was begun regular 
trains were running over the road. The last 
rail was laid August 30, and the last spike was 
driven by A. H. Bailey without ceremony. 
Stations were estaglished on the line at Bris- 
ben, Chicory, Dailey, Sphinx and Cinnabar, 
about ten miles apart, and towns were 
at once started at Chicory and Cinnabar. It 
had been the original intention of the railroad 
company to build to the northern boundary 
line of the park at Gardiner, but owing to its 
inability to get control of that townsite, the 
corporation stopped work at Cinnabar, three or 
four miles down the river from Gardiner. It 
was believed at the time that Cinnabar was to 








HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


133 


be only the temporary terminus of the road, 
and that it would be completed, probably, the 
next year. As a matter of fact, it was just 
nineteen years later when the road was com¬ 
pleted to Gardiner. 

For some time after the building of the 
main line of the Northern Pacific, trains were 
run over the Bozeman pass, but in the winter 
of 1883-84 was completed the Bozeman tun¬ 
nel, through the Belt range of mountains. 
Work on the approaches to the tunnel had been 
commenced in the autumn of 1881, and upon 
the tunnel proper in the spring of 1882. Day¬ 
light was let through the tunnel on Saturday, 
December 22, 1883; the first train went 
through Saturday, January 19, 1884; and the 
first regular passenger train two days later. 
The tunnel when completed was 3,610 feet in 
length, 17 feet wide, 21 feet high in the center, 
and the mountain rose to a height of 236 feet 
above the roof. 

Having failed to secure the erection of a 
county by the legislature of 1883, and as the 
next session would not be held until 1885, the 
people of Livingston and the eastern part of 
Gallatin county in the spring of 1884 took the 
matter of a new county direct to the congress 
of the United States. Petitions, almost unani¬ 
mously signed by the residents east of the Belt 
range, were forwarded to Washington, 
and were filed in the house of repre¬ 
sentatives by Hon. Martin Maginnis, Mon¬ 
tana’s delegate, on April 14th. The 
petition asked for the formation of a 
county to be called Park. Congress, as was 
expected by all but the most sanguine, refused 
to act in the matter. It had the power, but not 
the inclination, to interfere to such an extent 
in the government of a territory. 

Defeated in the halls of congress, the people 
of eastern Gallatin county now turned their 
attention to the coming session of the legisla¬ 
ture. Upon the approach of the general elec¬ 
tion of 1884 preparations were made to capture 
the Gallatin county representation in the legis¬ 


lature—to secure the election of men favorable 
to division. Both political parties united to 
accomplish their object. The east side sent 
delegates to the democratic county convention 
instructed to demand a majority of the legis¬ 
lative ticket but to grant to the west side all 
the nominees for county offices. This proposi¬ 
tion was, in outward expression, assented to by 
the people of Bozeman and the west side, but 
when the convention met another program was 
inaugurated. The west side refused to permit 
any county division sentiment on the legisla¬ 
tive ticket, and at the same time seized upon 
all the nominations for county offices. At the 
republican county convention other tactics were 
adopted. The demands of the east side deli- 
gates were readily allowed, and legislative 
nominations satisfactory to the east side dele¬ 
gates were made. 

At the election in November all the demo¬ 
cratic nominees on the legislative ticket were 
elected—all hostile to the county division move¬ 
ment. Fourteen hundred votes were cast in 
those precincts which it was proposed to cut off 
into a new county. The people of Livingston 
declared emphatically that they had been be¬ 
trayed by the people of Bozeman in the elec¬ 
tion. The organ of the east siders, the Living¬ 
ston Enterprise, thus stated the facts from an 
east side view point: “The people of Bozeman, 
by means of deceitful and lying telegrams and 
communications with the people of the east 
side, cajoled and cheated the latter into voting 
for a certain county ticket, while they (the 
Bozeman residents) massed themselves into a 
phalanx that elected such candidates for the 
legislative offices as were opposed to county 
division.” 

One councilman and three representatives 
was Gallatin county’s representation in the leg¬ 
islature at that time. Those elected were 
Frank K. Armstrong, councilman; and George 
R. Nichols,. John M. Robinson and Mr. Martin, 
representatives. The last named died between 
the time of the election and the convening of 





HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


134 


the legislature, and a special election was called 
to elect a successor in. December. The east 
side residents were determined to have repre¬ 
sentation in the legislative halls, and, putting 
party affiliations aside for the time being, they 
set to work quietly to elect a man to the va¬ 
cancy who was favorable to division. They 
found such an one in H. M. Sloan, put him up 
as an independent candidate, canvassed the 
county and secured his election by a remarkable 
plurality—almost a majority over both anti¬ 
division candidates. As an index to the feel¬ 
ings of the city of Livingston, in that precinct 
the vote stood: Sloan, 437; Pease, 7; Eaton,2. 

By the time the legislature convened in 
January, 1885, the feeling between the two 
sides of the county was bitter and assumed 
almost the form of a sectional feud. 

Thus relations between the two commun¬ 
ities was decidedly strained when the legisla¬ 
ture took up the proposition of forming a new 
county. Conditions were complicated by the 
attempt of Yellowstone county to secure a 
large slice of eastern Gallatin county, and this 
matter was fought out before attention was 
turned to the fight for the new county. 

A few days before the defeat of the above 
mentioned effort Mr. Sloan introduced his bill 
for the creation of Bridger county, that name 
having been substituted for Park in honor of 
that well known trapper and fur trader, James 
Bridger. With the introduction of the bill 
came two petitions, one signed by 833 citizens 
of eastern Gallatin county, asking that the bill 
pass; the other with 259 signatures of residents 
of the county of Gallatin, protesting against 
the division of the county. The bill and the 
petitions were referred to the committee on 
towns and counties, of which Mr. Norton, of 
Yellowstone, was chairman. 

Both the east and west sides had lobbies 
at work at Helena and the fight for and against 
the bill waxed warm. 

The house proceeded to consider the bill. 


On the motion to adopt the report of the com¬ 
mittee of the whole (to indefinitely postpone) 
the report was adopted by a vote of 13 to 9. 
The Bridger county bill was killed! 

The fight had been a bitter one. It was 
said that it cost the people of Bozeman $10,000 
to defeat the bill, and it certainly cost the peo¬ 
ple of Livingston a large sum to have it beaten. 
The Livingston Enterprise on March 7, 1885, 
said: 

“Thus the bill was killed. We need not 
enter into any lamentations over it. We may 
as well make a grace of a necessity and bow to 
the enevitable. Perhaps, also, it is useless to 
investigate the causes that led to the defeat; 
perhaps it is impossible to discover them. We 
have ever tried to show the merit of the Bridger 
county bill and the just grounds for its pas¬ 
sage. It possessed these qualifications to a 
degree superior to any bill ever submitted to 
the consideration of a Montana legislature. It 
was not defeated for lack of merit nor because 
of opposition among the people of the proposed 
county. The friends of the division of Gallatin 
county, though beaten, may at least lay to their 
souls the flattering unction that they fought a 
good fight—that they did all in their power.” . 

The people of the future Park county were 
not spending all their time, however, in an en¬ 
deavor to have the new county formed. Other 
things occasionally occupied their attention. 
The boom days of 1883 had now departed; the 
unnatural stimulus caused by the employment 
of the hundreds of railroad builders was with¬ 
drawn, and the different communities settled 
into the even tenor of their ways. In Living¬ 
ston this retreat from the abnormal to the nor¬ 
mal was felt more than in the county at large 
There a town had sprung up supported in a 
large measure by a floating population, and 
when this was withdrawn Livingston was 
found to have outgrown the surrounding coun¬ 
try, upon which in the future it must draw its 
trade. The prevailing hard times throughout 






135 


HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


the country at large during the year 1884 also 
had its effect here. By the winter of 1884-85 
times were positively dull. 

But conditions adjusted themselves in a 
very short time. Livingston retired from its 
position as a rip-roaring railroad camp into a 
sedate and orderly village. New settlers came 
into the country, and in 1886 prosperous times 
were again at hand. The winter of 1886-87 
was the most severe in the history of the 
country. Owing to the deep snow, the cold 
weather and the fact that preparations had not 
been made for the care of stock in such an em¬ 
ergency, there was a big loss to the stockraisers 
of the county. 

The people of eastern Gallatin county were 
determined that the new county should be 
formed at the session of the legislature which 
would convene January 10, 1887, and they 
went about the accomplishment of their desires 
in a systematic manner. So early as July, 
1886, they laid their plans. They were suc¬ 
cessful in securing able representation at the 
November election, and then began the cam¬ 
paign in earnest for the new county. 

A meeting was held at Fowlie's hall, in 
Livingston, on Thursday evening, December 2, 
for the purpose of considering the question and 
taking initiatory steps. E. Goughnour was 
chosen chairman of the meeting and C. S. Hef- 
ferlin, secretary. The questions involved in 
the division issues were thoroughly discussed 
by a number of gentlemen present, and it was 
the opinion of all the speakers that all efforts 
should be made openly and squarely, relying 
solely upon the merits of the proposition to 
bring it to a successful issue. A committee 
consisting of Messrs. G. H. Carver, Janies 
Thompson, J. H. Elder, C. S. Hefferlin, D. P. 
Van Horn and M. D. Kelly was appointed to 
raise funds to carry on the campaign. This 
committee was empowered to select some one 
to procure from the assessor’s books at the 
county seat a list of all the taxable property on 
the east side of the range, that portion of Gal¬ 


latin county which it was proposed to segre¬ 
gate. M. D. Kelly was appointed to do this 
work. 

After the citizens had armed themselves 
with figures from the county records, they 
drew up a petition, which was printed and cir¬ 
culated throughout the eastern part of the 
county for signatures, and which was signed 
by nearly every voter on the east side. This 
was the petition: 

I he undersigned, residents of the eastern portion 
of Gallatin county, Montana territory, respectfully pe¬ 
tition the legislature of Montana, and represent— 

That Gallatin county is one of the largest and 
wealthiest in Montana, and is naturally divided into 
an eastern and western portion by the Belt range of 
mountains. 

The western portion of this county consists prin¬ 
cipally of the fertile Gallatin valley and a portion of 
the Madison valley, and already has a rich resource in 
the products of the soil, while not more than two-fifths 
of its arable land is at present occupied and cultivated. 
Bozeman, the county seat, is situated in the western 
portion of the county. 

The eastern portion of this county consists mainly 
of the Yellowstone valley and its surroundings grazing 
land and mining country. It is rich in gold, silver and 
coal deposits, and contains cattle ranges of great im¬ 
portance. It contains the well known mining localities 
of Clark’s Fork, Bear Gulch, Crevice Gulch, Emigrant 
and the Boulder district, and is at the gateway of the 
National Park, the travel into which is an important 
resource to the said eastern portion. 

The total assessed valuation of the real and per¬ 
sonal property in Gallatin county for the year 1886 was 
$S, 575 »ooo; of this amount $2,118,860 was for real and 
personal property in said eastern portion. 

The total number of acres of Northern Pacific rail¬ 
road land surveyed in Gallatin county is 656,425, and 
of this amount 501,414 acres are in the eastern portion 
of said Gallatin county. Under a law passed by Con¬ 
gress in 1886 all this railroad land is now subject to 
taxation. 

The total number of taxpayers in said eastern por¬ 
tion for the year 1886 was 1,224. 

During the year 1886 Gallatin county collected 
$8,769.50 in license which came from, or related to, 
the eastern portion of the county. 

The total amount of taxes for the year 1886, from 
real and personal property, in the eastern portion was 
$31,782.90. This makes a total as received from licenses 
and taxes on real and personal property of $40,551.90. 

Under the existing laws, the fees of the recorder, 
sheriff and other county officers now form part of the 
county’s revenues, and the tribute the eastern portion 











136 


HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


annually pays to these officers in fees would very ma¬ 
terially augment the last named total. 

The residents of the eastern portion of said Gallatin 
county are now compelled to cross a mountain range 
in going to and coming from the county seat, which 
entails a great loss of time and money, and is in most 
cases a burden and hardship upon them. The residents 
of the eastern portion, knowing that the western por¬ 
tion of the county has no interests in common with 
them, and feeling they have sufficient taxable property 
to enable them to derive a revenue that would carry 
on a county government without increasing the burden 
of taxation; and from the foregoing showing respect¬ 
fully petition the said legislature that the said Gallatin 
county be divided along the said Belt range of moun¬ 
tains, and out of the eastern portion aforesaid a new 
county be created. 

Councilman Samuel L. Holliday, of Gal¬ 
latin county, introduced in the council on Fri¬ 
day, January 21, 1887, the bill for an act to 
create the county of Park and for the election 
of officers thereof. It was read for the first 
and second times and referred to the commit¬ 
tee on towns and counties. The next day 
Councilman Edward Cardwell, chairman of 
that committee, reported the bill, with the re¬ 
commendation that it pass. The bill found 
smooth sailing and on Wednesday, January 26, 
passed the council by a vote of 11 to 1. 

The next day the bill appeared in the house 
and was referred to the usual committee. Then 
what little opposition there was to the bill was 
put forth. On the 29th a petition was re¬ 
ceived from citizens of the west portion of the 
county, containing the names of 261 residents, 
asking that the matter of the formation of the 
new county be submitted to the qualified voters 
of Gallatin county. The bill remained in com¬ 
mittee until Monday, February 14, when it 
was reported back with numerous amendments. 
One of these amendments provided that the bill 
should not take effect for two years. These 
amendments were, apparently, not satisfactory, 
and on motion of Representative Frank K. 
Armstrong, of Gallatin county, the bill was re¬ 
ferred to a special committee consisting of the 
members from Gallatin county. 

A substitute was prepared by this commit¬ 


tee and reported back on Friday, February 18. 
The substitute was accepted and the bill passed 
the house by a unanimous vote. That same 
day the bill was concurred in by the council, 
and on Saturday, February 19, the speaker of 
the house and the president of the council 
signed the bill. Concerning the receipt of the 
news in Livingston, the Enterprise , on Feb¬ 
ruary 19th, said: 

“Yesterday morning about ten o’clock the 
town was thrown into a state of considerable 
excitement by the receipt of a telegram an¬ 
nouncing that the bill for the creation of Park 
county had passed the house by a unanimous 
vote. But very few anticipated that so sudden 
and truly gratifying action would be accorded 
the measure, and the news was hailed with 
great delight, cheer upon cheer of gladness re¬ 
sounding from every quarter of the town, and 
there was as much noise and commotion on the 
streets for a time as ever emanated from an 
Apache scalp dance. Everybody gave ex¬ 
pression to unbounded gladness, and there 
was music in the air, so to speak. At last the 
east side is about to get its just deserts by the 
creation of Park county, and a prouder county 
will not be in the territory.” 

Governor Preston H. Leslie approved the 
bill February 23. The governor hesitated to 
affix his signature to the bill because of the 
wording of the debt clause, which he thought 
to be slightly imperfect. After he had looked 
up the Montana decision on the subject he be¬ 
lieved he had found sufficient information to 
warrant him in approving of the clause and 
he signed the bill. 

The boundary lines of the new county of 
Park, as described in the act, are given in a 
former chapter. 

This description of the boundaries of Park 
county would have but little meaning to any¬ 
one who was not familiar with the boundary 
lines of neighboring counties and of the Crow 
Indian reservation at the time they were de¬ 
scribed. For the enlightenment of those we 






HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


137 


shall endeavor to state just what territory Park 
county covered at that time as described on 
a present day map. Within its boundaries was 
all of the present day Park county and that 
portion of Sweet Grass county north of the 
Yellowstone river. Also, there was in the 
new county a narrow • strip of Sweet Grass 
county south of the Yellowstone. 

The act creating Park county provided that 
its provisions should be put into effect on May 
1, 1887, but that until August 1 the new county 
should be attached to Gallatin county for ju¬ 
dicial purposes. The tax levy of 1887 for Gal¬ 
latin county was to be the tax levy for Park 
county for the same year. The county seat of 
the new county should be at Livingston until 
the general election in November, 1888, when 
the voters should vote for the permanent loca¬ 
tion of the county seat. The act named the 
county officers, who were to hold office until 
successors, elected at the general election of 
1888, should have qualified. The new county 
was to assume $35,000 of the debt of Gal¬ 
latin county and issue interest bearing warrants 
therefor in full of all demands by the old 
county against the new. The amount of in¬ 
debtedness to be assumed by the new county 
was arrived at as follows: The bonded indebt¬ 
edness of Gallatin county was $105,000, and 
from this was first deducted $35,000, the value 
of building improvements at the county seat. 
Park county’s assessed valuation was placed 
at $2,000,000, or about one-third of the total 
assessment of Gallatin county before division. 
After deducting the value of the improvements, 
the remaining bonded indebtedness ($70,000) 
was divided by three, giving $23,000 as the 
proportion to be assumed by Park county. 
To this was added $7,000, delinquent taxes 
due on the east side, and $5,000 for court ex¬ 
penses until August 1, 1887, making the total 
amount to be assumed $35,000. 

Park county was organized on the 2nd day 
of May, 1887, when the first meeting of the 
board of county commissioners was held in the 


First National Bank building. There were pres¬ 
ent County Commissioners George H. Carver, 
George M. Hatch and Benjamin F. Myers, 
County Clerk E. B. Martin and County Attor¬ 
ney John H. Elder. Mr. Carver was elected 
chairman of the board. On the following day 
the board executed a lease for the ground floor 
and basement of the First National Bank build¬ 
ing for county purposes. The rental was $150 
per month; the owner was J. C. Vilas. On 
June 8 the board met at Bozeman, in joint 
meeting with the commissioners of Gallatin 
county, and affected a settlement wlith the 
mother county in accordance with the provi¬ 
sions of the act creating Park county. War¬ 
rants were issued on the general fund to the 
amount of $35,000 for the payment of all ob¬ 
ligations to Gallatin county. 

The 1887 assessment roll of Park county 
showed assessable property to the amount of 
$2,205,248. 

The population of the county at this time 
was estimated at 4,500. Among the other 
acts of the commissioners during 1887 was the 
erection of a jail at Livingston at a cost of a 
little over $7,000. 

It will be remembered that the act creating 
the county provided for the temporary loca¬ 
tion of the county seat at Livingston and that 
the voters should decide where the permanent 
seat of government should be at the general 
election in November, 1888. Livingston was 
the logical location, but it was not to retain 
the honor without a slight effort. A short 
time before the election Mr. C. B. Mendenhall, 
proprietor of the Hunter’s hot springs, worked 
up a private boom for Springdale as a county 
seat contestant. That place was then, as it has 
always since remained, simply a station on the 
Northern Pacific railroad, but it was only a lit¬ 
tle ways from the hot springs, and Mr. Men¬ 
denhall thought it would be a nice thing if he 
could secure the county seat for that place. 
The bulk of the population of the county was 
in the vicinity of and largely west of Livings- 






J38 


HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


ton, and there was at no time serious danger 
of the county seat being removed, although 
Mr. Mendenhall waged a strong fight. While 
Big Timber did not enter the field as a candi¬ 
date, it received several votes. The total vote 
was: Livingston, i ,382; Springdale, 274, and 
Big Timber, 35. 

Park county, after so many years of en¬ 
deavor to secure separate county government, 
was no sooner firmly established than efforts 
were made to take away some of its territory. 
By the beginning of the year 1889 there was 
quite a settlement in that part of Park county 
in which the town of Red Lodge was situated, 
owing to the development of coal mines there 
and the building of a railroad from Billings 
to Red Lodge. This latter event made the new 
mining town more in touch with Billings than 
it was with its county seat, Livingston, and 
many desired that the “panhandle” of Park 
county be annexed to Yellowstone county. A 
petition, quite generally signed, was presented 
to the legislature asking for such enactment. 
That part of the “panhandle” east of the East 
Rosebud creek was asked for, and while it was 
small in area, its recently developed mines made 
it highly desirable for taxation purposes. 

Park county naturally fought the dismem¬ 
berment and put forth as argument the fact 
that the Park county assessment levy was only 
fifteen and one-tenth mills, while that of Yel¬ 
lowstone county was twenty-two and six-tenths 
mills; also in the event of favorable action by 
the legislature the annexed portion and Yel¬ 
lowstone county would not be contiguous, as 
a portion of the Crow reservation intervened. 
The people of the territory in question were not 
of one mind, and a petition of remonstrance 
with 147 signers was sent to Helena to coun¬ 
teract the favorable petitions which had been 
sent in. Councilman W. Ashby Conrad, repre¬ 
senting Yellowstone and Dawson counties, in¬ 
troduced the bill which was defeated. 

The year 1889 was a very prosperous one 
for Park county, and great improvement was 


made in all lines of industry. There was a 
large emigration from the east that year and 
Park county secured its share. The assessa¬ 
ble property was valued at $3,008,289. 

It was in the spring of that year that the 
matter of building a court house was consid¬ 
ered. Plans for a building to cost in the neigh¬ 
borhood of $23,000 were furnished by I. J. 
Galbraith, of Livingston, and accepted by the 
commissioners on May 10. Then bids for 
construction were asked for. At a meeting of 
the board July 9, the bids were all rejected 
and it was decided to discontinue all proceed¬ 
ings concerning the court house until the mat¬ 
ter should be left to a decision of the voters. 
A special election was called lor February 4, 
1890, to vote on the question of issuing bonds 
to the amount of $35,000 for the erection of a 
court house. Only 623 votes were cast, show¬ 
ing indifference, but a majority of 61 was re¬ 
corded against the proposition. 

The commissioners then entered into a con¬ 
tract with C. S. Hefferlin to furnish the 
county with a court room and county offices 
until such time as the county might build at 
an annual rental of $2,200. On August 1, 
1890; the county officials took up their quar¬ 
ters in the Hefferlin block. 

The federal census taken during the 
month of May, 1890, revealed the fact that 
Park county had a population of 6,881. The 
towns in the county were listed as follows: 
Livingston, 2,850; Red Lodge, 624; Cokedale, 
284; Big Timber, 265. 

Another attempt was made in 1891 to se¬ 
cure a slice of Park county’s territory. Dur¬ 
ing the month of February a lobby from Red 
Lodge appeared in Helena and worked for the 
formation of a new county, of which Red 
Lodge should be the county'seat. Little en¬ 
couragement was accorded this lobby, and the 
division scheme was abandoned, only to be fol¬ 
lowed by another effort to secure annexation to 
Yellowstone county. A bill to that end was 
introduced, but before it was acted upon an- 







history of park county 


139 


other event had taken place that changed all 
calculations. 

We refer to the ceding of a large tract of 
the Crow Indian reservation, including all that 
part of the present counties of Sweet Grass and 
Carbon which were not already open to settle¬ 
ment. This treaty with the Crows had been 
concluded December 8, 1890, but was not rati¬ 
fied by congress until March 3, 1891. 

Then began a struggle between Park and 
Yellowstone counties for the possession of these 
lands. The legislature was in session, but 
would adjourn by limitation on March 5th, 
two days after the ratification of the treaty. 
A bill was introduced in the senate dividing 
the lands between the two counties, giving al¬ 
most all the lands to Yellowstone county, and 
March 3rd—the same day that congress rati¬ 
fied the treaty—it was passed by a vote of 10 
to 4. It was taken immediately to the house 
and there referred to the committee on federal 
relations. That committee promptly amended 
the bill by giving a greater portion to Park 
county, making the dividing line run due south 
from the junction of the Yellowstone river 
with the west boundary line of Park county to 
the Wyoming line. The amended bill was re¬ 
ported on March 4th, and a motion that the 
report be not adopted called forth a lively dis¬ 
cussion, in which Representative Charles H. 
Eaton, of Park county, took a' strong stand in 
favor of Park county. The motion was lost 
and the bill placed on general orders. Later 
in the day the bill was passed. On the same 
day it went back to the senate with the house 
amendment favorable to Park county. The 
senate would not concur and the house was 
asked to recede. The lower house would not 
recede, and the bill was lost. 

The failure of the bill was in the nature 
of a victory for Yellowstone county, for a 
previous legislature had passed an act provid¬ 
ing for annexation to Yellowstone county of 
all that portion of the Crow reservation lying 
between the Wyoming line and the Yellow¬ 


stone river and west of the Big Horn river that 
might at some later time be segregated and 
thrown open for settlement. The people of 
Park county thought they had been treated 
badly, and the Livingston Enterprise voiced 
this sentiment when it said: “Their [Yellow¬ 
stone county’s] attempt to secure more than 
an equitable division has postponed action un¬ 
til another session of the legislature, when it 
will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, 
to secure as favorable terms as those proposed 
by Park county at the last session.” But Park 
county was not destined to secure any of 
these lands. In fact, it was soon to lose part 
of what it had. 

Park county continued to grow in wealth 
and population. The assessed valuation in 
1891 was $4,992,817, and the next year it had 
reached the flattering figure of $5,468,873.50. 
This was over a million dollars more than 
twice as much as the first assessment had been, 
five years before. 

Again in 1892 the county officers brought 
before the people the question of issuing bonds 
for the erection of a couft house. Bonds to 
the amount of $75,000 were to be issued if 
the people so decided at the general election in 
November, but again the electors turned down 
the court house bonds. The vote was deci¬ 
sive—1,201 to 548—and only three precincts 
in the county returned a majority for the 
bonds. 

In 1893 a very determined effort was made 
to divide Park county and create from the east¬ 
ern portion thereof the county of Sweet Grass. 
For the proposed new county was to be taken 
a large part of Park and a small part from Yel¬ 
lowstone—a part of the Crow lands which had 
two years before been ceded and attached to 
Yellowstone county. The Sweet Grass county 
bill also provided for attaching to Yellowstone 
county a small strip of Park county land lying 
east of the township line between townships 
17 and 18 east. Livingston waged a fight-to- 
a-finish campaign against the measure and was 












HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


successful in defeating it, although the friends 
of the new county had secured the services of 
the Park county members of the legislature, 
As the story of this fight for the creation of 
Sweet Grass county will be told in the history 
of that county, we shall pass it here with this 
brief mention. 

The year 1893 will never be forgotten by 
anyone who was a resident of Park county at 
the time. The panic which gripped the country 
that year was fatal to the interests of Park 
county. Every bank in the county, which was 
limited to three at Livingston, closed its doors. 
This was followed by assignments all over the 
county. Smelters, coke and coal plants closed 
down, throwing hundreds of laboring men out 
of work. Business was paralyzed and the 
“hard times” period set in. It was several 
years before Park county gained its customary 
condition of prosperity. 

We now come to the great American Rail¬ 
way Union strike of 1894, in which Park 
county played an important part, largely be¬ 
cause Livingston was an important division 
point of the Northern Pacific. The start of 
all the trouble that followed was a strike begun 
by the employes of the Pullman company in 
the spring. The American Railway Union 
took up the fight, and on June 26,1894, a rail¬ 
road strike became general all over the North¬ 
west, the strikers refused to handle Pullman 
cars and the railroads declaring their intention 
to haul the same. For many days the Northern 
Pacific was tied up completely, and as a result 
there were hundreds of idle men in Living¬ 
ston. The sympathies of the people of Living¬ 
ston were largely with the strikers, although 
there were some who considered the strikers 
to be in the wrong. There was no rioting dur¬ 
ing this time and only one or two attempts at 
destruction of property. The only blood shed 
in Park county during the strike was by the 
United States troops, who were brought into 
service to break the strike. 

The first train held up in Livingston was 


early in the morning of Wednesday, June 27th, 
and thereafter for thirteen days not a train 
passed through the town. That morning a 
public meeting was held in Miles’ hall, attended 
by members of the A. R. U. and sympathisers 
of the strikers. The decision was reached to 
do all in the power of the union to protect the 
property of the railroad company during the 
strike. To this end Daniel Gillis, J. Venham 
and Leonard Uhl were chosen chiefs with 
authority to select such men as might be neces¬ 
sary from among the members of the union to 
guard the company’s property. It was also de¬ 
cided to notify Division Superintendent Finn 
that he might select whatever men he deemed 
necessary from among the membership of the 
union to send to any point on his division to 
watch'bridges and otherwise protect the com¬ 
pany’s property. A strike committee was 
selected, composed of the following men: R. 
B. Kelly, T. H. Warner, Dan Short, F. J. 
Woodward and R. F. Dougherty. 

The Order of Railway Conductors of 
Snowy Range division also held a meeting 
that day and unanimously decided that no cars 
would be hauled by members of that order ex¬ 
cept mail cars. 

The last train over the division was a 
freight, which pulled into Livingston at five 
o’clock on June 27, in charge of Conductor 
Campbell. It had left Billings at six o’clock in 
the morning, at which time no notification of 
the strike had been received at that place. 

When the strike went into effect a large 
number of passengers found themselves in 
Livingston, caused by the tieup of passenger 
trains at that point. Naturally they were very 
anxious to continue their journey. On the 
28th the A. R. U. decided to make an attempt 
to get the passengers through to Helena, where 
it was thought they might continue their jour¬ 
ney on the Great Northern, and to confer with 
the passengers and railroad officials with this 
end in view. A public meeting was held at the 
I opera house and was attended by the strikers, 








HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


passengers and citizens of the town. The con¬ 
clusion was reached that the local strikers had 
no authority to permit the running of a train 
that the passengers might get away, without 
instructions from President Debs, of the A. R. 
U., and the following message was sent to that 
official by the passengers : 

Livingston, Montana. June 28, 6:28 p. m. E. V. 
Debs. 413 Ashland Block, Chicago, Ill.—The under¬ 
signed, representing passengers stranded on the North¬ 
ern Pacific Railway, request that you use your good 
office to enable them to reach their destination. We are 
not parties to the strike, but innocent victims to cir¬ 
cumstances unforseen by us. Public sympathy may be 
gained and nothing lost to your position by clearing the' 
tracks of all who were en route when the strike began. 
Much suffering to helpless women and children, many 
of whom are invalids, will surely follow if this is not 
allowed. Our misery will not aid your cause. Please 
reply.—William T. Baker, Wm. H. Bell, H. J. Spies. 

The plan was, if President Debs should 
give his permission, to run a train to Helena 
with the stranded passengers, where it was 
thought they might be able to make connections 
with the Great Northern. But President Debs 
was firm in his determination that not a wheel 
should turn if he could prevent it, as his reply 
will indicate: 

Chicago, Ill., June 29. R. B. Kelly, Livingston— 
Message from passengers’ committee received. Say to 
them for me that the entire responsibility for the pres¬ 
ent condition of affairs rests with the railroad com¬ 
panies, who pledged themselves to stand by Pullman. 
The strike was ordered by unanimous vote of the con¬ 
vention and cannot be rescinded. I would gladly do 
anything within my power to relieve the suffering en¬ 
tailed by the present embargo.—E. V. Debs. 

The railroad company provided for the 
stranded passengers at the Albermarle hotel, 
but later, meals were served to them on the 
dining cars. Those passengers who were trav¬ 
eling on passes were cared for by the strikers’ 
committee, the railroad refusing to be respon¬ 
sible for their board. 

On Saturday, June 30, Sheriff Conrow was 
served with a formal notice by Superintendent 


141 


Finn that the Northern Pacific would hold 
Park county responsible for any damage re¬ 
sulting from destruction of its property within 
the county, and the same notice was served 
on the executive officers of all the counties 
along the line of the division. A similar notice 
was served on the board of county commis¬ 
sioners, then in special session. The notice was 
rather vague, and, as there had been up to that 
time no damage to railroad property in the 
county, the commissioners demanded more 
specific information as to what property of the 
company was liable to damage. 

The mails was of course tied up, and Post¬ 
master J. E. Swindlehurst at once made efforts 
to secure temporary mail service. He received 
word from Washington on the 30th that there 
was no objection to a temporary service by 
stage, provided the mails were taken by sworn 
carriers and without expense to the govern¬ 
ment. Mail lines were then established 
throughout the county. Other lines were es¬ 
tablished in different parts of the state along 
the line of the Northern Pacific. In this way 
mail was secured from Helena and other points. 

It was on the 30th also that the first wheel 
moved on the entire system since the tieup. At 
about 5 o’clock in the afternoon engine No. 
442, which had been fired up in the round 
house, was run through the yards. The engine 
was in charge of engineer M. L. Porter and 
was fired by Pat McCarvel; on board were 
Superintendent Finn and Master Mechanic 
Brown. As it passed slowly westward through 
the yards, it encountered a large force of the 
strikers, who had congregated at the Main 
street crossing. At this point several of the 
strikers climbed on board, when they were in¬ 
formed by Superintendent Finn that he was a 
deputy United States marshal. Later it was 
found that he had been commissioned during 
the afternoon. If the strikers had had any in¬ 
tention of stopping the engine, they abandoned 
it, and the locomotive pulled out at a lively 
rate for the west. The strikers’ committee at 






142 


HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


once telegraphed the fact of the engine’s de¬ 
parture to Bozeman, Helena and other points. 

Immediately after the engine had left the 
yards a conference of the A. R. U. committee 
and one from the Brotherhood of Locomotive 
Engineers was held in the hall over Scheuber’s 
drug store, at which ‘the new phase of the sit¬ 
uation was discussed. Subsequently the engi¬ 
neers held a special meeting, heard the report 
of their committee with reference to the con¬ 
ference and after a discussion that lasted until 
three o’clock Sunday morning, July ist, they 
decided to refuse to respond to a call to go out 
until the existing troubles were settled. Chief 
Engineer Fanning sent out messages to other 
lodges of the brotherhood, notifying them of 
this action. In accordance with their action, 
on Monday, July 2, the engineers refused to go 
on duty. The same morning Train Dispatch¬ 
ers Elliott, Flood and Reese, of the general 
office in Livingston, went on strike. 

Monday morning the first through mail 
from the east bound express, which was tied 
up in Livingston, together with all letter mail 
for Butte and Helena from the west bound 
train was started by handcar to Helena, in 
charge of the mail clerk of train No. 2. From 
Helena the through mail for the east was taken 
over the Great Northern. 

To minimize the danger from fire in these 
troublesome times, the city council on the 2nd 
authorized the acceptance of the services of 
fifty men offered by the executive committee of 
the A. R. U., to act in conjunction with the 
Livingston fire department. Fortunately their 
services were not needed. 

On Independence day the engine which had 
gone west on June 30 returned, and the strik¬ 
ers were not long in learning its mission. The 
engineers having gone on a strike in the mean¬ 
time, when the engine returned Master Me¬ 
chanic Brown was at the throttle, while Su¬ 
perintendent Finn did the firing. These of¬ 
ficials brought with them a large bunch of 
writs issued out of the United States district 


court of Montana, directed to the striking em¬ 
ployes, serving notice upon them to return to 
their work within a reasonable time or they 
would be discharged from the service of the 
railroad company. These notices were issued 
upon an order of Judge Knowles in response 
to application of the attorneys of the company 
at Helena. They were served upon the em¬ 
ployes by posting in the several department 
buildings of the company the following day. 
The writs, in addition to the above, provided 
“that all persons and associations of persons 
be forbidden and prohibited from intimidating 
or interfering in any manner with all persons 
who are now or who may hereafter be em¬ 
ployed by said receivers.” One of the notices 
posted in the company’s buildings on the 5th 
read as follows: 

All persons are warned against trespassing upon, 
or interfering with, this (property, and all other prop¬ 
erty of the Northern Pacific Railway company, as it 
is in the possession of the United States courts, and 
any interference with it by persons not in the employ 
of the receivers, will be punished by fine or imprison¬ 
ment, or both. Hiram Knowles, 

Helena, Mont., July 3, 1894. U. S. District Judge. 

The same day that these notices were 
posted word was received from the Northern 
Pacific management to suspend from the pay 
rolls of the company all men still in its em¬ 
ploy until such time as train service might 
be resumed over the system. This order af¬ 
fected a number of employes, who were still 
working for the company in various capacities, 
and increased the number of idle men in 
Livingston. 

This move of the railroad company was 
made in the morning. In the afternoon a meet¬ 
ing of the A. R. U. was held in Populist hall, 
at which a resolution was adopted to withdraw 
the strikers’ protection of the company’s prop¬ 
erty, and the watchmen selected from the ranks 
of that organization, who had been on duty 
since the strike, were relieved from further 
duty. 





history of park county. 


The stranded passengers became clamor¬ 
ous for removal to Helena or some other point 
where they could make connections with other 
roads for their homes. Superintendent Finn 
assured them that if there was no interference 
he would make an effort to get the west bound 
train through to Helena. But there was inter¬ 
ference. An effort was made to pull the train 
out on the afternoon of the fifth with Master 
Mechanic Brown as engineer and Foreman 
Mallahan as fireman. The engine was pulled 
out, but its passage was blocked at the Main 
street crossing, where a large crowd had con¬ 
gregated and completely blocked the track. 
The strikers agreed to let the superintendent 
pull out the mail, but nothing else. Mr. Finn 
replied that that was all he wanted, and the 
track was cleared. But when an attempt was 
made to pull out the whole train, the track was 
again blocked. After several efforts to get 
away with the train had failed, the engine was 
run back into the round house. Thus the first 
attempt of the company to resume the opera¬ 
tion of train service resulted in failure. 

Following the withdrawal of the protection 
of the company’s property by the strikers, Su¬ 
perintendent Finn made an effort Friday night, 
July 6, to enlist men to be sworn in as deputies 
to guard the property of the company. This 
resulted in failure, for as soon as a man was 
secured the strikers would interview him, and 
he would refuse to act in any capacity for the 
company. 

This failure brought the superintendent 
again in communication with the county gov¬ 
ernment. On Saturday, July 7, he sent the fol¬ 
lowing communication to the board of county 
commissioners: 

the 2nd insf., I wish to inform you that minor depre- 

To the honorable board of county commissioners 
of Park county, Montana. Replying to your favor of 
dations have been committed upon the property of the 
receivers of the Northern Pacific Railroad, such as 
greasing the track and disconnecting our water works 
at Livingston; breaking into our car house at Elton; 
explosion of dynamite at Muir tunnel; the intimidations 


M3 


* U - uuuertooK to employ as de- 

puty sheriffs; the intimidation of those whom we un¬ 
dertook to employ at Livingston for the purpose of 
™ d g u ! e ; iSh , a Ie merchandise in transit, are such as 

fceiv t f n that ° ther and greater juries are 
to J ollow ’ and particularly at the following 
points: Muir tunnel and city of Livingston, and bridge 
across the Yellowstone river. The property of the 
company now situated at the city of Livingston be- 

valu^f Nor ‘ hern Pac ific Railroad exceeds in 
value $ 5 °o, 000 > and we hereby request that you 
furnish sufficient deputy sheriffs, as may be necessary 
m time to time to properly guard and protect the 
uir tunnel and the property of the said company at 
the city of Livingston and the bridge crossing the Yel- 
lowstone river. 

J. D. Finn, Superintendent. 


As two of the county commissioners were 
absent from Livingston when this communi¬ 
cation was received, it was not until Monday, 
July 9, that action was taken on the matter! 
Then the board decided that Muir tunnel was 
not within the province of Park county, as it 
was apportioned to Gallatin county for taxa¬ 
tion. The county attorney also advised the 
board that the railroad property in Livingston 
was subject to city control, and upon his advice 
the board referred the matter to the city coun¬ 
cil. The sheriff was, however, instructed to 
guard the bridge across the Yellowstone near 
Livingston and also one belonging to the 
county near Big Timber. This he did, arming . 
the guards with Winchester rifles. 

Having failed to secure deputized watch¬ 
men through their own efforts and having ob¬ 
tained but little relief from the county com¬ 
missioners, the local officials enlisted the aid 
of the government troops at Fort Yellowstone, 
in the National Park. On Saturday evening, 
July 7, Captain Anderson, of that post, re¬ 
ceived orders from General Schofield to take 
a sufficient number of his troops to Muir tun¬ 
nel and to guard that passage through the Belt 
range mountains. He accordingly started that 
evening at six o’clock with one lieutenant, h 
hospital steward and 33 privates, and reached 
the tunnel early Sunday morning, July 8. 

On Sunday also came word to the strikers 














144 


HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


that two trains, guarded by government troops, 
had started simultaneously from St. Paul and 
Tacoma at six o’clock on the evening of July 
7, and that they were due to arrive in Livings¬ 
ton on Monday, the 9th. 

No train arrived until Tuesday. On that 
day President Cleveland issued his proclama¬ 
tion placing the entire Northwest under mar¬ 
tial law, and at the same time President Debs, 
of the A. R. U., was placed under arrest on a 
charge of interfering with the United States 
mails. But before this information was re¬ 
ceived in Livingston the train with the troops 
had arrived from St. Paul, and the most excit¬ 
ing scene of the strike, locally, had been 
enacted. 

The train, running in two sections, and 
manned by “scabs,” arrived in Livingston on 
the 10th. It was guarded by two companies 
from Fort Keough and two from Fort Custer, 
the two former under command of Captains 
Lockwood and Crittenden, and the two latter 
under command of Captain Ord and Lieuten¬ 
ant O’Neil. Captain Lockwood, as ranking 
captain, was in supreme command. The train 
was made up of mail, baggage, express, pas¬ 
senger cars and a full complement of the boy¬ 
cotted Pullman cars. A large crowd of strik¬ 
ers and spectators assembled on the depot plat¬ 
form to witness the arrival of the first through 
train since June 27. We leave the telling of 
the dramatic incidents which followed to the 
pen of the editor of the Livingston Enterprise: 

“ * * The two sections of the train 

arrived in the lower end of the yards at 4p.m., 
where engines were changed after a delay of 
half an hour, and the train, with its engines 
and cars covered with ‘swaddies,’ whose bayo¬ 
nets bristled in every direction, pulled up to 
the passenger depot. * * * As the stop 

was made at the platform the ‘brave defenders 
of the nation,’ ashen with alarm, climbed down 
in front of a crowd of 600 or 700 persons who 
lined the track on either side. 

“Then came the exhibition of cowardice 


and brutality unequalled in the history of civ¬ 
ilized warfare. Captain Lockwood climbed 
onto the south platform, taking with him the 
‘royal jag’ he had accumulated by frequent 
trips to the bar of the diner. He had no sooner 
alighted than, in the presence of the men, ladies 
and children who had assembled to see the 
‘wheels again revolve,’ he ordered his men to 
‘Drive back the G—d d—d s— of b—s! Drive 
them back!’ He then crossed to the opposite 
platform, still accompanied by his faithful 
‘jag,’ and repeated this order, supplementing 
it with a command to the thoroughly affrighted 
and almost stampeded regulars to enforce his 
order with their guns. Here the crowd was 
much more dense and necessarily slower to 
move, although falling back as rapidly as possi - 
ble. Their movements, however, did not sat¬ 
isfy the drunken and nervous anticipation of 
Lockwood and that officer drew his sword and 
made a savage thrust at the abdomen of one 
of the inoffensive spectators, and afterwards 
slashed Frank Toland over the head. The 
blow was a murderous one, but fortunately 
Toland had on a stiff straw hat which checked 
the force of the blow sufficiently to save his 
life, although the blade cut a gash on the 
left side of his head which necessitated sev¬ 
eral stitches by Dr. Alton in closing the gap¬ 
ing wound. Having thus acquitted himself 
in a manner that would not only disgrace the 
army but would add fresh laurels to a Bowery 
< tough, the captain formed his company in line 
along the train and sought safety behind the 
muskets by retiring to the dining car to hit 
the ‘can’ and replenish his stock of courage. 

“This dastardly proceeding was reported to 
Mayor Beley, who sought an interview with 
Captain Lockwood to enter a protest against 
:lie assault and assure him of the loyalty and 
peaceable disposition of our city. When told 
by the mayor of his official position, Captain 

Lockwood replied, ‘You are a d—d — -- 

mayor. This city is under my control today.’ 

“In the meantime a warrant charging 






HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY, 


Lockwood with assault with a deadly weapon 
was sworn out before Justice Lepley and placed 
in the hands of Sheriff Conrow. Before it was 
served, however, it was learned that the pres¬ 
ident had proclaimed the entire west under 
martial law and it was decided as futile to take 
further action in the matter in that direction, 
and the train soon pulled out with Captain 
Lockwood and his ‘jag - ,’ the train crew, sol¬ 
diers and passengers. 

* * * As soon as the first section of 

the train pulled out Company D, of the 22nd, 
under command of Lieut. O’Neil, marched from 
the depot down through the yards to the sec¬ 
ond section of the train. Shortly after, a party 
of ‘scabs’ came up and began washing ice for 
the cars. They were hooted by the crowd and 
finally one of them drew a revolver, when the 
crowd closed in on them, and they started 
down the track at full speed to seek protection 
of the colored troops. A few minutes later 
Lieutenant O’Neil, at the head of Company D, 
was seen coming up the track at a double quick 
march. His men had their bayonets in place 
and cartridges in their guns. They were 
formed along the east side of Main street, and 
when the lieutenant discovered that his pres¬ 
ence was not needed to quell any disturbance, 
he ordered bayonets sheathed, guns unloaded, 
and his colored ‘swaddies’ were marched back 
down the track. 

“At 6:30 the second section of the train, 
which had been held at the lower end of the 
yards, pulled up to the passenger depot. The 
train was guarded by two colored companies 
from Fort Custer under charge of Captain Ord 
and Lieutenant O’Neil, and both officers 
quickly demonstrated that they were entitled 
to respect. Their demeanor, in striking com¬ 
parison with that of the drunken Lockwood, 
won the admiration of the crowd. When the 
train stopped, Captain Ord ordered his men 
down from the cars, formed a line along the 
train, and in a respectful but firm manner in¬ 
formed the spectators of his duty in guarding 
10 


145 


the train and warned them not to pass the line 
of soldiers. The only incident that marked 
the stay of this section of the train was the 
ridicule hurled at the ‘scab’ crew, and after 
waiting the return of the hog 496, to assist it 
over the hill, departed at 8 p. m. for the west.” 

The two companies of colored soldiers 
from Fort Custer were left in Livingston when 
the trains pulled out. They were marched 
back to the yards and put in camp just west 
of the shops, where they remained until Sep¬ 
tember 1. Patrols were established along the 
passenger depot platform and in different parts 
of the company’s yards. 

The people of Livingston were aroused to 
the highest pitch of indignation by the conduct 
of Captain Lockwood, and immediately after 
the assault upon Frank Toland a number of the 
leading citizens met at the office of Smith 
& Wilson, when the following dispatch was 
formulated and sent to Senator Power at 
Washington. 

Livingston, Mont., July 10, 1894. Hon. Thomas C. 
Power, Washington, D. C.—Today a mail train in 
charge of soldiers 'commanded by Capt. Lockwood 
stopped here. Many citizens through curiosity were at 
the station. All were quiet and unarmed. The captain 
without cause struck an unoffending citizen on head 
with saber while standing on street, seriously wound¬ 
ing him. The captain used vile and profane language 
in presence of ladies and publicly insulted our mayor. 
Our community feel greatly outraged. 

Frank Henry 
H. J. Miller 
John T. Smith 
Geo. H. Wright 
L. N. Lepley 
Allan R. Joy 
J. R. King 
J. E. SwiNDLEHURST 
J. S. Thompson 

In the evening a mass meeting was held at 
Hefferlin’s opera house, which was packed to 
overflowing by the citizens of Livingston, to 
further express the indignation of the people 
over the outrageous assault upon Frank To¬ 
land and the disgraceful conduct of the army 
officer. Enthusiasm was unbounded in endors- 










146 


HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


ing the indignant protests of the speakers. 
Resolutions were adopted and forwarded to 
Governor Rickards, demanding that an in¬ 
vestigation be made of the outrageous conduct. 

Under the protection of the United States 
troops a few trains were sent over the road 
during the few days following the incidents 
above related. The strikers knew that there 
could be but one outcome, but they doggedly 
hung out. There were gradual desertions 
from the ranks of the strikers, and on July 13 
the Northern Pacific issued a bulletin, stating 
that the strike was broken and offering to take 
back all old employes except those who had 
been instrumental in causing disturbances. 
But it was not until July 19 that the strike 
was formally declared off by the local union. 
That day at a meeting held in Populist hall, 
it was voted to declare the strike off so far 
as this division was concerned. The motion 
was carried by a vote of about four to one of 
the sixty members present and voting. Mem¬ 
bers of the union with few exceptions at once 
made application for their old positions. Some 
were accepted, while others were rejected. 

The great strike was at an end, but the 
troops which had been guarding the company’s 
property in Park county remained for several 
weeks more. Those at Muir tunnel departed 
August 30, while those in Livingston left on 
September 1. 

Governor Rickards, of Montana, had taken 
up the matter of the conduct of Captain Lock- 
wood with the war department, and that 
branch of the national government investigated 
the charges, completely exonorating the of¬ 
ficer and laying the blame for all that happened 
to the citizens of Livingston. The result of 
the investigation was made known through a 
letter to the governor from Jos. B. Doe, as- 
sistartt secretary of war. That official said 
that the commanding general of the depart¬ 
ment of Dakota detailed a discreet officer to in¬ 
vestigate the charges, and after a full consid¬ 
eration by the major general of the army and 


the war department, the conclusion was 
reached that the circumstances that gave rise 
to the accusation against Captain Lockwood 
were no less than an insurrection against the 
United States and open defiance of the national 
authority. Continuing, the letter said: 

“The circumstances justified and required 
whatever forcible measures might be necessary 
on the part of the commanding officer of the 
troops to promptly suppress that insurrection. 
It shows that even idle bystanders, having no 
intention to take part in mob violence, did, 
nevertheless, by their presence with the lawless 
mob, give countenance and encouragement to 
the insurrection. If the citizens suffered 
some violence at the hands of the troops be¬ 
cause the latter could not discriminate between 
innocent and guilty, it would seem that the 
citizens are themselves to blame for their mis¬ 
fortune ; and it is the opinion of this depart¬ 
ment that the action of the commanding of¬ 
ficer, under the circumstances, was entirely 
justifiable.” 

The first and only legal execution to take 
place in Park county occurred on Friday morn¬ 
ing, July 13, 1894, when Robert A. Anderson, 
commonly known as Bob Fields, was hanged 
at Livingston for the murder of Emanuel 
Fleming on April 20, 1894. 

Park county had been fighting, almost from 
the date of its organization, against the dis¬ 
memberment of its territory. With every ses¬ 
sion of the legislature would come some plan 
for the organization of a new county which 
desired part of Park county’s territory, and at 
nearly all of the sessions an attempt would be 
made to annex a part of Park county to 
Yellowstone county. Each time the people of 
the western part of the county would earnestly 
enter the contest for the preservation of the 
county. But in 1895 the inevitable came to 
pass. Two new counties were formed, each 
taking a portion of the older county, and Park 
county was reduced to its present boundaries. 
By the creation of Sweet Grass county about 




HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


$1,100,000 of taxable property was lost, and 
Carbon county took about $400,000 more. 

As the story of the creation of Sweet Grass 
and Carbon counties will be told in another 
part we shall pass it by here. 

Although the loss of territory occasioned 
by the creation of these two counties was re¬ 
gretted by the people of what was left of Park 
county, it was not a serious blow. The effect 
of the hard times was wearing away, and the 
county was once more becoming prosperous. 
Although the county had lost nearly one-half 
of its territory, the value of the taxable pro¬ 
perty it had lost was much less. The assessed 
valuation in 1894 had been $4,689,126.50; in 
1895 it was reduced only to $3,492,006. 

Early in the spring of 1895 the county 
commissioners again took up the question of 
the erection of a county court house. Park 
county was badly in need of such a building. 
During the eight years of its existence the 
county had conducted its business in rented 
buildings, which were inadequate and in which 
the public records were imperiled. Besides, at 
this time the county had a large sum of money 
on hand which would not be available to apply 
on the payment of the bonded indebtedness 
for many years, and for which, there was no 
immediate use. Accordingly, on February 
28 , 1895, the commissioners let the contract 
for the building of a court house to H. J. Wol¬ 
cott for $9,680, the building to be completed 
before July 15th of that year. 

But action was taken which prevented the 
building of this structure. On Saturday, 
March 9th, in district court. Judge Frank 
Henry presiding, a temporary restraining order 
was granted against Mr. Wolcott and the 
county commissioners, restraining them from 
building the court house. This action was 
taken at the request of C. S. Hefferlin, from 
whom the county rented the building used for 
county purposes. This action was brought on 
the grounds that the act was unconstitutional, 
and this section of the constitution was cited: 


147 


‘‘No county shall incur any indebtedness or 
liability for any single purpose to an amount 
exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000) 
without the approval of the majority of the 
electors thereof, voting at an election to be pro¬ 
vided by law.” It was shown that the county 
had let the contract for the building for $9,680, 
had paid $3,200 for the building site, had paid 
$700 for plans and specifications for the build¬ 
ing, and had further agreed to pay $250 to an 
architect to supervise the construction. This 
would have brought the total cost up to $13,- 
830, an amount in excess of that allowed by 
the constitution. 

The restraining order was made permanent 
March 20th. An appeal to the supreme court 
was taken at once, and in a decision in the 
latter part of June, the ruling of the lower court 
was sustained. As a retaliatory measure an 
action was then brought against the county and 
Mr. Hefferlin, restraining the former from 
paying to the latter the money on certain war¬ 
rants, which had been issued to him as payment 
for rent of county buildings. The same sec¬ 
tion of the constitution was cited that Mr. Hef¬ 
ferlin had employed. It was shown that, if 
these warrants were paid, the amount that 
would have been paid out in rents for county 
buildings would be in excess of the constitu¬ 
tional limit of money that could be paid out 
for any single purpose without the approval 
of a majority of the voters. The court did not 
take this view of the matter, however. 

The county was not to be balked in its ef¬ 
forts to get a court house, however. July 20th 
the commissioners decided to submit to the vote 
of the people the proposition to build a $25,000 
structure, and named Thursday, August 
15 th, as the date for holding the election. It 
will be remembered that on two former occa¬ 
sions the voters had disapproved the erection 
of a county building by overwhelming major¬ 
ities. Now, however, it was all the other 
way. There was hardly any opposition. 

On October 5, 1895, the contract for the 











148 


HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


erection of the building was let to Day & Horn- 
beck, of Livingston, for $18,095. The build¬ 
ing was completed and furnished ready for oc¬ 
cupancy in July, 1896, the total cost of build¬ 
ing and furnishings being about $23,000. On 
the last day of July the county officials moved 
to the new court house. 

The year 1897 witnessed the complete re¬ 
covery from the “hard times” period. That 
year there was an unprecedented demand for 
agricultural and stock raising lands. New set¬ 
tlers came into the county, and during the 
next few years Park county advanced as it 
had not done since the boom days of 1883. 

During the history of Park county there 
have been scores of murders and homicides 
committed, but there never was a crime which 
created the excitement and aroused the indig¬ 
nation of the people to the extent that did the 
murder of Sheriff Geo. T. Young, of Living¬ 
ston, and the serious wounding of Under 
Sheriff Frank Beller at the depot platform at 
Springdale, on Friday evening, November 9, 
1900, while attempting to arrest a man, whose 
name was unknown, but who was wanted for 
shooting a man at Logan two days before. 
Sheriff Young was shot through the heart 
and died instantly.. Beller was shot squarely 
in the chest and also received a wound in the 
foot, from which injuries he recovered. 

The murderer escaped, and then began one 
of the most determined man hunts in the his¬ 
tory of the west, second only to that of Harry 
Tracy a few years later in Oregon and Wash¬ 
ington. Bloodhounds were secured to track 
the murderer, and posses were formed in 
nearly all the towns of the country. The mur¬ 
derer started east and was seen two miles west 
of Big Timber. From there he was traced up 
Boulder creek a few miles. Then he made his 
way to Grey Cliff. -He was seen near that place 
and also at Reed’s Point. From the latter 
point he was traced to Red Lodge country and 
later into the Hole-in-the-Wall country of Wy¬ 
oming, where all track of him was lost. His 


pursuers would catch sight of him at some 
point and then he would disappear as com¬ 
pletely as though the earth had swallowed him 
up, only to reappear in a day or two at some 
point thirty or forty miles distant. With an 
endurance that seemed almost superhuman the 
murderer braved the excessive cold, clad only 
in summer garments, with nothing to eat ex¬ 
cept what little he could steal from sheep 
camps. The country over which he traveled 
was a strange one, and he was frequently run¬ 
ning into places where recognition immediately 
followed. Then he would disappear hours be¬ 
fore his pursuers could take the trail. For two 
weeks the chase was continued by at least an 
hundred men. Then it was abandoned, and no 
trace of the murderer has ever been found. 

The federal census of 1900 gave Park 
county a population of 7,341, a slight gain over 
the census of ten years before, noth withstanding 
.the fact that the county had lost about half its 
area in the meantime. A census today would 
show about twice that number. The years 
1901 and 1902 were particularly prosperous 
ones, the latter being the most prosperous one, 
up to that time, in the history of the county. 

While there has been only one legal execu¬ 
tion in the history of the county, a second man 
had received sentence to the supreme penalty. 
This was Martin Zidmair, who was sentenced 
to be hanged September 4, 1903, for the mur¬ 
der of Geo. Reider. He cheated the gallows 
by hanging himself in his cell the day before 
that set for his execution. 

The year 1905 was a banner one for the min¬ 
ing industries of Park county. Numerous smelt¬ 
ers and mills were started in different parts of 
the county. All the coal mines and coke plants 
of the county were in operation, and gold and 
silver mining took a new impetus. This activ¬ 
ity has continued up to the present time, and 
there was never a time in the whole history 
of the county when times were as good as 
they are at present. The total assessed valuation 
of property for the year 1906 was $4,923,602. 









HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


149 


CHAPTER III 


LIVINGSTON. 


Within the county of Park there is only 
one town that enjoys municipal government. 
This is Livingston, the county seat, a city of 
about 5,000 people, ranking well up among 
the important towns of Montana. Besides 
this city, however, are many smaller, but im¬ 
portant, villages, which depend for their ex¬ 
istence upon the surrounding mining or agri¬ 
cultural country. Among these are Gardiner, 
Aldridge, Electric, Shields, Cooke, Fridley, 
Jardine, Springdale and Clydepark, ranging 
in population from a few hundred down to a 
few score. Besides these might be named a 
few railway stations and country postoffices, 
which have not yet reached the distinction of 
being called towns. There are twenty-three 
postoffices in the county as follows: Aldridge, 
Bruffeys, Chico, Chimney Rock, Clydepark, 
Cokedale, Contact, Cooke, Electric, Fridley, 
Gardiner, Hunter’s Hotsprings, Jardine, Lat, 
Livingston, Meyersburg, Miner, Muir, Pine- 
creek, Rockcreek, Shields and Springdale. 
This chapter will deal with the history of the 
city of Livingston; the one following with the 
histories of the other towns of the county. 

LIVINGSTON. 

At a point on the Yellowstone river where 
that mighty stream, in its long journey from 
the mountains south of the Yellowstone Na¬ 
tional Park to the Missouri river, makes the 
great bend to the eastward is located the city of 
Livingston, the county seat of, and most im¬ 
portant town in, Park county. Just below the 
point where the river breaks through its third 
and last canyon the forces of nature have 
formed a broad circular basin, and upon this 


is built the city, at an elevation of 4,491 feet 
above sea level. The location might also be 
described by saying that it is on the main line 
of the Northern Pacific railroad and at the 
junction of that road and the National Park 
branch; that it is fifty-nine miles north 
of the National Park; that it is 1,007 miles 
west of St. Paul, the eastern terminus of the 
Northern Pacific; and 124 miles to the east¬ 
ward of Helena, the capital of the state. 

No point in Montana possesses a location 
of more natural beauty, or one that awakens 
so much enthusiasm in picturesque surround¬ 
ings, as does this place. Nothing that adds to 
the charm of mountain scenery is lacking, 
while supplemental to this is the more peaceful 
landscape of river, plain and woodland. In 
every direction ,the view is bounded by lofty 
mountain ranges and towering bluffs. To the 
south.lies the Absaroka, or Yellowstone, range 
from which Mount Baldy—an old time land¬ 
mark—with its almost perpetual snow cap, 
appears to tower above all others. The west¬ 
ern horizon is formed by the more uniform and 
less lofty Belt range. To the northeast is 
seen a circle of rugged peaks that are covered 
with snow during the entire year; these are 
the Crazies. Northwest of the city are the 
Bridger mountains. Just north of the city lim¬ 
its rise high bluffs, from which an excellent 
view of the city can be obtained. 

But it is not alone the natural scenery that 
charms the visitor to Livingston. Here is a 
model town in many respects. The townsite is 
as level as a billiard table; the streets are wide 
and straight. The business section of the city 
is built up almost entirely of brick, while in the 
residence portion are hundreds of handsome 











HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


150 


and substantial homes. Concrete walks cover 
the entire city, and most of the streets are 
parked. The people of Livingston take a 
pride in their city, and the result is that they 
have one of the finest looking towns in the 
northwest. 

As a business point Livingston ranks well 
with the towns of Montana. It is the division 
headquarters of the Northern Pacific railroad, 
and here are located the immense shops, round¬ 
houses and supply stores of that company. The 
payroll of the Northern Pacific at this point 
at the present writing is over $80,000 per 
month. In addition to this large payroll are 
many manufacturing establishments, employ¬ 
ing large forces of men. Livingston is the 
commercial center of a large country devoted 
to mining, farming and stock raising, and all 
roads lead to the county seat. 

The founding of Livingston was a direct 
result of the building of the Northern Pacific 
railroad through this part of the country. 

When the Northern Pacific railroad was 
pushing its way westward through Dakota and 
the Yellowstone valley the construction forces 
were outfitted and maintained in the new and 
comparatively unsettled country by supply 
stores established by the contractors at points 
where there were prospects for the founding of 
permanent settlements or where railroad work 
could be conveniently centralized. Wherever 
these stores were located the floating popula¬ 
tion that followed the construction force would 
make a stand, and towns or camps would 
spring into existence as if by magic. 

On the 14th day of July, 1882, a represen¬ 
tative of Bruns & Kurtz arrived at the settle¬ 
ment with orders to look up a site for the store 
his employers were to establish for the benefit 
of the construction crew, and around which a 
town would naturally spring up. Two days 
later George H. Carver, later one of the lead¬ 
ing business men of the city and for many 
years a prominent figure in Park county poli¬ 



tics, arrived on the ground. He and the rep¬ 
resentative of the construction company pitched 
a tent on the night of the 16th on the present 
site of the city of Livingston—the first habita¬ 
tion in the town. That same day there arrived 
140,000 pounds of merchandise, loaded in 
wagons and drawn by 140 oxen, the property 
of Burns & Kurtz. The store was opened in 
tents on the first day of August, and the first 
business house of the town of Clark City 
(named in honor of Captain William Clark) 
was established. 

The establishment of the “company store” 
was only the beginning. It was only a short 
time until a flourishing town made its appear¬ 
ance. Within ten days the entire encampment 
had moved up from Benson’s Landing, and a 
town sprung up along one street by the river 
nearly parallel with, and conforming somewhat 
to, the present Clark street. Clark City at first 
was composed almost entirely of tents, but 
gradually cheap frame buildings took their 
place. To show what the growth of Clark 
City had been during the few months of the 
summer and fall of 1882, we will say that at 
the November election the town polled 348 
votes for delegate to congress. When the first 
construction train reached this place on the 
first day of December there were here the fol¬ 
lowing business houses: Six general mer¬ 
chandise establishments, two drug stores, two 
hotels, one hardware store, two restaurants, 
two watchmakers, three blacksmiths, two 
wholesale liquor dealers, two meat markets and 
thirty saloons. People who have had any con¬ 
nection with early railroad building in the west 
will realize that the thirty saloons of Clark 
City were not out of proportion to the other 
business houses when compared with other 
camps of that day. 

When the town of Clark City came into 
existence on the bank of the Yellowstone river 
that place was fully 100 miles from the end 
of the railroad and practically out of communi- 




HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


cation with the outside world. So it was un¬ 
known to the citizens of Clark City that the 
officials of the Northern Pacific had marked on 
their maps a town at this place called Livings¬ 
ton, in honor of Crawford Livingston, of St. 
Paul, a director of the Northern Pacific cor¬ 
poration. 

It was not until the month of November, 
1882, that the townsite of Livingston was sur¬ 
veyed for the railroad company by Robert J. 
Perry, and it was on December 21, of the same 
year, that the plat was recorded in the office 
of the clerk and recorder of Gallatin county 
by T. F. Oakes, vice-president of the company. 

The platting of the new townsite was the 
death knell of the town of Clark City. On the 
new site the town was built further to the 
north, in the vicinity of the railroad track. 
Here in the fall and winter of 1882 sprung up 
quite a little town. Now, of course, the sites 
of both cities are included within the city of 
Livingston, but then there was quite an inter¬ 
vening space between the two settlements. 
There was never any question which was to 
be the town, and the business houses of Clark 
City at once began to move to Livingston. 
The removal was not all accomplished in a day, 
and it was late the next summer before the last 
in the old town packed up their belongings and 
became identified with the newer town. Al¬ 
though the railroad company held the lots at 
a high figure, they sold readily, and it was 
estimated in September, 1883, that up to that 
time the company had realized $200,000 from 
the sale of lots. As the construction crews 
moved to the west, a large part of the rough 
element went with them, and the young town 
settled down upon its prosperous career. It 
was announced that Livingston was to become 
the division point and that expensive shops 
were to be located here, insuring the perma¬ 
nency of the town. This had a wholesome ef¬ 
fect, and in the majority of cases good, sub¬ 
stantial buildings were erected. 

On December 19, 1882, there was estab- 


151 


fished the Livingston Gazette, the city’s first 
newspaper. In the first issue was a directory 
of the business and professional men then in 
the city, which was as follows: 

Hotels—Villard House, John P. Nolan; Park Ho¬ 
tel, Fred Sparling; Downen’s Hotel. 

Restaurants—Young’s; The Saddle Rock; Bakery, 
Christopher McGrath. 

General Stores—I. Orchal & Bro., general merchan¬ 
dise ; Geo. A. Carver & Co., general merchandise; C. T. 
Wemecke, grocery; F. A. Krieger, furniture; Wilson 
& Dekay, general merchandise. 

Wholesale Liquors—J. Schreiner; J. Murray & Co. 

Drug Stores—The Pioneer, Wright & Bartlett; 
Bryan & Hofflin. 

Saloons—Bank Exchange; Headquarters Saloon, 
Draper & Lilly; H. Dions; Don. McArthur; Stoel’s 
Billiard Hall; The Exchange, S. L. Beck; Woolsey’s 
Side Board; Wenstrom Bros.; McKenzie’s Saloon. 

Planing Mill—Randall & Davis. 

Carpenters—Myers & Schultze, A. L. Brown, Frank 
Davis. 

Lumber Yard—Dabney Bros. 

Lawyers—J. A. Savage, William Frye. 

Physicians—W. H. A. Campbell, G. W. Grant. 

Theaters—The Palace Varieties, Boge & Martin; 
Arcade Music Hall, Myers & Ryan. 

Miscellaneous—Hoffman & Co., news depot; M. 
B. O’Dell, jeweler; Edward Martin, water wagon and 
draying; James Carroll, blacksmith shop and livery; 
McGugin & Beaman, Livingston and Bozeman express 
line; Nicholas Imo, barber shop and bath rooms; C. 
A. Carson, A. G. Carson and J. W. Allen, Livingston 
Gazette. 

In* this fist were included business men in 
both the old and new towns. Some may have 
been omitted from the Gazette’s fist, but this 
was practically the fist of business and profes¬ 
sional men who wintered in the town. It will 
be noticed that many of the saloons which had 
been here a short time before had departed, 
following the advance of the construction 
crews. 

The year 1883 was a memorable one in the 
history of Livingston. From early in the 
spring until late in the fall all was activity. 
People poured into the new town by the hun¬ 
dreds and all kinds of new enterprises were 
started. From a hamlet of temporary struc- 







HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


152 


tures Livingston advanced in one year to a 
well built city, with over an hundred business 
houses and a population of about two thousand 
people. Its growth was phenomenal; it out¬ 
stripped all its rivals along the line of the 
Northern Pacific. 

The most important factor in the growth 
of Livingston during the year was the building 
of the Northern Pacific shops. 

The effect of this work was immediate and 
lasting. No sooner had the work begun than 
the town began to assume new airs. What 
was left of the old town of Clark City moved 
over to Livingston. All the business men came 
and with them, in many instances, came the 
buildings in which they had been doing busi¬ 
ness. No longer were cheap structures put up; 
now that the permanency of the city was es¬ 
tablished, brick was the principal material used 
for the business houses. The first brick build¬ 
ing was put up in the spring of 1883 by Henry 
Frank, who had been the leading clothier in 
the old town. Most of the new business 
houses erected that year were put up on Main 
street. 

A bank controlled by Stebbins, Mund & 
Co., and managed by A. L. Love, cashier, was 
established early in the year. This was fol¬ 
lowed by the First National Bank, which 
opened in temporary quarters on July 17th. C. 
Livingston was president; M. Fogarty, vice 
president; and the directors were Messrs. Hol¬ 
liday, Donnelly, Pease and Halloran. Busi¬ 
ness houses sprang up by the dozens; the 
saloons were increased in the summer to 39, 
and all did a thriving business, due largely to 
the large number of transient laborers in the 
city. 

One of the first considerations of the peo¬ 
ple of the new city was fire protection, and the 
first steps were taken to organize a company 
on July 10th, when 25 or 30 citizens met at 
the office of Frye & Le Roy. D. F. Buchanan 
presided over the meeting and Harry Heimerd- 
inger was secretary. On July 17th occurred 


the formal organization of a hook and ladder 
company. 

While all this activity in business matters 
was going on educational and religious mat¬ 
ters were not neglected. A good school was 
maintained throughout the school year, al¬ 
though handicapped by want of suitable quar¬ 
ters, which difficulty was remedied the follow¬ 
ing year. 

The first church survice was held in the 
office of Judge Seward, in the old town, on 
the first Sunday in February, 1883. Rev. H. 
C. Simmons, of Fargo, Dakota, Superinten¬ 
dent of the American Home Missionary so¬ 
ciety of the Congregational church for northern 
Dakota and eastern Montana, preached the 
service and there were about 30 present. In 
the evening another service was held in a bag¬ 
gage car near the freight depot, which was 
attended by about 20 persons. On September 
2nd, Rev. Simmons organized a Congrega¬ 
tional church society with nine members and 
the following officers: R. M. Douthitt, deacon; 
Rev. W. E. Archibald, clergyman; Mrs. F. L. 
Mintie, treasurer; F. L. Mintie, G. T. Cham¬ 
bers and G. W. Potter, trustees. A church 
edifice was erected the same fall. But before 
this was completed a Methodist Episcopal 
church had been organized and a handsome 
structure built, the first in the town, at a cost 
of about $5,000. The corner stone of this edi¬ 
fice was laid with appropriate ceremonies July 
25th. Although they did not erect a building 
until several years later, the members of the 
Episcopal church had an Organization in 1883, 
and were ministered to monthly by Rev. Frank 
B. Lewis, of Bozeman, the first service being 
held in May. 

Only one secret society was organized dur¬ 
ing the year. This was Park Lodge No. 7, 
I. O. O. F., which came into existence in May 
with a membership of 12. We shall here break 
into the chronological order of events long 
enough to tell of the formation of all the secret 
societies organized prior to 1890. These with 




HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


153 


their dates of organization and number of 
charter members were as follows: 

Date of Charter 
Organization Members 


Park Lodge No. 7, I. O. O. F. 1883 12 

Farragut Post No. 7, G. A. R. 1884 25 

Livingston Lodge No. 32, A. F. & A. M... 1884 10 

Knights of Labor . 1884 

Chapter of Masons . 1885 15 

Yellowstone Lodge No. 10 K. P.1886 24 

St. Bernard Commandery.1887 13 

Khurum Lodge No. 4, A. & A. S. R. F. M 1888 11 

Scandinavian Society . 1889 


Sometime during the year 1883 the Liv¬ 
ingston Enterprise published a directory of the 
city, in which were 891 names of permanent 
residents. 

The matter of better school facilities was 
taken up early in the year 1884. An election 
was held on February 23rd to decide whether 
or not bonds to the amount of $7,000 should 
be issued for building a school house. The 
voters decided in the affirmative by a vote of 
67 to 4, and in July the contract was let to 
M. V. Broughton for $9,900. Before the fall 
term opened Livingston was supplied with an 
up-to-date and handsome school building. 

The season of rapid growth and feverish 
prosperity which prevailed during the year 
1883 was not lasting, and was followed by 
a reaction. And on August 24, 1884, the First 
National Bank closed its doors, adding to the 
pinch of adversity. 

Notwithstanding the removal of many peo¬ 
ple from the town, the permanent residents 
did not show much of a diminution, as is evi¬ 
denced by the fact that 657 votes were cast 
in the town at the election on November 4, 
1884. 

Misfortune never comes singly. Follow¬ 
ing the reaction of 1884 came a year of dis¬ 
asters from fire. All these things coming to¬ 
gether were enough to break the spirit of most 
any community, but in Livingston they only 
stirred the people to greater activity. 

The first of the series of fires came on 


Saturday, May 2, 1885. This was the small¬ 
est one and resulted in the loss of only $15,000. 
Covered by $7,200 insurance. 

The next fire came on August 4th, bring¬ 
ing a loss of $17,850, covered by only $3,450 
insurance. Sixteen buildings were destroyed, 
being those first erected in the town after the 
removal from Clark City. 

The most disastrous of these fires started 
about 2 130 o’clock on the morning of Monday, 
November 30th. An entire block on Main 
street in the business center of the town was 
. entirely destroyed, causing an aggregate loss 
of nearly $70,000, covered by about one-third 
of that amount of insurance. The fire was a 
stubborn one, and it looked for a time as 
though the whole town was doomed. The 
old fire company had gone out of business, and 
there was no organization in fighting the 
flames. Great excitement prevailed; large 
stocks of goods were removed from the threat¬ 
ened stores and handled with such reckless¬ 
ness that they might better have perished in 
the fire. The fire was undoubtedly the work 
of an incendiary. 

All three of these fires were believed to 
have been of incendiary origin, but nothing 
more than suspicion could be traced to the 
guilty parties. Some of the people of Living¬ 
ston took it upon themselves to see that incen- 
diaryism ceased, and one December morning 
the town was found to be chalked with the well 
known sign of the vigilantes—3-7-77. An or¬ 
ganization had been quickly formed, who sent 
out warnings to all the “tough” element of 
the town, ordering them to leave by a certain 
time. Many left without further urging; 
others stayed. A band of masked men, armed 
with rifles, waited upon those who remained, 
and by persuasive argument with a rope suc¬ 
ceeded in determining all that Livingston was 
no place for them. 

Other measures were adopted to prevent 
disastrous damage from the fiery element. In 
December money was raised by subscription 











154 


HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


to buy fire fighting apparatus. There were no 
water mains in the city at that time, but the 
people did the best under the circumstances; 
they organized a fire company, and bought 
buckets, ladders, etc., with which to fight the 
lurid leveler. 

Just as the little city was begining to re¬ 
vive from the setbacks of the previous fires, 
fate sent another fatality, seemingly for the 
purpose of destroying renewed hope and fort¬ 
itude on the part of the citizens. This fire 
occured Sunday evening, May 23, 1886, when 
damage to the amount of $37,000 was done 
to buildings and stocks on Main street, while 
insurance was $20,400. t 

These fires, all within a year’s time, had the 
effect of marring the beauty of the town and 
for the time being of demoralizing business. 
But they were not lasting disasters. After 
each fire the people set about rebuilding, in 
many instances much more substantial struct¬ 
ures than those that were destroyed. This de¬ 
termination to stay with the town was born of 
a knowledge that its resources were ample. 

During 1886 about $100,000 was spent in 
building improvements, including the erection 
of eleven brick business blocks. 

The years 1887 and 1888 were prosperous 
ones for Livingston—particularly the latter. 
There was no boom, but a healthy growth. 
During the summer of 1888 there were over 
100 residences erected. 

The town had now advanced to such pro¬ 
portions that it was decided to again under¬ 
take incorporation, and this time it was success¬ 
fully accomplished. 

Although about 350 were entitled to vote 
at this election, only 86 took advantage of the 
privilege, the result being 46 votes in favor of 
incorporation and 40 against. The small 
number of votes cast was a matter of much sur¬ 
prise, as the question was one of great import¬ 
ance and interest to everybody and had been 
thoroughly discussed by all citizens. The En¬ 


terprise thus explains the paradox: “The 

only way that we can account for the small 
ballot cast is the general feeling of indecision 
on the part of the voters as to whether it 
were better to incorporate or not. Many of 
our most prominent business men acknowl¬ 
edged that they were on the fence in the mat¬ 
ter, and it is known that several who were the 
most prominent in the opposition changed their 
minds at the last hour and voted for it, and 
vice versa.” 

An order declaring Livingston an incor¬ 
porated city of the second class was made by 
the county board December 3, and on the 15th 
provision was made for a special election to 
be held Saturday, January 26, 1889, for the 
purpose of electing city officers. The city was 
divided into three wards, and judges and clerks 
of the election were appointed. 

Party lines were not drawn at this initial 
election. A caucus was held, at which a ticket 
was nominated. No other ticket was put in 
the field, but several independent candidates 
asked the suffrage of the people, and two of 
them were elected. Four hundred and seventy- 
seven votes were cost, divided among three 
precincts as follows: First ward, 1 53 > second 
ward, 109; third ward,- 215. Two aldermen 
were elected from each ward. 

The first meeting of the city council was 
held on Thursday, January 31, 1889. 

While 1888 had been a prosperous year 
for Livingston, the next year distanced it com¬ 
pletely. The Enterprise stated that the growth 
of the town that year for permanency had been 
unparalleled in the history of Montana. Over 
$350,000 was expended in improvements. 
Among the important events of the year was 
the establishment of an electric lighting system. 
The Livingston Electric Light company was 
incorporated in June, with a capital stock of 
$25,000, all held by Livingston men. The 
company began the erection of its power house 
October 15, and on December 23 the lights 




HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


155 


were turned on. Eight arc lights and 150 in- 
candescents was the patronage of the company 
at the beginning. 

At the regular annual election held April 
29, 1889, all the nominees of the citizens’ cau¬ 
cus were elected. The vote of this election is 
not available. 

Among the other improvements of the year 
1890 was the installation of a system of water 
works by the Livingston Waterworks company. 

Notwithstanding the marked financial de¬ 
pression throughout the country in 1891, the 
growth of Livingston was not retarded. 

The campaign preceding the annual elec¬ 
tion of April 13, 1891, was enlivened by the en¬ 
trance of a third party “Citizens.” The mem¬ 
bers of that organization held a convention and 
placed a ticket in the field, most of the nomi¬ 
nees being those of one or the other of the old 
parties. The “Citizens” movement had but 
little effect upon the result. The Republicans 
elected mayor, marshal, treasurer, clerk and 
attorney and one alderman; the Democrats 
elected two aldermen; an Independent and 
Citizens nominee was elected police magistrate. 
Seven hundred and forty-five votes were cast. 

During the year 1893 a handsome new 
school building was erected in Livingston. 

The year of the panic, 1893, was a hard 
one for Livingston, as it was for nearly every 
town in the United States. It was marked by 
numerous business failures and a period of 
extreme hard times. The first disaster was 
the failure of the Livingston National Bank, 
which closed its doors July 7. This caused a 
loss of upwards of $70,000 by the business men 
of Livingston and cast a gloom over the whole 
business life of the city. The Merchants Bank 
failed July 27, and this disaster was followed 
July 31 by the closing of the National Park 
Bank, the last banking institution in the city 
and Park county. It reopened on Septembei 
25, of the same year, but the results of its 
failure at the time being were disastrous. Fol¬ 
lowing these bank failures several business 


houses went into bankruptcy. The business of 
the city was at a standstill, and complete re¬ 
covery from the depression did not occur for 
several years. 

The month of June, 1894, was replete with 
interesting events. It marked the beginning of 
the great railroad strike, the story of which 
we have told in the preceding chapter; the 
overflowing of the Yellowstone river upon a 
portion of the town, and the inundating of the 
greater part of the rest of the town as a re¬ 
sult of a cloudburst. 

On Monday, June 4, the river reached a 
height of eight feet, ten inches, on the gauge 
board on the Main street bridge, the highest 
point ever recorded. The water in many places 
overflowed the banks and inundated the bot¬ 
tom lands on both sides of the stream. Di¬ 
rectly opposite the city the water flowed 
out over McLeod’s island for a distance of 
several hundred yeards, but did little damage 
except to wash out several small bridges on 
the Island road. About twelve o’clock on the 
day the water was the highest the dyke along 
the north bank of the river, which had been put 
in to protect property in Riverside addition, 
broke at I street and flooded all that portion of 
Riverside addition as far north as Lewis street. 
Houses in that locality to the number of 25 or 
30 were surrounded by water, which rose to a 
height of two to six feet. So suddenly did the 
flood burst upon the residents of that locality 
that it was with difficulty that they and their 
household goods were removed to places of 
safety. Several boats were quickly constructed 
to reach those whose houses were cut off from 
wagon transportation by the deep water, and 
before night all had been rescued from the in- 
nundated district. The greatest damage was 
the destruction of gardens, and that loss was 
almost total, causing a serious hardship to 
several who depended almost entirely upon this 
resource as a means of livelihood. Only by 
strenuous efforts was the Main street bridge 
saved from going out, great cargoes of trees 






HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


156 


and timbers from other bridges which had 
gone out being forced down against it with 
terrible force. The river remained at a high 
point until the 8th, when it began to recede, 
and all danger was past. 

On the 5th the town was visited by a de¬ 
structive flood, resulting from cloudbursts both 
north and south of the city. Preceded by a 
rain of two hours the cloudbursts came almost 
simultaneously, one in the hills north of the 
city and the other on the plateau across the 
river. Within an almost incredibly short time 
the gulches north of the city were converted 
into raging torrents that poured their contents 
down the hillside. The sweeping waters came 
directly toward the Northern Pacific railroad, 
striking it near Yellowstone street. The 
track temporarily diverted the flood east¬ 
ward along Front street and the com¬ 
pany’s right of way. The track at Yel¬ 
lowstone street was about three feet above the 
level of the street, but it offered only moment¬ 
ary resistance to the flood, which, was soon 
sweeping over it and converting Park street 
into a rushing stream. The water found its 
way eastward along that thoroughfare, pre¬ 
senting the appearance of a wall of moving 
water. Within a few minutes it reached the 
business portion of the city, filling every base¬ 
ment and cellar as it proceeded on its way to 
find an outlet into the river. At two points 
where the flood washed over the track the 
grade gave way and left the ties and rails with¬ 
out support for a distance of twenty or thirty 
feet. On the north side of the track another 
stream, several hundred feet in width, found 
its way eastward, carrying with it sidewalks 
and crossings, finally reaching the Northern 
Pacific shops, which were flooded to a depth of 
two feet. The flood lasted half an hour, when 
the water began to recede. It disappeared al¬ 
most as rapidly as it had accumulated. The 
damage to the railroad company was several 
thousand dollars and that to the business 
houses in the city fully as much. The cloud¬ 


burst south of the city did no damage in Liv¬ 
ingston, although it wrought havoc on some 
of the nearby ranches. Debris of all kinds was 
left in the streets and alleys. 

For ten years after the series of fires end¬ 
ing in May, 1886, Livingston was without a 
disastrous conflagration. On January 31, 
1896, the Livingston opera house and some 
other property was destroyed by fire. The loss 
to Mr. C. S. Hefferlin, the owner of the opera 
house, was $30,000, covered by $22,800 in¬ 
surance. The losses of other parties were small. 

Again in 1896 the question of the building 
of a city hall was a live one. At the election 
April 6 the proposition to bond the city in the 
sum of $10,000 met the approval of the people 
by a vote of 320 to 119. The building was 
completed that year, and has ever since been 
the home of the city officials. 

On September 27, 1897, fire destroyed 
$12,000 worth of property. There were three 
other small fires in the same week, all the 
probable work of an incendiary. 

By 1898 Livingston had entirely recovered 
from the effect of the hard times, and during 
that year the town made its first real advance¬ 
ment since the panic of 1893. The Northern 
Pacific shops were enlarged, requiring the ser¬ 
vices of quite a force of workmen. Among 
the other improvements was the building of a 
flouring mill, covering an investment of about 
$14,000, and many residences. Among the 
events of the year were two fires. The first of 
these occurred June 27, when the dry goods 
store of Lee Eisenberg was destroyed, entail¬ 
ing a loss of about $23,000. The second fire 
was on July 24, when the plant of the Livings¬ 
ton Water Power company was destroyed, en¬ 
tailing a loss of many thousands of dollars. 

The federal census of 1900 gave Living¬ 
ston a population of 2,778, a loss of 72 since 
the census of 1890. Although the hard times 
period had resulted disastrously for the town 
it was not believed by the people that there 
had been a loss in the ten years, and that loose 





HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


!5 7 


methods had been employed in making the 
census. 

Great interest centered in a special election 
held January 25, 1900, to decide the question 
of having the city purchase the plant of the 
Livingston Electric Light and Waterworks 
company for $100,000. The campaign was 
an exciting one and the proposition was de¬ 
feated by a vote of 128 to 194. Another spe¬ 
cial election that year was held for the pur¬ 
pose of obtaining the sentiment of the people 
of Park county regarding the establishment of 
a county high school at Livingston. The vote 
of the county was 479 in favor of the school 
an d 335 against. The high school was at once 
established and became one of the permanent 
institutions of Livingston. 

The year 1901 marked the beginning of 
a new era in the history of Livingston. More 
money was spent in permanent improvements 
that year than during any previous year of 
the town’s history, not excepting the boom 
year 1883. This activity was started by the 
announcement of the Northern Pacific com¬ 
pany that big improvements would be made 
in its shops that year. This announcement by 
the railroad officials caused a contagious build¬ 
ing fever, and in less than a month after .the 
shops were an assured fact business blocks 
were in course of construction in every part 
of the business center of the town. This was 
followed by the erection of residences, and 
building operations were carried on to an ex¬ 
tent never before witnessed in the city. The 
addition to the shops resulted in the expendi¬ 
ture of nearly $250,000, and late in the year 
the railroad officials announced that the fol¬ 
lowing year the company intended putting up 
a new depot that would cost in the neighbor¬ 
hood of $125,000 more. Among the principal 
business blocks erected in 1901 was the post- 
office block, erected by A. W. Miles at a cost 
of many thousand dollars. 

The extensive building operations of 1901 
were continued the following year. The new 


depot was completed at a total cost of $125,- 
000, and the construction of the new shops 
had the finishing touches put upon them that 
year. With the completion of these began the 
steady employment of about 200 additional 
men. The payroll of the railroad company 
alone for the year 1902 averaged $45,000 
monthly. In its issue of December 27th the 
Enterprise said concerning the building opera¬ 
tions of the year: 

“Real estate values in Livingston have 
reached a figure never attained before except 
in the boom days of 1888-89. In Livingston 
there has been a large amount of building. 
Residences and business houses to the value of 
at least $100,000 have been erected during the 
year, and the railroad company has invested 
$250,000 in buildings alone. It is not sur¬ 
prising in view of this state of things that Liv¬ 
ingston real estate has considerable backbone 
and that rents are higher and houses scarce.” 

Fire again visited Livingston on Novem¬ 
ber 5, 1903, when the business part of the city 
was damaged to the amount of $25,000. On 
November 29th of the same year the electric 
lighting plant was destroyed, causing a loss of 
$15,000. 

February 13, 1904, a special election was 
held in Park county for the purpose of voting 
on the proposition to bond the county for 
$25,000 to erect and equip a high school build¬ 
ing at Livingston, the quarters then in use 
being inadequate. The bonding proposition 
carried by a vote of 417 to 159, the vote of 
Livingston carrying the day, the outside pre¬ 
cincts being almost unanimously against the 
plan. The high school building was completed 
in December at a total cost of about $30,000. 

The most expensive fire in the city’s his¬ 
tory occurred February 29, 1904, when the 
postoffice block was entirely destroyed and the 
various business and professional men who 
occupied rooms and offices in the building lost 
all their possessions therein. The fire started 
from electric light wires. The wind was blow- 









HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


158 


ing a gale at the time of the fire, and it was 
very fortunate that the greater part of the city 
was not destroyed. It was only by the heroic 
work of the firemen that the flames were con¬ 
fined to the one block. The total loss was 
nearly $130,000, covered by about one-half 
the amount of insurance. Mr. A. W. Miles, 
the owner of the block, at once commenced re¬ 
building. The loss and insurance were $129,- 
806 and $62,150 respectively. 

The people of Livingston had never been 
satisfied with the population given them by 
the federal census of 1900, and in July, 1904, 
another census was taken, under the direction 
of the city council. The enumerators listed 
4,474 residents of the city. The result of this 
census could be nothing but gratifying to the 
people of Livingston. Conceding the federal 
census to be correct, the city had gained in 
four years 1,696 inhabitants. 

The year 1904 was a prosperous- one, and 
there was considerable building done. Among 
other things was the erection of the handsome 
Carnegie library. 

The election April 4, 1904, for the election 
of aldermen developed into an exciting con¬ 
test at the last moment. Two Republicans and 
one Democrat were elected. The Socialists 
polled a large vote but as usual were unsuccess¬ 
ful in electing a candidate. Seven hundred 
and one votes were polled, the largest vote in 
years. 

Livingston was again visited by a cloud¬ 
burst flood Thursday afternoon, June 8, 1905, 
the worst flood in the city’s history, resulting 
in the loss of thousands of dollars worth of 
property. The flood left the beautiful graded 
and cemented streets of Livingston a broad 
expanse of filth and slime, of sand bars and 
boulder piles, of forsaken water channels—a 
dumping ground for debris of every descrip¬ 
tion that found its final lodging place on va¬ 
cant lots, in gutters and alleys, and against the 
sides of business blocks. 

It had rained the previous night, but by 


noon of the 8th the air was sultry, and at 4130 
in the afternoon it was stifling. Then came 
the welcome rain, followed by hail of enorm¬ 
ous size. Probably half an hour after this had 
passed away parties on Park street noticed a 
moving object on the hillside west of the city, 
many mistaking it for a band of sheep, and in 
less time than it takes to describe it a seething, 
surging mass of water and hail five feet high, 
swept down the gulch by the old pest house, 
crossed the track at the head of Fifth street 
and rushed with the swiftness of a hurricane 
into the business heart of the city. From 
then until darkness men worked as they 
had never worked before, trying to save 
the property of themselves and others 
from destruction. Each minute seemed 
to increase the volume of water, and had a 
hundred reservoirs been tapped in as many 
different directions their supplies could notf: 
have found more difficult avenues of escape. 
With a force that was truly appalling it swept 
into the heart of the city, while its exit was as 
sudden as though an unseen power had been 
directing its course and timing its duration. 
At five o’clock a wall of water five feet high 
rushed across a flat toward the city; in less 
than an hour a tiny ditch that would hardly 
have answered the purpose of an irrigating 
lateral was all that remained to mark its en¬ 
trance. 

The municipal election of 1905 was one of 
the most hotly contested in the political history 
of. the city. There had been, and still was, a 
fight over the granting of city franchises, and 
the contest was bitter between the two leading 
parties for the control of the city council. All 
three parties had complete tickets in the field. 
The Republicans elected mayor, police magis¬ 
trate and two aldermen, while the Democrats 
elected treasurer and one alderman. This left 
the city council with four Republicans and two 
Democrats. There were polled 959 votes, 
which was over 200 more than had ever been 
cast in the city before in a municipal election. 







HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


During the last few years Livingston has 
made great progress along all lines. It has 
grown in population until it is today a city of 
about 5,000 people. It is gradually throwing 
off the ways of the country town and assuming 
metropolitan airs. It has free mail delivery 
and many of the other conveniences that desig¬ 
nate the city from the town. Its concrete walks 
make it the most thoroughly advertised town 
in Montana in that respect. In May, 1906, 
over nine miles of the walk had been laid and 
the contracts were let at that time for several 
miles more, covering practically the whole 
town. It was alleged that on the above date 
the city had more miles of cement walk than 
all the other cities of Montana put together. 
Another much needed improvement made dur¬ 
ing the year 1906 was the beginning of a new 
sewerage system. At a special election August 
14th the voters gave their consent to the issu¬ 
ance of $25,000 bonds for this purpose by a 
vote of 69 to 62. 

Livingston has six church societies as fol¬ 
lows : Methodist Episcopal, Congregational, 
Episcopal, Catholic, Baptist and Adventist. 

Its lodges and secret organizations are: 

G. A. R.—Farragut Post, No. 7. 

_ A. O. U.W.—National Park Lodge, No. 10. 

B. P. O. E.—Livingston Lodge, No. 246. 

B. A. Y. (Brotherhood American Yeomen) 
—Tourist Homestead, No. 474. 

C. O. F. (Catholic Order Foresters)—Yel¬ 
lowstone Park Court, No. 1491. 

F. B. (Fraternal Brotherhood)—Livings¬ 
ton Lodge. 


159 


F. O. E.—Aerie, No. 273. 

I. O. O. F.—Park Lodge, No. 17. 

K. O. T. M. 

K. T.—Livingston Chapter Rose Croix, 
No. 2. Livingston Council Kadosh, No. 1. 
Particular Consistory for Eastern Montana. 
K. P.—Yellowstone Lodge, No. 10. 

M- W. A.—Silver Tip Camp, No. 5765. 

O. D. H. S. (Order der Hermann Soehne) 
—Moltke Lodge, No. 9. 

Royal Highlanders—Castle Mt. Baldy. 

W. O. W.—Zephyr Camp, No. 151. 
Women of Woodcraft—Cottonwood Cir¬ 
cle, No. 197. 

Livingston is a strong union town, no less 
than thirteen unions having an existence. 
These are as follows: 

Cigarmakers International Union. Local 
Union, No. 312. 

United Brotherhood of Carpenters and 
Joiners of America. Local Union, No. 1085. 

Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators and 
Paperhangers of America. Local Union, No. 
351 - 

Livingston Typographical Union, No. 489. 
Brotherhood Locomotive Engineers. 

Order Railway Conductors. 

Brotherhood Locomotive Firemen. 
Brotherhood Railway Trainmen. 
Switchmen’s Union. 

Boilermakers’ and Iron Workers’ Union. 
International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths. 
International Association of Machinists. 
Brotherhood Railway Carmen. 










i6o 


HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


CHAPTER IV 


OTHER 

GARDINER. 

Ranking second in importance among the 
towns of Park county is Gardiner, a village of 
some 300 or 400 people situated in the extreme 
southern part of the county on the line separ¬ 
ating Park county from the Yellowstone Na¬ 
tional Park, at an elevation of 5,286 feet above 
sea level. It is the terminus of the Park branch 
of the Northern Pacific railroad, 54 miles 
south of Livingston. Here is located the re¬ 
cently completed stone arch designating the 
official entrance* to the National Park. Through 
this arch and the town of Gardiner yearly pass 
thousands of tourists on their way to the land 
of wonders. While the little town derives 
some profit from these thousands of tourists, 
its support come principally from the surround¬ 
ing country, it being the outfitting point for 
the mines of Bear and Crevice gulches. The 
town is substantially built and has a number 
of business houses, among the enterprises be¬ 
ing a bank and a newspaper. In the line of pub¬ 
lic improvements are a waterworks and electric 
lighting system, Gardiner being one of the 
smallest towns in the country boasting of these 
modern improvements. 

The town takes its name from Gardiner 
river, which empties into the Yellowstone near 
the town. The identity of the individual for 
whom the river was named was long in doubt, 
and has been definitely settled only within the 
last few years. His name was Johnson Gard¬ 
ner, and he was one of the so-called free trap¬ 
pers who hunted over the upper Missouri and 
Yellowstone countries in the first half of the 
nineteenth century. Chittenden says of Gard¬ 
ner : “There are extant articles of agreement 


TOWNS. 

between him and Kenneth McKenzie, the bour¬ 
geois in charge of the American Fur compa¬ 
ny’s post at Fort Union, relating to equipment 
and furs for the year 1832. There are also 
a statement of Gardner’s account at Fort Un¬ 
ion in the summer of 1832, and a bill of lad¬ 
ing of furs shipped on the bull boat Antoine 
from the‘Crossing of the Yellowstone’July 18, 
of the same year.” The same authority de¬ 
clares that this is undoubtedly the same indi¬ 
vidual for whom Gardiner river was named, 
and says that the discrepancy in the spelling 
has no significance. The first certain refer¬ 
ence to both stream and name, placing the 
identity of each beyond dispute, occurs in a let¬ 
ter from Father DeSmet, the pioneer mission¬ 
ary to Montana, dated January 20, 1852. 

Gardiner came into existence in the spring of 
1883. When construction of the Park branch 
of the Northern Pacific began that spring it 
was announced that the line would be built tc 
the northern boundary of the park, at a point 
where the Gardiner river enters the Yellow¬ 
stone. This was enough to set the aggressive 
town builders of the time at work planning for 
a town at this point, and in May a town sprang 
into existence. As there was no sawn timber 
available, the town consisted of tents, with the 
exception of three or four log shacks. By the 
first of June the town boasted of a population 
only a trifle below 200, and the following busi¬ 
ness houses were already represented: Twenty- 
one saloons, six restaurants, five general mer¬ 
chandise stores, two hardware stores, two fruit 
stands, two barber shops, one news stand, one 
billiard hall, one blacksmith shop and one milk¬ 
man. About this time A. G. Topliff arrived 
on the scene with a sawmill plant and began 







ENTRANCE ARCH TO YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK 

















HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


the manufacture of lumber, so that before the 
summer was over the town began to assume a 
more substantial appearance. 

The building of this flourishing little town 
was, of course, the result of the announcement 
that it was to be the terminus of the Park 
branch. But before the railroad was com¬ 
pleted complications arose which delayed the 
completion of the road to Gardiner twenty 
years. This was brought about by a dispute 
over the ownership of the townsite. 

When it was first determined to build the 
Park branch Ed. Stone, representing the 
Northern Pacific railway, brought the squat¬ 
ter’s claim to the land upon which the town was 
afterwards built. The claim was “jumped” by a 
man named Cutler, or as he was commonly 
called “Buckskin Jim.” The contest for thepos- 
ession of the townsite was taken to the courts, 
but before it could be threshed out there the 
line was fast nearing completion. The road 
was graded into the town, but it was rumored 
that the rail laying would stop about three or 
four miles from this point unless some ar¬ 
rangement could be made for securing clear 
title to the townsite. The people of the new 
town felt that this would be fatal to their in¬ 
terests, and that already the unsettled condition 
of the title had been a serious detriment to the 
town’s prosperity. They therefore set about 
in a systematic manner to bring the dispute to 
a close. Meetings of the citizens were held in 
July, .and every endeavor was put forth to in¬ 
duce “Buckskin Jim” to release his claim upon 
the land, with the intention of presenting the 
land to the railroad comoany. 

But all efforts were in vain, and when the 
last rail was laid on the road on the 30th day 
of August it was at a point which became 
known as Cinnabar, and not at Gardiner. The 
rumors to the effect that the Northern Pacific 
would not build to Gardiner unless the title 
to the townsite was secured were substantiated. 

It was a serious blow to the people who had 
invested their money in Gardiner. Some 
ir 


moved to the new town of Cinnabar; while 
others remained in the hopes that the troubles 
would be speedily settled and that Gardiner 
would yet become the terminus. Of course 
there was no advancement in the little town 
after this event, but such was the faith of the 
people in an ultimate success that many re¬ 
mained and conducted their business at a loss. 
These ruefully cast their eyes over the three 
or four miles of expanse which separated them 
from the railroad, gazed upon the columns of 
smoke arising from the engines, and prayed 
that some day the railroad would build to their 
town. , ,, 

In November, 1883, it became known that 
a patent to the townsite, which had been filed 
upon by Mr. Stone as a desert claim, had been 
granted and that “Buckskin Jim” had lost out. 
As Stone was in the employ of the railroad 
company at the time, it was taken for granted 
that the company now became the owner and 
that the railroad would be extended at an early 
date. Despite the fact that Cinnabar had be¬ 
come the terminus, that town did not grow to 
the proportions expected and Gardiner really 
remained the trading center for the upper 
country. 

In the spring of 1884 it was believed that 
the longed-for extension was about to be made.* 
It was believed that the railroad company now 
had possession of the townsite or that the title 
was ready to be turned over to it. But this 
•transaction did not eventuate. Disputes arose 
between the railroad company and Mr. Stone, 
and that gentleman did not make over the deed, 
although it was currently believed in Gardi¬ 
ner that the railroad was the real owner of the 
property. Isaac D. McCutcheon, of Helena, 
became Mr. Stone’s agent, and on March 30,- 
1886, he platted the townsite, it being recorded 
in the office of the clerk and recorder of Gal¬ 
latin county on that date. In the fall of the 
same year suit was brought in the United 
States district court at Bozeman by the rail¬ 
road company against Messrs. Stone and Me- 








HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


162 


Cutcheon to obtain a decree declaring the de¬ 
fendants to be trustees for the plaintiff in the 
matter of the Gardiner townsite and asking 
for an accounting by the defendants of receipts 
on account of the same. 

It was a long time before the title was 
cleared, and the litigation was a great draw¬ 
back to the advancement of the town. A 
Gardiner correspondent writing in May, 1888,' 
said: “Owing to the squabble and jumpings, 
which have taken place over the present Gardi¬ 
ner townsite, we are uncertain about the title 
of town lots, and almost worse than that, have 
persumably for the same reason failed to have 
a railroad nearer than three miles.” 

So the town struggled on during the 
eighties, having a population of one or two 
hundred people and supporting fifteen or 
twenty business houses. The people found that 
it was not necessary to be a railroad town. 
It was at the entrance of the National Park, 
and tourists were forced to pass through the 
place on their way to and from the park. From 
this source the town drew some revenue. Then, 
during the summer seasons when there was 
work being done in the park, this point became 
the headquarters of the laborers. Neighbor¬ 
ing mining camps were also outfitting from 
this point. The location was a suitable one for 
a town and the fact that the railroad passed it 
up did not remove the town. 

On Saturday, August 31, 1889, Gardiner 
was as near totally destroyed by fire as any 
town ever was, only eight buildings being left 
after the fire had burned itself out. The blaze 
started in the saloon of Crowell & Lewis from 
some unknown cause at thirty miutes after 
noon. When the alarm was given the fire had 
•gained such headway in the extremely dry lum¬ 
ber that it soon got beyond control and swept 
everything in its path. A brisk breeze was 
blowing, and within an hour the entire town 
was a smouldering ruin, the only exceptions 
being the buildings of S. M. Fitzgerald, J. C. 
McCartney, D. P. Emmons, Frank Cramer, J. 


Hofer, James Parker, the school house and the 
jail. Owing to the fact that insurance rates 
were very high and risks difficult to place, very 
little insurance was carried, and the loss, very 
nearly $50,000 was total. 

This distruction of the town did not dis¬ 
hearten the people who had made their homes 
there for the last six years. With the indomit¬ 
able pluck characteristic of the west they set 
about rebuilding the town, and during the re¬ 
building times were quite lively. 

During the early nineties very little oc¬ 
curred out in the ordinary. In the summer of 
1895 there was quite a boom in the little place. 
Several new business houses were put up, and 
numerous residences were built. Among the 
other improvements was the installation of a 
water works system, put in by John Spiker. 
A correspondent stated that during the sum¬ 
mer there had been more substantial improve¬ 
ments than for any previous twelve months 
since the founding of the town. 

The next period of importance in the his¬ 
tory of the town began with the year 1902, at 
which time we find Gardiner a town of about 
250 people. In May of that year it was defin¬ 
itely announced that the Park branch would be 
extended to Gardiner, and the next month 
trains were running into the town which for 
so long a time had anxiously awaited the event. 
The railroad company and the townsite owners 
seemed destined to have trouble. When the 
road was completed a dispute arose between 
the two concerns, and as a result no depot or 
yards were built. These differences were set¬ 
tled in November, and the work was at once 
commenced on one of the most unique and 
handsome depots anywhere in the country. 

The completion of the three miles of rail¬ 
road caused quite a boom in Gardiner. New 
business houses began operations there, and 
the population increased. This activity con¬ 
tinued the following year, and during the sum¬ 
mer buildings were going up all over town. 
The special pride of the people was the new 






HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


depot, which was completed in the spring. The 
entrance arch to the park was also completed 
that year, the corner stone being laid by Pres¬ 
ident Theodore Roosevelt. 

In June, 1903, Gardiner became ambitious, 
and decided to incorporate as a city, but the 
movement failed. 

ELECTRIC. 

Electric is a little village on the Park 
branch, 49 miles south of Livingston, situated 
at an elevation of 5,185 feet above the sea 
level. It is the site of the coke ovens of the 
Montana Coke and Coal company, and about 
400 men are employed here by that company. 
There is one general store, which is operated 
by the company. The village takes its name 
from the mountain of the same name, which 
is situated on the line between Park county 
and the National Park, the highest peak in the 
park or the immediate vicinity. 

From the time of the founding of the vil¬ 
lage up to the year 1904 it was known as Horr, 
The name was bestowed upon it in honor of 
either Harry Horr, the discoverer of the coal 
mines in the vicinity, or Major Jos. L. Horr, 
who in 1884 opened up the coal mines. The 
village came into existence in 1888 as a result 
of the commencement of operations there by 
the Park Coal & Coke company. The coke 
burning was not on as extensive a scale as it 
now is, and in December, 1888, a correspon¬ 
dent boasted of having only about 100 inhab¬ 
itants in the camp, and among these were 
twenty children. On July 1st the Horr post- 
office was opened with Laura A. Pinkston as 
postmistress. The establishment of this of¬ 
fice proved to be a great convenience to the 
people of the little camp, who before had de¬ 
pended upon Gardiner for their mail facilities. 
The company built about fifty neat white cot¬ 
tages for the workmen and also the necessary 
warehouses and stores. 

The town of Horr did not enjoy a con- 


163 


tinuous existence. Owing to troubles of one 
nature or another the works of the coal and 
coke company were closed part of the time, 
and as the town depended entirely upon this 
company, when the mines and ovens closed the 
population of the town dwindled to almost 
nothing. During the nineties the Montana 
Coal & Coke company became the owners of 
the property. During the year 1900 quite 
rapid advancement was made in the little vil¬ 
lage owing to the activity of the company. 
Mining and coke burning was carried on on 
a larger scale and as a result more men were 
employed. A fire on February 14, 1904, de¬ 
stroyed the store and saloon of the Montana 
Coal & Coke company, entailing a loss of 
about $20,000. The change in the name of 
the postoffice and town was made in the sum¬ 
mer of 1904. There have been a number of 
strikes by the employes of the company at this 
point and at Aldridge, the last one occurring 
during the closing days of 1906. Matters were 
satisfactorily adjusted early in 1907, and the 
works are again in full blast. 

ALDRIDGE. 

Two miles from Electric is the village of 
Aldridge, where are located the coal mines of 
the Montana Coal and Coke company. Here 
is to be found a village of about 400 people, 
nearly all engaged in mining coal. There are 
two general stores, three saloons, a hotel, meat 
market and a school house. There is daily 
stage and mail to the railroad at Electric. 

The town, which came into existence some 
time after the establishment of Electric, or 
Horr, was named after Mr. Aldridge, one of 
the directors of the Montana Coal & Coke 
company. The village was started in the 
spring of 1896, and in 1898 a townsite was 
platted by the state of Montana, per H. D. 
Moore, register of the state land office, under 
direction of the state board of land commis¬ 
sioners. As both Electric and Aldridge de- 












164 


HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


pend for their existence upon the Montana 
Coal & Coke company, their histories are some¬ 
what similar. Aldridge is the company’s coal 
mining town and Electric is its coke burning 
town. 

COOKE. 

In the southeastern part of Park county, 
just outside of the Yellowstone National Park, 
is the mining town of Cooke (formerly known 
as Cooke City), the oldest existing town in the 
county. As the crow flies, the camp is about 
35 miles due east of Gardiner, but as the stage 
between these two points goes, through the 
northern part of the park, the distance is about 
60 miles. The town depends entirely upon the 
mines in the New World mining district and 
the population varies from a few dozen to a 
few hundred according to the activity of min¬ 
ing and smelting operations. There are two 
smelters here and two steam sawmills. The 
business houses of the town consist of three 
general stores, two hotels, two saloons, two 
livery stables and a meat market. 

In a former chapter we have told of the 
discovery and early history of mining in this 
vicinity in the seventies, when a smelter was 
erected at this point by a company of Bozeman 
men and a run made in 1877. The place was 
not then known as Cooke City, however. Prior 
to the ratification, of the Crow treaty in April, 
1882, the county in which Cooke City was 
located was a part of the Crow reservation, 
and white men had no legal right upon those 
lands. But the knowledge that the precious 
metal was to be found here in abundance 
caused quite a number of prospectors to come 
into the Clark’s Fork district, as the whole of 
that country was then known. By 1880 there 
were several score upon the ground and that 
year the town came into existence. 

The prospectors who were then gathered 
upon the site of the present town of Cooke 
were jubilant, the surface showing sufficient 
to make the most skeptical go wild with the 


dreams of wealth. All were in high hopes and 
living in expectancy of great things for the 
future. The year 1880 was an important one 
in the history of the camp, for it brought about 
the bonding of the Republic group of claims 
to Jay Cooke, Jr., and associates, with a 
promise of active operations on the claim with 
untold fortunes back of the work. On the 
arrival of the Jay Cooke party the hospitality 
of the little company of prospectors were ex¬ 
tended. The snow, which had been eight or 
ten feet deep over the Republic group, was 
shoveled away that the veins might be shown. 
There were immense bodies of the argentifer¬ 
ous ore in sight, and on the dumps were 
several hundreds tons of $100 per ton ore 
corded up at the entrance to the tunnels. 

During the time the eastern party were in 
camp a meeting of the miners was held, at 
which time the name Cooke City was given 
to the camp, in honor of the man who had 
just invested in the Republic claims. The name 
was selected by a unanimous vote. Mr. Cooke 
who was present at the meeting, thanked the 
people for the honor and stated that he was 
gratefully affected by the good will extended 
to him and his party, and that his endeavors 
would be for the future welfare of the camp. 
The party then left with the promise to do all 
in their power to have a railroad built to the 
town. 

Notwithstanding these events of the year 
1880, there was little activity in the Clark’s 
Fork district until the opening of the reserva¬ 
tion on April 11, 1882. Then miners and pros¬ 
pectors poured into the country from all direc¬ 
tions and the town of Cooke City began an ac¬ 
tive growth. About 135 dirt covered log 
shacks were erected that summer, which was 
barely enough to accommodate the people who 
now called this place home. The greater part 
of these left the camp for the winter, but re¬ 
turned the following summer. In the early 
part of June, 1883, a correspondent to the 
Livingston Enterprise from Cooke City said 






HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


165 


that there were then only about 75 men in the 
camp, but that the buildings would all be oc¬ 
cupied by their owners in about two weeks and 
would have been sooner but for the deep snow, 
which prevented them getting in. That there’ 
was a large population in the camp that year 
is evidenced by the fact that 227 votes were 
cast there at the November election. A repre¬ 
sentative of the Livingston Enterprise visited 
the camp that year and in the issue of October 
17th said of the condition of the camp at that 
time: 

“Cooke City, in appearance' at least, is a 
typical mining camp, presenting in itself and 
surroundings all the rugged picturesqueness 
that is associated with the description. It is 
situated in a narrow gulch threaded by a swift 
little mountain stream, along which lies the 
street of the town with barely enough room 
for the two parallels of buildings to occupy 
level ground. Thence sloping up on either 
side are walls of rock stored with mineral 
wealth that has called the camp into existence, 
and in every direction peak rises behind peak 
in an apparently maze of mountains. The 
houses that comprise the town are, without ex¬ 
ception, the dirt covered log shacks that indi¬ 
cate the lack of building material instead of 
poverty in purse and mild architectural ambi¬ 
tion rather than indifference to comfort. * * 

From being small, the present buildings are 
numerous and stretch out to make a street as 
long as the main street of Livingston, though 
the population of the camp will not number 
above 200, exclusive of prospectors scattered 
throughout the ‘mountains.” 

In the fall of 1883 the people of the camp 
began to consider the matter of platting the 
townsite, that title might be obtained to lots. 
Under the provisions of the United States law 
for the platting of a townsite upon govern¬ 
ment land ten citizens of the town might apply 
to the probate judge of the county in which 
the proposed townsite was located to have the 
land surveyed as a townsite and sold. The 


law provides for the sale of lots at ten dollars 
each and limited the number that might be 
purchased by any one party, the surveying and 
sale of lots to be done by the probate judge. 
The necessary action was taken by the citizens 
of Cooke City, and early in November, S. 
Deutsch, representing Probate Judge John P* 
Martin, of Gallatin county, appeared on the 
scene and surveyed the townsite, taking in a 
little over 41 acres. While this was going on 
there was indiscriminate “jumping” of town 
lots, which in several cases nearly resulted in 
serious trouble. The townsite as surveyed 
by Mr. Deutsch included several sites which 
had been filed on by different parties for mill 
sites, and the contest that arose was not set¬ 
tled for eight years, and there was no clear 
title to lots until 1891. 

Before the plat was filed the question of 
changing the name of the town was brought 
up. A meeting was held on November 7th 
for the purpose of selecting the name. Major 
Geo. O. Eaton was in favor of calling it Eidel- 
weiss, a German name for a flower that blos¬ 
somed in the snow. The majority of the 
miners present, however, were in favor of re¬ 
taining the old name. They argued that Jay 
Cooke was the pioneer capitalist of the camp, 
and that no more fitting name than this could 
be found for the town; besides the camp was 
known throughout the United States as Cooke 
City, and there was no good reason why con¬ 
fusion should be courted by changing to 
another name. 

The townsite was recorded as * Cooke, 
though for many years the place retained its 
former name of Cooke City, and only in recent 
years has the “city” been dropped. The plat 
was recorded in the office of the clerk and 
recorder of Gallatin county by Probate Judge 
J. P. Martin on February 8, 1884. Since that 
time additions have been platted to the origi¬ 
nal town as follows: Vilas & Henry addition, 
July 27, 1889, by Josiah C. Vilas and Frank 
Henry; Republic addition, September 6, 1889, 














HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


166 


by Josiah C. Vilas, Frank Henry and Edward 
H. Talcott; Court addition, December 7, 1894. 

The year 1884 was a prosperous one for 
the little town. Building operations were prose¬ 
cuted vigorously during the summer, and sev¬ 
eral new business institutions were started, 
among others a bank, which began business in 
the spring. The log buildings of the past gave 
place to frame structures built of sawed lum¬ 
ber. The rough and ready days were passing 
away. 

In 1885 the campaign for the building of 
a railroad to Cooke City was begun. The dis¬ 
trict was known to be rich in mineral; develop¬ 
ment work had been quite extensively carried 
on; smelters had extracted the precious metal 
from the ore. But the district was seriously 
handicapped because of lack of railroad facil¬ 
ities. Not only was the camp a long ways 
from the nearest railroad point, but the country 
was so rough that it was almost impossible to 
get into and out of the place. Meetings were 
held in the fall of the year to devise means for 
securing the interest of capital in the building 
of a railroad. This was not hard to obtain, 
and a corporation was soon formed, the object 
of which was to build to the camp from Gardi¬ 
ner. The only feasible route from that point 
was through the northern part of the Yellow¬ 
stone National Park, and congress was asked 
to grant a right .of way. The promoters of the 
road were unsuccessful in this, and all efforts 
to secure this privilege in after years resulted 
in failure. Year after year, up to the early 
nineties, the struggle was renewed. Every 
congress during the late eighties and the early 
nineties had to deal with the question of grant¬ 
ing a right of way through a small portion of 
the park for the Cooke City railroad, but that 
body absolutely refused to grant such a con¬ 
cession. The struggle was truly pitiable. Here 
were a band of men, confident of the richness 
of the country, struggling on year after year 
to develop the mines, but working against 


such odds as few mining camps have had to 
contend with. The money was ready for the 
building of a railroad, which would 
certainly have resulted in the building of a 
prosperous town, but the only means of ingress 
to the town was cut off. 

The effect upon Cooke City was depressing 
during these years of uncertainty. Occasion¬ 
ally when there seemed a prospect of success 
the camp would take on new life. In the spring 
of 1889 there was such a condition. Some 
mining property changed hands and a number 
of new companies were organized for the de¬ 
velopment of mines. Town property also rose 
in value, and the prosperous times that were 
then prevailing over the whole country pene¬ 
trated even to Cooke City. 

The contest for the title to the townsite 
was not definitely settled until in April, 1891, 
when a cash patent for the townsite was re¬ 
ceived in the Bozeman land office in the name 
of John P. Martin, who had been probate judge 
when the townsite was surveyed. The title 
was vested in Judge Chas. S. Hartman, as the 
successor of Judge Martin, who then issued 
the deeds and conducted the sale of lots for 
the benefit of the Cooke school district. 

During the nineties and the first few years 
of the present decade there was not much activ¬ 
ity in Cooke City or the surrounding mining 
district. The camp was never deserted, how¬ 
ever, and there was continual development of 
the mines, but not on a scale the richness of 
the territory warranted. 

In the spring of 1905 active mining oper¬ 
ations were resumed, and the little town again 
became lively. The resumption of work on 
many of the properties that had been idle for a 
long time brought quite a force of men to the 
camp and a recent census gave the town a pop¬ 
ulation of 260. In the summer of 1906 the 
Republic smelter started up again, and the 
camp is again enjoying some of its old time 
prosperity. 








HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


JARDINE. 

Another of Park county’s mining camps 
is Jardine, situated about five miles northeast 
of Gardiner, with which town it is connected 
by a daily stage and mail line. A recent 
census gave Jardine a population of 286. Two 
gold quartz mills are located here, and the 
business houses of the town consists of a gen¬ 
eral store, hotel, barber shop and three saloons. 

Jardine is one of Park county’s newer 
towns, dating its founding back only to the 
spring of 1899. Its existence was brought 
about by the operations of the Bear Gulch Min¬ 
ing company, which was incorporated in Au¬ 
gust, 1898. The next spring the company be¬ 
gan mining and reducing their ores at the 
camp on a large scale. Big sums of money 
were spent in improvement and the new 
camp gained a population of 400 or 500 al¬ 
most at once. The place was named Jardine, 
in honor of A. C. Jardine, the secretary of the 
company. A postoffice was established with 
J. B. McCarthy as postmaster. This gentle¬ 
man also had a general store; the other busi¬ 
ness houses were an hotel and barber shop. 
Other business enterprises followed later in the 
summer. A correspondent writing from the 
town about the middle of October stated that 
100 buildings were then in existence in the 
town or in course of construction, and that the 
mining company contemplated the erection of 
thirty more cottages. The monthly payroll 
of the company was about $20,000 during this 
season. The Livingston Enterprise of Decem¬ 
ber 30, 1899, reviewed the history of the town 
during- its first year of existence as follows: 

“Through the brilliant management of H. 
Bush and his associates, Jardine has grown in 
one short year from a rude camp of huts to a 
commercial center of considerable importance. 
Stamp mills, stores, hotels, commodious dwell¬ 
ings, supplied with water works, electric lights 
and all the advantages of large centers of pop¬ 
ulation have been erected during the year. No 


167 


point in Montana, it is safe to say, has made 
more rapid strides toward becoming an im¬ 
portant mining center than has the camp at 
Jardine.” 

Naturally the camp was not as lively in the 
succeeding years as it was during the first year 
of its existence, but it has always been a pros¬ 
perous camp. 

FRIDLEY. 

Twenty-three miles south of Livingston, on 
the Park branch of the Northern Pacific rail¬ 
road and the Yellowstone river, is the town of 
Fridley, or, as it is known on the railroad maps, 
Emigrant station. Here, at an elevation of 
4*887 feet above sea level, is the chief trad¬ 
ing point of the Paradise valley, a town of 138 
inhabitants. In the town are one general store, 
hotel, lumber yard, saloon, blacksmith shop, a 
school and an Episcopal church. 

Emigrant station was not located on the 
line of the Park branch when that road was 
completed in 1883, as were most of the other 
stations along that line. But in the spring of 
1886 the railroad officials marked on the map 
the name Emigrant station, which was at a 
point two and one-half miles south of the sta¬ 
tion called Chicory, which had failed to ma¬ 
terialize into a town, as was expected when the 
station was located: The following year the 
place became generally known as Fridley, be¬ 
ing named in honor of F. F. Fridley, and a 
little town was built there. It was brought 
into existence because of the development of 
mines in Emigrant gulch and on Mill creek. 
Later it came to depend upon the surrounding 
agricultural country. 

SHIELDS. 

Shields is the name of a little village in the 
rich Shields valley, 25 miles north of Livings¬ 
ton. It is on the stage line between Sedan, in 
Gallatin county, and Livingston, and has daily 










HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


168 


mail. It takes its name from the river of the 
same name, which was named in honor of one 
of the members of the Lewis and Clark party. 

The village boasts of a general store, ho¬ 
tel, saloon, blacksmith shop and livery stable. 

CLYDEPARK. 

Another trading point and postoffice on 
the same stage line as Shields, ten miles north 
of Livingston, is Clydepark. Here is a store 
which supplies the wants of the people in the 
neighboring farming and stockraising country. 
A postoffice was established at this point in the 
late eighties with John H. Harvey as postmas¬ 
ter. In 1890 it was discontinued, but was later 
reestablished. A townsite was platted at this 
point April 21, 1906, by H. S. Amos. 

SPRINGDALE. 

Just within the boundaries of Park county, 
on the main line of the Northern Pacific rail¬ 
road, nineteen miles northeast of Livingston, 
is the postoffice, railroad station and little vil¬ 
lage of Springdale. It is fifteen miles west of 
Big Timber and two miles southeast of Hun¬ 
ter’s Hotsprings, and is the railroad station 
for the latter point, which fact is its principal 
reason for being in existence. The station is 
4,233 feet above, sea level. It supports one 
general store. 

hunter’s hotsprings. 

One of the best known points in Montana 
is Hunter’s Hotsprings, the site of the famous 
sanatorium. The springs and the little village 
that has grown up around them are located on 
the eastern boundary of the county, two miles 
northwest of Springdale station. The site 
is on a little plain surrounded by high moun¬ 
tains. The springs are of hot water containing 
rare medicinal qualities, and here come every 
year hundreds of patients from all parts of the 


country to bathe in the healing waters. A fine 
sanatorium, bath houses, hotel and other build¬ 
ings are built here for the accommodation of 
the visitors. 

In an earlier chapter we have told of the 
discovery of these springs by Dr. A. J. Hun¬ 
ter in 1864 and his subsequent settle¬ 

ment at that point in the year 1870, 
so we shall not deal here with this early his¬ 
tory of the place. Suffice it to say that Dr. 
Hunter believed he had found his fortune in 
these hot springs of water. In 1839 
he had seen the Arkansas hot springs 

w/th nothing but a shanty as the pio¬ 
neer of what a few years laters became 

the resort of thousands of the afflicted, and he 
believed that these springs would attain like 
fame. So, in February, 1870, he and his fam¬ 
ily moved to the springs from Bozeman and 
there erected a house and began the cultivation 
of the soil on a limited scale. 

Until the near approach of the Northern 
Pacific railroad in 1882 Dr. Hunter did little 
except “hold down” the property. In the sum¬ 
mer seasons his house was something of a re¬ 
sort for the afflicted, but the Sioux Indians 
were hostile the greater part of the time, and 
the doctor’s family had frequently to leave the 
country, which fact prevented the resort from 
becoming popular. In the fall of 1882 Dr. 
Hunter laid the foundation for a new hotel, 
and in the following year completed the 
building as well as the bath houses and 
other buildings. With the advent of 
the railroad the springs became well known 
and patronized, and their popularity has in¬ 
creased every year since that date. 

Late in the year 1885 the original locator 
of the springs sold to the Montana Hot Springs 
company, which had organized with a capital 
stock of $150,000 and the following trustees: 
Cyrus B. Mendenhall, Heber Robarts and A. 
L. Love. This company made big improve¬ 
ments in the property in 1886 and laid the 
foundation for the future popularity of the 









HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


169 


place. Among other improvements of that 
year was the platting of the townsite of Men¬ 
denhall on July 5, by the gentleman whose 
name the townsite bore. No town of any im¬ 
portance from a commercial standpoint was 
ever built at Mendenhall, and the postoffice 
and village has always borne the original name 
of Hunter’s Hotsprings. Improvements have 
been made in the buildings at the springs since 
these early days, and Hunter’s Hotsprings are 
known today throughout the length and 
breadth of the United States. 

COKEDALE. 

The history of Cokedale is the story of a 
town that was, but now is not. The site of 
the town is nine miles west of Livingston, on 
a spur of the Northern Pacific railroad. Here 
until the spring of 1906 was the coal mining 
camp of the Livingston Coke & Coal company, 
a town of 200 or 300 people, the inhabitants 
of which were engaged principally in coal min¬ 
ing. The town boasted of two general stores, 
five saloons and other minor business enter¬ 
prises. With the closing of the mine and the 
dismantling of the works, Cokedale went out 
of existence, and only the vacant buildings now 
remain of what was a prosperous mining 
camp. 

Cokedale came into existence in 1886, 
when the Livingston Coke & Coal company 
was organized and began the manufacture of 
coke with twelve ovens in operation. This 
was the first coke produced in Montana. The 
business was a profitable one, and by the year 
1895, 130 ovens were in operation, and a quar¬ 
ter million dollars was invested in the plant. 
In 1887 company built a spur to Cokedale 
-from a point on the Northern Pacific since 
known as Coal Spur, a distance of four miles. 

The first years of the camp’s history were 
lively ones. On June 6, 1889, the townsite was 
platted by Peter O. Sandelius. Williams’ ad¬ 
dition was platted by William H. Williams on 


July 20, 1892. The postoffice was established 
in 1889 w hh Adam Wise postmaster. Many 
substantial improvements were made by the 
company, among others the enlargement of 
the plant. Concerning the camp as it was at 
that time the Livingston Enterprise on Decem¬ 
ber 25, 1889, said: “Cokedale, the business 
center brought into existence by the company’s 
works, is a thriving village and can boast of 
two general stores, a postoffice, boarding 
house, hotel, two meat markets and numerous 
other business houses of less importance. Dur¬ 
ing the past summer the company has erected 
between 30 and 40 neat and commodious cot¬ 
tages for the benefit of employes.” The pop¬ 
ulation of the town in 1890, according to the 
federal census was 284. 

July 31, 1895, a disastrous fire visited the 
camp, destroying the company’s engine house, 
boiler and storage room with its contents, and 
a large section of the tramway sheds. The 
loss was $40,000 and was covered by only 
$11,000 insurance. Because of the hard times 
under which the country was laboring and, 
possibly, also because of the fire, the plant was 
closed down after this event, and for the first 
time since the company began operations there 
in 1886 the fires were withdrawn from the 
coke ovens. This threw 300 or 400 men out 
of employment and was the means of practi¬ 
cally depopulating the town. The pay roll 
at the time of closing down was from $15,000 
to $25,000 per month. 

Cokedale remained a depopulated town 
until the spring of 1903, when active prepara¬ 
tions were begun for the reopening of the mine 
and the beginning of coke burning. A force 
of men were employed all spririg and summer 
putting everything in readiness, and opera¬ 
tions were about to be resumed that fall. But 
it was not to be, the litigations of Augustus 
Heinze affected the company operating at 
Cokedale, and work was suspended. In Feb¬ 
ruary, 1905, operations at Cokedale were re¬ 
sumed. The coal mine was opened up and 









I/O 


HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


the manufacture of coke was again begun, ioo 
ovens being in use. Cokedale again became a 
prosperous little city. 

Nearly the entire business portion of the 
city was wiped out by fire on the morning of 
Thursday, July 6, 1905, the loss being about 
$20,000, with only about $5,000 insurance. 
The fire started in a residence, and within a 
few minutes after the flames were discovered 
they had spread to the business houses. The 
Livingston fire department was sent for, but 
before it arrived on the scene the town was in 
ruins. The property destroyed was the gen¬ 
eral merchandise store of Adolph Jacobs, the 
building being the property of the Schlitz 
Brewing company; the saloon of Antone Mle- 
kush, saloon belonging to Geo. Lusine, another 
saloon, the hall of the Cokedale Coal company, 
one dwelling and two stables. The buildings 
were immediately rebuilt. 

Monday, March 12, 1906, the Cokedale 
mine and coke ovens shut down, throwing 
about 150 men out of work. That the shut 
down was permanent was evident from the 
fact that the machinery was taken from the 
mine and all portable property was removed 
from the camp. This was the death knell of 
Cokedale. The buildings remain to tell the 
story of what the town had been, but it is 
doubtful if the town will ever again be popu¬ 
lated. 

CINNABAR. 

On the Yellowstone branch of the North¬ 
ern Pacific, 51 miles south of Livingston and 
three miles northwest of Gardiner, is the rail¬ 
road station of Cinnabar, until recently the ter¬ 
minus of the Park branch railroad and for 
many years one of Park county’s towns. The 
place takes its name from the mountain which 
overlooks this point, a prominent feature of 
southern Park county. The mountain was so 
named from the color of its rocks, which have 
been mistaken for cinnabar, although the red 


color is due to iron. Cinnabar is 5 T 9 ^ feet 
above the level of the sea. 

When work was commenced upon the Na¬ 
tional Park branch in the spring of 1883, it 
was given out that the terminus would be at 
the little town of Gardiner, on the northern 
boundary line of the park. It was the inten¬ 
tion of the company to do this, and the road¬ 
bed was graded to that point. Then came the 
difficulties connected with the Gardiner town- 
site and the company abandoned its original 
plan to build to Gardiner. It was stated that 
the road would be built to a point about three 
miles from the original site selected, and, 
moreover, that a town would be built at that 
point. When the last rail of the Park branch 
was laid on August 30 a townsite had already 
been surveyed and named Cinnabar. This 
plat was never recorded, but lots were placed 
on sale in December. The growth of Cinnabar 
was not spontaneous. Although it had the 
advantage of being the terminal point, the 
little town of Gardiner “just across the street” 
had advanced into quite a thriving little busi¬ 
ness place, which thought that it would be a 
question of only a short time when the road 
would be extended and the town of Cinnabar 
would go out of existence. So Gardiner con¬ 
tinued to be the principal town of the upper 
Yellowstone, and Cinnabar made slow pro¬ 
gress. During the summer of 1884 an effort 
was made to revive the drooping spirits of the 
new town. Concerning this enterprise the Liv- 
ignston Enterprise on August 12th said: 

“There are many rumors at Gardiner, Cin¬ 
nabar and Mammoth Hot Springs about the 
great town that is to be made of one of the 
two first named hamlets—probably Cinnabar. 
Overtures have been made to the people of 
Gardiner to pay certain sums of money to have 
upon Jheir town conferred the advantages 
that are to produce metropolitan fruit. The 
weight of favor rests at present with Cinnabar, 
which, according to reports, is to be resurveyed 










HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


(probably with the object of obtaining more 
front and corner lots), and it is to be endowed 
with a fine depot, two or three smelters and 
incidental institutions to promote its greatness. 
The townsite rests under attachments to the 
amount of $10,000 to $20,000, but trifles like 
that will probably not stand greatly in the way 
of its prosperity. Just who is to start the boom 
is not stated, but it is supposed to be C. T. 
Hobart. To the good sense of the upper Yel¬ 
lowstone people is due the fact that they are 
not yet taking any great stock in these reports. 
There will be a good town in that vicinity, but 
not just yet.” 

The second survey of Cinnabar townsite 
was made that month by Surveyor S. Deutsch 
under the direction of Major Armstrong. Four 
hundred and seventy acres were included with¬ 
in the town, and the new survey made an en¬ 
tire change in the direction of the streets and 
the plan of the future town. No record of ; 
this plat has been preserved. Notwithstand¬ 
ing all' these efforts to build a city, the town j 
did not make much advancement. 

In the summer of 1895 another attempt 
was made to bring the eyes of the world upon 
this place. June 4th the Cinnabar Townsite 
company was incorporated with a capital stock 
of $30,000. with the following incorporators: j 
J. D. Finn, H. J. Hoppe and A. J. Campbell. I 
The objects of the company were to purchase, 
improve, hold and sell real estate at and near j 
the town of Cinnabar, to construct a bridge j 
across the Yellowstone at that point, and to 
put in an electric lighting plant there. A new 
townsite was platted and recorded by this com¬ 
pany June 20th. Some improvements were 
accomplished by these men in the little town, 
among others the building of a new depot. 

The extension of the road to Gardiner in 
the spring of 1902 was the death blow to the 
town of Cinnabar. What business houses 
there were closed up and the postoffice was 
discontinued. Cinnabar now occupies a place 
on the map only because of the fact that it is 


171 


a station of the Northern Pacific railroad on 
the Park branch. 


CHICO. 

Chico is a postoffice and small hamlet on 
the east side of Yellowstone river, four and 
one-half miles from Fridley and 27 miles south 
of Livingston. It has a daily mail by stage to 
Fridley. Chico came into existence at a very 
early day, superseding the old mining town of 
Yellowstone City. One mile from the Chico 
postoffice is the health resort of Chico Warm 
Springs, which is the property of Wm. E. 
Knowles. The springs have become quite fa¬ 
mous locally, and the place is frequented dur¬ 
ing the summer months by many patients. 

Following is the analysis of the solid con¬ 
tents of the water, as given by Prof. F. W. 
Clark, chief chemist United States General 
Survey: 


Solid Contents 
Calcium carbonate .. 
Magnesium carbonate 
Sodium carbonate .. 
Sodium sulphate .... 
Potassium chloride .. 
Sodium chloride .... 
Silicia . 


Parts in 100,000 

. 8.65 

. 2.69, 

. 2.74 

. 4-87 

.83 

.58 

. 3-17 


Total 


23-53 


CHICORY. 

Twenty miles up the Yellowstone Park 
branch from Livingston is a station called 
Chicory. Should a passenger alight there he 
would find a water tank and a section house. 
This is all that remains of what was to have 
been a great city. 

Chicory dates its existence from the sum¬ 
mer of 1883. When the Park branch was 
building up the Yellowstone river that year 
it was announced that there would be two 
towns built on the line—one at Cinnabar and 
one at Chicory. It is a strange coincidence that 

















172 


HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


both these towns are now merely uninhabited 
stations of the railroad, while several other 
places not then on the map have grown into 
prosperous towns. Jas. Kreppner owned a 
quarter section of land where Chicory station 
now stands, and they do say that it was good 
farming land, but the town building craze 
held the west in its grip at that time, and much 
good agricultural soil was given up to the 
building of towns that never materalized. Mr. 
Kreppner sold interests in his farm to Drew 
B. Allen, a well known Livingston real estate 
man, and M. G. Grant, a Northern Pacific en¬ 
gineer. These three gentlemen then proceeded 
to lay out a town and place the same on the 
market. The following copy of an advertise¬ 
ment which Allen Bros., who were the agents 
for the townsite, inserted in the Livingston 
Enterprise of March 22, 1883, will explain the 
' standing of Chicory as viewed by the proprie¬ 
tors of the townsite: 

Chicory, Gallatin county, Montana, is situated on 
the Northern Pacific railroad 28 miles from Livingston 
and about the same distance from the National Park. 
At this point the Northern Pacific Railroad Company is 
building a depot, section house, water tank, etc., and 
many other substantial improvements are going on. 
The town is endorsed by the railroad company, who 
own a one-half interest in the same, and will do all in 
their power to further its interests. The lands lying 
north and south are exceedingly fertile, and west cattle 
ranches are numerous; east are the celebrated Mill 
creek, Emigrant gulch and Six Mile mining districts, 
and in the place itself thrift, energy and intelligence are 
to be found among its citizens. The Villard Mining 
company’s claims adjoin the town on the east. The 
gold and silver bearing quartz mines in Emigrant gulch 
are very rich, as are the placer mines. Coal mines 
within one mile of the town are being vigorously 
worked, and iron, lime and sandstone abound. Before 
the town was platted lumber was on the ground for a 
number of buildings, and before the town was entirely 
surveyed buildings were in course of construction. 
The town is young yet, and thereby affords opportuni¬ 
ties for securing lots at low figures, and we feel con¬ 
fident that the constant and increasing demand for the 
same will advance prices from 25 to 50 per cent within 
a short time. Full particulars, prices and plats will be 
furnished upon application to Allen Bros. 


But such flattering descriptions of the 
town-to-be did not build a city, and Chicory 
died before it awoke to a realization of its 
birth. The failure to bring about the building 
of a city at this point is only one instance of 
the miscarriage of the plans of those who came 
west to develop the country and at the same 
time make their own fortunes. 

MUIR. 

Muir is the name of a postoffice and rail¬ 
road station on the main line of the Northern 
Pacific at the eastern entrance to Muir or Boze¬ 
man tunnel, twelve miles west of Livingston. 

The site of this place is historic ground. 
Here for countless ages before white men came 
to the country the Indians of the Columbia 
river country were wont to cross the Belt 
range of mountains on their buffalo hunting 
trips to the plains of eastern Montana. Later, 
in 1806, Captain William Clark came over the 
pass, located here, on his way to the east. 
Then, when the emigration to Montana set in 
in the sixties, the pilgrims crossed the moun¬ 
tains at this point, and the pass became known 
as Bozeman pass, named in honor of the man 
who piloted the first wagon train over this 
route. Nearly two decades after this event it 
was the site of a flourishing town known as 
Muir City, one of the first of Park county 
towns. 

On the 10th day of November, 1881, E. H. 
Beckler, engineer in charge of the locating 
party on the railroad survey over Bozeman 
pass, pitched his tent where the town of Muir 
City was afterwards built, and near the present 
site of Muir station. Mr. Becker immediately 
began the erection of a shack for permanent 
quarters and became the builder of the first 
residence in Muir City. Work upon the ap¬ 
proaches to the tunnel was begun at that time 
and the next spring the the work of digging a 
hole 2,600 feet long through the mountain was 












HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


173 


put under way. There was quite a large force 
of men at work upon the tunnel for the next 
two years, and it was but natural that a town 
would spring up at this point. The town was 
builded a little distance from the tunnel’s 
mouth and on the east side of Billman creek. 
It was named Muir City in honor of James 
Muir, the contractor who pierced the mountain 
for the tunnel. The town was supported by 
the immense work which gave it existence, and 
until the tunnel was completed early in the year 
1884 the little tunnel city was indeed a flour¬ 
ishing one. There was nothing to support a 
town at this point except the work, and when 
the workmen went away the town was aban¬ 
doned, and buildings were left vacant. A fire 
on January 24, 1884, destroyed a number of 
these, and some were removed to other locali¬ 
ties. Muir is one of the highest points on the 
Northern Pacific railroad, being 5,516 feet 
above sea level. 

OTHER PLACES. 

Besides the places named are a number of 
country postoffices in different parts of the 
county. Rockcreek is a postoffice twenty-four 
miles north of Livingston, which is supplied 
with a daily mail. There is also a M. E. 
church at that point. Meyersburg is thirty- 
four miles northwest of Livingston and is on 
the stage line between Sedan and Livingston. 
On the extreme northern edge of Park county, 
forty-five miles north of Livingston, is the post- 
office of Lat, with a tri-weekly mail from Mey¬ 
ersburg. Ten miles east of the county seat is 
the country postoffice of Bruffeys. In the 
Boulder mining district, just west of the line 
that separates Sweet Grass and Park counties, 
is the postoffice and little mining hamlet of 
Contact. This point is thirty miles southeast 
of Livingston and the same distance southwest 
of Big Timber, from which point it is supplied 
tri-weekly with mail. Pinecreek is a postof¬ 
fice on the east side of the Yellowstone river, 


thirteen miles south of Livingston, from which 
point it is supplied with mail three times a 
week. A Methodist church is located at Pine- 
creek. Chimneyrock is a postoffice and coal 
mining camp eighteen miles southwest of Liv¬ 
ingston. It has a daily mail and stage. Fifty 
miles southwest of Livingston and five miles 
from the railroad is the postoffice of Miner, 
with a tri-weekly mail. 

There are also a number of railroad sta¬ 
tions which have not been mentioned. Brisben 
is on the Park branch ten miles south of 
Livingston and has an elevation of 4,716 feet 
above sea level. It was established in July, 
1883. A telegraph office was put in at that 
time with G. T. Noblitt in charge. Trail 
Creek, 4,747 feet above sea level, is a station 
on the Park branch fourteen miles south of 
Livingston. Daileys is another station on the 
Park branch, thirty miles southwest of Liv¬ 
ingston and 4,941 feet above sea level. It 
was established in July, 1883. Another sta¬ 
tion on the Park branch is Sphinx (elevation 
5,103 feet), forty miles above Livingston. 
Muhlerin station was located at a point forty- 
five miles above Livingston on the Park branch 
in the fall of 1886. Five miles west of Liv¬ 
ingston is Coal Spur station, from which point 
is built the spur to Cokedale. Nine miles west 
of Livingston on the main line of the North¬ 
ern Pacific is Hoppers station. Mission is a 
station on the main line seven miles east of 
Livingston. There was formerly a postoffice 
at this point. Elton is thirteen miles east of 
Livingston and six miles west of Springdale. 

There are other points in the county which 
at one time or another arose to the dignity of 
bearing a name because of being the site of 
postoffices or for other reasons. Maxwell was 
once the name of a Park county postoffice six¬ 
ty-five miles from the county seat. Hoffman 
postoffice was established in April, 1900, on 
Trail creek, twenty miles southwest of Living¬ 
ston and fifteen miles southeast of Bozeman. 
The postoffice has been discontinued. Hicks 








174 


HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


is the name of a discontinued postoffice that 
was located thirty miles southeast of Living- 
ton. Crevasse was a community of miners at 
a point twelve miles east of Gardiner. It was 
settled in 1880. Cowles is a recently discon¬ 
tinued postoffice fifty-four miles southeast of 


Livingston. Cleora postoffice was established 
in July, 1891, at the Potter ranch on the 
Shields river divide, with W. E. Potter as 
postmaster. It has been discontinued. Bryan 
was once a postoffice twelve miles north of 
Livingston. 


CHAPTER V 


POLITICAL. 


Until the twenty-third day of February, 
1887, when Governor Preston H. Leslie signed 
the Till creating Park county, that portion of 
Montana now known as Park county, together 
with the greater part of the present Sweet 
Grass county and a portion of what is now 
Carbon County, was a part of Gallatin county. 
So prior to that date the political history of 
Park county was merged with that of the 
mother county. Before the building of the 
Northern Pacific railroad through this portion 
of Montana territory late in the year 1882 
there were only a few permanent residents in 
that part of Gallatin county east of the Belt 
range of mountains, which later became the 
dividing line between Park and Gallatin coun¬ 
ties, and those engaged principally in pros¬ 
pecting and mining. Consequently the fu¬ 
ture Park county had up to that time taken 
no part in the political history making of Mon¬ 
tana territory. 

With the building of the railroad, however, 
a big change came about. Early in 1883 the 
city of Livingston came into existence and in 
a few short months was a prosperous city. The 
Yellowstone Park branch of the Northern Pa¬ 
cific was built the same year and other towns 
came into being. People flocked into the upper 
Yellowstone valley and engaged in mining, 


stock raising, farming and other pursuits. 
Thereafter until Park county was erected, the 
people east of the Belt range took a prominent 
part in the political history of Gallatin county. 
In a former chapter we have told of the sev¬ 
eral attempts to bring about the formation of 
a new county and its final accomplishment in 
1887. Therefore we shall not now review this 
history, but shall proceed at once to the story 
of the ballots from the time Park county be¬ 
came a separate political division early in the 
year 1887. 

The enabling act provided that the follow¬ 
ing officers should serve the new county until 
the officers elected at the general election in 
November, 1888, should have qualified: O. 
P. Templeton, sheriff, salary $2,000; F. W. 
Wright, treasurer, salary, $2,000; Elsberry 
Martin, clerk and recorder, salary, $2,000; M. 
D. Kelly, probate judge, salary, $1,200; John 
H. Holliday, assessor, salary, $1,800; Benja¬ 
min F. Myers, Geo. M. Hatch and Geo. H. 
Carver, county commissioners; J. H. Elder, 
county attorney, fees and salary of $400; Net¬ 
tie Ballinger, superintendent of schools, sal¬ 
ary, $880; S. M. Moore, surveyor; T. K. Lee, 
public administrator; Dr. H. Robarts, coroner. 
The majority of these were Republicans, but 
we find among them at least four members of 










HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


175 


the opposite political faith, namely, Elsberry 
Martin, Benjamin F. Myers, M. D. Kelly and 
J. H. Elder. 

The board of county commissioners met at 
Livingston May 2, 1887, and Park county be¬ 
gan life as a separate political division. There 
were several changes in the personnel of the 
county officials before the election of 1888. 
May 3, 1887, J. H. Elder, the county attorney, 
resigned because he was not eligible, being at 
the time receiver for a national bank and there¬ 
fore a federal office holder. John A. Savage 
was appointed by the county commissioners 
on that date to the office. Mr. Savage also 
resigned on October 13, 1888, when Allan R. 
Joy was named and filled the unexpired term. 
E. B. Martin resigned the office of county clerk 
and recorder January 1, 1888, and David P. 
Van Horne served out the term. Another 
change was made June 6, 1888, when Sig¬ 
mund Deutsch was appointed county surveyor. 

At the second day’s session of the board of 
county commissioners held on May 3, 1887, 
the following minor officers were appointed: 
John Ellison, road supervisor for Big Tim¬ 
ber ; A. J. Kenney, road supervisor for Shields 
River; Frank Beller, constable for Red Lodge 
precinct; William H. Redfield, justice of the 
peace for Livingston precinct to fill a vacancy- 
caused by the resignation of M. D. Kelly to 
accept a position as a county officer; John A. 
Ennis, under sheriff; Samuel Jackson, deputy 
sheriff for Gardiner and Cooke. 

The campaign of 1888 was the first one in 
which the people of the new county took part 
as a county, and there was much speculation 
as to the political complexion of the new di¬ 
vision. The conventions were held at Livings¬ 
ton. The first one was held on Saturday, Sep¬ 
tember 8, when the Democrats gathered to se¬ 
lect delegates to the territorial convention at 
Butte. J. H. Elder presided over this conven¬ 
tion and O. M. Hatch was secretary. The 
delegates named were B. F. Myers, J. A. Sav- 
age, John Stuff, H. Bliss, W. D. Cameron, 


Morris Roth, D. P. VanHorne, A. H. Delone 
and Alva Mayne. The delegates, who were 
also to represent Park county in the district 
convention were instructed to support William 
T. Field for joint councilman for the counties 
of Park and Fergus. September 15 the Dem¬ 
ocrats again met at Livingston and named- 3 
full county ticket for the coming election. This 
convention was presided over by Benjamin F. 
Myers and O. M. Hatch was secretary. The 
Republicans met at Livingston on September 
13, when delegates to the territorial conven¬ 
tion were selected and a county ticket named. 
Major Geo. O. Eaton was president of the 
convention and S. L. Wallace was secretary. 
The following delegates to the territorial con¬ 
vention were chosen: C. H. Stebbins, W. E. 
Thompson, C. A. Burg, A. R. Joy and Geo. 

H. Hatch. Alternates were E. Goughnour, 
A. W. Miles, F. D. Pease, Geo. H. Wright 
and H. O. Hickox. 

For the first election the county commis¬ 
sioners, at a meeting held on September 4, 
1888, named the election precincts, polling 
places and judges of election. 

This initial election occurred on the sixth 
day of November, 1888, and showed the 
county to be Republican, that party carrying 
the county for delegates to congress and joint 
councilman and electing its representative. On 
the county ticket, however, the Democrats 
were successful in electing four officers—one 
commissioner, clferk and recorder, assessor and 
superintendent of schools. There were 1,744 
votes cast for the head of the ticket—delegate 
to congress. Following is the official vote: 
Delegate to Congress—Thos. H. Carter, 
rep., 1,067; Wm. A. Clark, dem., 677. 

Councilman (joint with Fergus)—Geo. M. 
Hatch, rep., 877; Wm. Field, dem., 838. 

Representative—Geo. H. Carver, rep.> 

I, 126; Geo. J. Allen, dem., 573. 

Commissioners—W. M. Wright, rep., 
1,040; H. J. Hoppe, rep., 1,012; H. O. 
Hickox, rep., 882; B. F. Myers, dem., 884; 








176 


HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


M. Roth, dem., 437 5 W. H. Lee, dem., 818 . 

County Attorney—Allen R. Joy, rep., 
1,204. 

Sheriff—O. P. Templeton, rep., 1,252; 
John Lenihan, dem., 445. 

Treasurer— F. W. Wright, rep., 1,201; J. 
A. Lovely, dem., 517 . 

Clerk and Recorder—W. V. Grannis, rep., 
656; D. P. VanHorne, dem., 1,059. 

Assessor—O. Emmons, rep., 844; T. P. 
McDonald, dem., 872. 

Probate Judge—John Clifford, rep., 995 ; 
M. D. Kelly, dem., 720. 

Public Administrator—T. S. Carter, rep., 

M55- 

Coroner—Dr. W. T. Collins, rep., 1 , 165 - 

Superintendent of Schools—Miss Brunette 
Ballinger, rep., 761; Mrs. Eva Hunter, dem. : 

955- 

Surveyor—S. Deutsch, rep., 1,805; H. S. 
Potts, dem., 629. 

County seat—Livingston, 1,382; Spring- 
dale, 274; Big Timber, 35. 

George M. Hatch, who as shown above 
carried Park county, was successful in the dis¬ 
trict and was elected, serving as Park county’s 
first councilman. H. O. Hickox, who was only 
two votes behind the successful Democratic 
candidate for county commissioner, started a 
contest for the office, alleging fradulent vot¬ 
ing in the Springfield precinct, but dropped the 
matter before the case came to trial. The only 
change in officers before the hext election oc¬ 
curred September 5, 1889, when W. T. Collins 
resigned the office of coroner and W. H. Red- 
field was appointed by the county commis¬ 
sioners. 

The next election in Park county took place 
on May 14, 1889, at which time delegates to 
the constitutional convention were elected for 
the purpose of framing a constitution for the 
new state. Park county constituted one elec¬ 
tion district and was entitled to send three dele¬ 
gates. Under the law not more than two of 
the delegates ifrom each district should be 


members of the same political party. There¬ 
fore each of the two parties placed two candi¬ 
dates in the field. The Republicans nominated 
for this honor Geo. O. Eaton and Allan R. 
Joy; the Democrats placed two of their strong¬ 
est men in the field in the persons of B. F 
Myers and W. T. Field. The Republicans 
were successful in electing the odd man. The 
vote was: 

Geo. O. Eaton, rep., 722; Allan R. Joy, 
rep., 548; B. F. Myers, dem., 487; W. T. 
Field, dem., 545. 

After the constitution had been prepared a 
special election was called for October 1, 1889, 
to ratify or reject the same, and to select state 
and county officers providing the constitution 
should be adopted. For the office of governor 
there were 1,950 votes cast, a gain in the 
county of over 200 in less than a year. For 
the constitution Park county registered '584 
votes, while only 30 were cast against it. The 
first state election showed the county to be 
strongly Republican, that party carrying the 
county for congressman and the whole state 
ticket by substantial majorities and electing 
every member of the county ticket except 
superintendent of schools and coroner. The 
vote: 

Congressman—Thos. H. Carter, rep., 
1,132; Martin Maginnis, dem., 802. 

Governor—Thos. C. Power, rep., 1,064; 
Jos. K. Toole, dem., 886. 

State Senator—Jas. E. Thompson, rep.. 
1,033; William T. Field, dem., 878. 

Representatives—Chas. H. Eaton, rep., 
1,056; Chas. H. Stebbins, rep., 978; t Ozias M. 
Hatch, dem., 702; Benj. F. Myers, dem., 878. 

Judge Sixth Judicial District—Frank 
Henry, rep., 1,111; Moses J. Liddell, dem., 
778- 

Clerk District Court—Orlando Emmons, 
rep., 935; James A. Bailey, dem., 931. 

Commissioners—Hugo J. Hoppe, rep.. 
923; Geo. T. Lamport, rep., 1,022; Wm. M. 
Wright, rep., 1,031; Wm. H. Bullard, dem.. 








HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


177 


851; James Connell, dem., 781; Alva Mayne, 
dem., 806. 

County Attorney—Allan R. Joy, rep,, 
L °35 1 Martin D. Kelly, dem, 857. 

Clerk and Recorder—Sigmund Deutsch, 
rep., 989; David P. Van Horne, dem., 905. 

Sheriff Oliver P. Templeton, rep., 1,275; 
Geo. W. McCauly, dem., 639. 

Treasurer—F. W. Wright, rep., 1,1201; 
Wm. H. Lee, dem., 692. 

Assessor—John Clifford, rep., 960; Thos. 
P. McDonald, dem., 943. 

Public Administrator—Thos. S. Carter, 
rep., 1,076; Jos. E. Swindlehurst, dem., 813. 

Coroner Wm. A. Moore, dem., elected. 

Superintendent of Schools—Mary L. 
Blake, rep., 880; Eva M. Hunter, dem., 1,013. 

Surveyor—Chas. Tappan, rep., 1,066; 
Geo. P. Urner, dem., 781. 

At the general election held November 4, 
1890, the only candidates voted for in Park 
county were for congressman, and as a result 
a light vote was polled. The total was 1,443, 
a falling off of nearly 500 since the election of 
the previous year. The official vote: 

Congressman—Thos. H. Carter, rep., 
829; Wm. W. Dixon, dem., 590; Andrew I. 
Corbly, pro., 19; Wm. T. Field, lab., 8. 

The Democrats made an excellent showing 
at the 1892 election and elected nearly half of 
their candidates on the county ticket. The 
election was close on all offices. The Repub¬ 
licans carried the county for president by a 
plurality of 144, congressman by 92 and gov¬ 
ernor by 135, out of a total vote of 2,396—a 
vote larger by over 400 than any before cast in 
the county. The Republicans elected senator, 
one, representative, two commissioners, clerk 
and recorder, county attorney, public admin¬ 
istrator, surveyor and coroner. The Demo¬ 
crats elected one representative, clerk district 
court, assessor, sheriff, treasurer, school super¬ 
intendent and one commissioner. The official 
vote : 

Presidential Electors—Republican, 1,192; 

12 


Democratic, 1,048; Peoples party, 123; Pro¬ 
hibition, 33. 

Congressman — C. S. Hartman, rep., 
Li36; W. W. Dixon, dem., 1,044; C. Ed¬ 
wards. pp., 122; Benj. Atkins, pro., 36. 

Governor—John E. Rickards, rep., 1,159; 
T. E. Collins, dem., 1,024; Wm. Kennedy, pp., 
136; J. M. Waters, pro., 40. 

Judge Sixth Judicial District—Frank 
Henry, rep., 1,708. 

State Senator—Geo. M. Hatch, rep., 
1,191; J. M. Fox, dem., 1,142. 

Representatives—W. F. Meyer, rep., 985; 
Paul L. VanCleve, rep., 1,159; J. R. Hathorn, 
dem., 963; Thos. S. Ash, dem., 1,308. 

Clerk District Court—Alvin P. Vinnedge, 
rep., 1,058; Jas. A. Bailey, dem., 1,328. 

Sheriff—Samuel Jackson, rep., 1,161; 
John M. Conrow, dem., 1,245. 

Clerk and Recorder—Chas. Angus, rep., 
I , 4 I 9 ; Wm. T. Field, dem., 942. 

Treasurer—John Harvey, rep., 1,122; 
Harry Dyer, dem., 1,248.. 

Assessor—O. E. Lamphear, rep., 1,054; 
Thos. P. McDonald, dem., 1,334; 

County Attorney—Hugh J. Miller, rep., 

1 , 585 - 

Superintendent of Schools—Mathew R. 
Wilson, rep., 1,141; Josie B. Duke, dem., 
1,232. 

Public Administrator—Americus A. Rich, 
rep., 1,193; John Caldwell, dem., 1,172. 
Surveyor—A. G. Alexander, rep., 1,692. 
Coroner—*-W. L. Shawk, rep., 1,294; A. 
F. Leopold, dem., 1,018. 

Commissioners—Geo. T. Chambers, rep., 
L 457 ; John E. Gustin, rep., 1,298; H. C. Pro¬ 
vince, rep., 925; Harvey Bliss, dem., 1,049; 
Maurice Roth, dem., 1,307; Chas. Turley, 
dem., 845. 

Location State Capital—Anaconda, 253 j 
Boulder, 5; Bozeman, 1,348; Butte, 108; Deer 
Lodge, 2; Great Falls, 38; Helena, 678. 

After this election a contest was promised 
for the office of treasurer. Harry Dyer, dem.. 










178 


HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


was elected over his Republican rival, John 
Harvey, but at the time of the election he was 
not a citizen of the United States, although 
he had lived here for 19 years. On November 
26th, after the election, he perfected his citi¬ 
zenship in district court, and, although steps 
were taken to contest the election, he was in¬ 
ducted into office on March 6, 1893* 

Before the officers elected at the November 
election of 1892 had taken office there had 
been two changes owing to resignations. F. 
W. Wright on December 8, 1892, resigned the 
office of county treasurer to accept the office 
of state treasurer and W. L. P. McCaw was 
appointed to serve until Mr. Dyer was sworn 
in. On March 6, 1893, Wm. M. Wright re¬ 
signed as county commissioner and Maurice 
Roth was appointed to fill the unexpired term. 

The election of 1892 had given the Demo¬ 
crats considerable encouragment, but their 
hopes were sent glimmering when the returns 
from the election of November 6, 1894, came 
in. They showed the election of every Repub¬ 
lican on the ticket. This change in the senti¬ 
ment was due largely to the prevailing “hard 
times” and the fact that a Democrat occupied 
the white house. There was a slight falling 
off in the vote from that of two years before. 
The Peoples party entered the field this year 
and had almost a complete ticket in the field. 
Its candidates polled from 178 to 547 votes in 
Park county. Fusion was effected between the 
Democrats and Peoples party for the office of 
clerk and recorder, but the combined strength 
was not sufficient to elect their candidate. One 
of the greatest contests was for the permanent 
location of the state capitol, and Park county 
declared its preference for Helena over Ana¬ 
conda. The vote: 

I 

Congressman—Hal. S. Corbett, dem., 409; 
Chas. S. Hartman, rep., 1,276; Benj. F. Mai¬ 
den, pro., 21; Robert B. Smith, pp., 547. 

Location Capital—Helena, 1,549; Ana¬ 
conda, 767. 

Representatives—L. Becker, pp., 340; W. 


F. Collins, rep., 986; E. C. Day, dem., 721; 

H. P. De Hart, dem., 593; G. F. Hudson, pp., 
274; A. R. Joy, rep., 1,275; Robt. B. Kelley, 
pp., 510; W. F. Meyer, rep., 1,055; J. T. 
Smhh, dem., 759. 

Clerk and Recorder—Chas. Angus, rep., 

I, 204; R. F. Dougherty, dem. and pp., 1,055; 

Sherriff—J. M. Conrow, dem., 890; R. C. 
Griffith, pp., 199; Geo. T. Young, rep., 1,222; 

Treasurer—H. W. Dyer, dem., 9^9 > A. B. 
Hicks, pp., 263; S. L. Holliday, rep., 1,010. 

County Attorney—Sidney Fox, dem., 
1,015; M. D. Kelly, pp., 178; W. H. Poor- 
man, rep., 1,092. 

Assessor—Z. H. Daniels, rep., 917; J. H. 
Martin, dem., 835; A. A. Richards, pp., 525. 

Superintendent of Schools — Josie B. 
Duke, dem., 942; A. McAnnelly, rep., 1,322. 

Public Administrator—J. J. Berkey, rep., 
1 . 597 - 

Coroner—A. F. Leopold, dem., 659; W. 
L. Shawk, rep., 1 , 443 - 

Surveyor—A. G. Alexander, rep., 1,648. 

The memorable campaign of 1896, when 
the free silver sentiment was sweeping the state 
of Montana, found Park county in the throes 
of an exciting contest. Since the last election 
Park county had lost a large part of its terri¬ 
tory in the formation of Sweet Grass and Car¬ 
bon counties and the vote was consequently 
greatly reduced, 1,591 being the total vote 
cast. William Jennings Bryan carried the 
county over William McKinley for president 
by the handsome vote of 1,252 to 328. The 
fusion candidates for congressman and gov¬ 
ernor carried the county by slightly smaller 
majorities. The fusion state ticket, aside from 
governor, was generally successful in the 
county, although the vote was very close. A 
fusion was affected between the Democrats 
and Peoples parties on county officers and that 
combination elected senator, two representa¬ 
tives, two county commissioners, clerk district 
court, treasurer and superintendent of schools. 
The republicans elected one commissioner, 







HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


179 


county attorney, clerk and recorder, sheriff, 
assessor, public administrator and coroner. 
The vote on the county ticket was close for 
nearly all the offices and the campaign was an 
exciting and spectacular one. The official vote: 

Presidential electors—Republican, 328; 
Democratic, 1,252; Prohibition, 11. 

Congressman—O. F. Goddard, rep., 265; 
Chas. S. Hartman, dem., 1,126. 

Governor—Alexander C. Botkin, rep., 512; 
Robert B. Smith, fus., 1,029. 

Judge Sixth Judicial District—Frank 
Henry, rep., 1,108. 

Senator—John R. King, rep., 661; W. H. 
Campbell, fus., 868. 

Representatives—Walter F. Jellison, rep., 
719; John C. West, rep., 572; Geo. A. Bruffey, 
fus., 836; Albert J. Campbell, fus., 728. 

Clerk District Court—James A. Bailey, 
fus., 844; Geo. A. Mueller, rep., 685. 

Commissioners—Robt. Kelly, fus., 807; 
Napoleon Ebert, fus., 826; William A. Hall, 
fus., 725; Louis Van Dyke, rep., 754; John E. 
Gustine, rep., 717; John F. Locke, rep., 658. 

County Attorney—John T. Smith, fus., 
740; W. H. Poorman, rep., 836. 

Clerk and Recorder—James N. Sample, 
fu's., 747; Thos. H. Smith, rep., 768. 

Sheriff—Norval J. Malin, fus., 661; Geo. 
T. Young, rep., 943. 

Treasurer—Alexander Livingston, fus., 
1,023; Samuel L. Holliday, rep., 544. 

Assessor—Wilbur J. Williams, fus., 701; 
Zadok H. Daniels, rep., 850. 

Public Administrator—Edward M. Sybert, 
fus., 715; James J. Berky, rep., 716. 

Coroner—A. F. Leopold, fus., 708; W. L. 
Shawk, rep., 732. 

Superintendent of Schools—Annie Mc¬ 
Dermott, fus., 792; Annie McAnelly, rep., 788. 
Surveyor—S. H. Crookes, rep., 837. 

Dr. W. H. Campbell was appointed coroner 
on July 6, 1898, to fill the unexpired term. 

Fourteen hundred and twenty-two votes 
were cast at the general election November 8, 


1898. If anything, this election was more inter¬ 
esting than the one of two years before. Four 
county tickets were in the field—Republican, 
Democratic, Peoples party and Silver Republi¬ 
can.' For some of the offices each of these four 
parties had candidates in the field, while for 
others the same candidate would be represented 
on two or more tickets. The Silver Republi¬ 
can and Peoples party candidate for congress 
carried the county, while the Democratic can¬ 
didates for the other two offices on the state 
ticket went out of the county with pluralities. 
The Democratic and Silver Republican candi¬ 
dates for representatives were elected. On the 
county ticket the Republicans elected clerk and 
recorder, assessor and surveyor; the Demo¬ 
crats treasurer and public administrator; the 
Silver Republicans county • attorney, sheriff, 
coroner and superintendent of schools. The 
official vote: 

Congressman—A. J. Campbell, dem., 444; 
T. S. Hogan, sil. rep. and pp., 596; T. C. 
Marshall, rep., 382. 

Representatives—J. M. Conrow, # dem. and 
sil. rep., 812; T. M. Swindlehurst, sil. rep. and 
dem., 770; G. S. Robinson, rep., 446; C. W. 
Savage, rep., 293; J. J. Martin, Jr., pp., 184; 
C. H. Pennicott, pp., 116. 

County Attorney—J. A. Savage, dem., 
375; H. J. Miller,, sil, rep., 648; M. R. Wilson, 
rep., 371. 

Clerk and Recorder—David Boerum, dem., 
386 ;'T. H. Smith, sil. rep., 425; Chas. Angus, 
rep., 468; Ralph Downing, pp., 73. 

Sheriff—F. Beller, dem., 539; Geo. T. 
Young, sil. rep., 607; Wm. Gallagher, rep., 
286; James Baker, pp., 35. 

Treasurer — Alex. Livingston, dem., 
1,089; Geo. T. Chambers, rep., 248. 

Assessor—M. M. Coleman, dem., 395; W. 
H. North, sil. rep., 368; Z. H. Daniels, rep., 
483; R. D. Kennedy, pp., 169. 

Public Administrator—Ed. Cameron, 
dem., 440; Herman Kahle, sil. rep., 389; C. R. 
Glidden, rep., 312; Wm. Jones, pp., 109. 








i8o 


HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


Coroner—Joseph Stanley, dem., 326; S. 
E. Leard, sil. rep., 518; G. R. Wells, rep., 
422. 

Superintendent of Schools—Anna Mc¬ 
Dermott, dem., 564; Alma E. Evans, sil. rep., 
809. 

Surveyor—Geo. E. Reed, dem., 473; J. F. 
Sohl, sil. rep., 358; S. H. Crookes, rep., 511. 

During the terms of office of the officials 
elected at the 1898 election there were several 
changes. Sheriff Young was murdered No¬ 
vember 9, 1900, and Under Sheriff Frank 
Beller was appointed to fill the unexpired term. 
L. H. VanDyck resigned the office of county 
commissioner March 29, i 9 OI > an( ^ Albert 
Trager, who had been elected in 1900 was ap¬ 
pointed to serve until his term of office should 
begin. Commissioner R. B. Kelly resigned 
July 15, 1901, and M. H. Lashorn was named 
by the judge of the district court to fill the 
term. 

While the elections of 1896 and 1898 had 
been extremely nerve racking, beyond a doubt 
the most exciting election ever held in Park 
county was that of November 6, 1900. So 
close was the vote on national issues that 
there were only a few votes between the Mc¬ 
Kinley and Bryan electors. In fact, if the 
election of president had been left to Park 
county, two presidential electors would have 
cast their votes for McKinley and one for 
Bryan. The Republican candidate for con¬ 
gressman carried the county by a small plu¬ 
rality, the Democratic candidate for governor 
by a fair plurality, while the Republicans car¬ 
ried the county for the rest of the state ticket 
by a narrow margin. There were six tickets 
in the field for county offices—Democratic, Re¬ 
publican, Independent Democratic, Peoples 
party. Labor party and Silver Republicans. 
The tickets put forth by these several parties, 
in many instances, contained the names of sev¬ 
eral candidates on other tickets. In one in¬ 
stance—H. J. Miller for county attorney—the 
candidate was endorsed by no less than five 


parties. This fusion was prevalent in all the 
parties except the Republican. There were 
1,886 votes cast for president at this election. 
The Republicans elected their candidates for 
treasurer, assessor, clerk and recorder, clerk dis¬ 
trict court, two commissioners, coroner and 
surveyor. The fusion parties elected two repre¬ 
sentatives, sheriff, superintendent of schools, 
one commissioner, public administrator and 
county attorney. The reason for the 
mixup in political parties at this ■ elec¬ 
tion was due to splits in both the old 
parties. The straight Republican ticket 
was supported by those who were in sym¬ 
pathy with the national administration as re¬ 
garded the money question; the Silver Republi¬ 
can ticket was put in the field by those who be¬ 
lieved in the free coinage of silver; the regular 
Democratic ticket was supported by the W. A. 
Clark wing of the Democratic party; that la¬ 
beled Independent Democratic was put up by 
the Daly faction of the Democratic party; the 
Peoples party still refused burial; and the La¬ 
bor party represented the many wage earners 
of Park county. The battle of the ballots re¬ 
sulted as follows: • 

Presidential Electors—Lester S. Wilson, 
rep., 903; Harry C. Kessler, rep., 892; Paul 
McCormick, rep.,- 898; William W. Morris, 
dem., 900; Daniel G. O’Shea, dem., 871; 
Oliver Leiser, dem., 882; Walter N. Holden, 
soc. dem., 59; John Frank Mahie, soc. dem., 
61; Jas. G. Hoar, soc. dem., 58; Thomas P. 
Street, pro., 20; Wilder Nutting, pro., 22; J. 
N. Bennett, pro. 22. 

Congressman—Samuel G. Murray, rep., 
822; Caldwell Edwards, dem., 750; Cornelius 
F. Kelley, ind. dem., 129; Martin J. Elliott, 
soc. dem., 56. 

Governor—David E. Folsom, rep., 786; 
Joseph K. Toole, clem., 907; Thos. S. Hogan, 
ind. dem., 157; Julius F. Fox, soc. dem., 40. 

. Judge Sixth District—W. H. Poorman. 
rep., 1,022; Frank Henry, dem., ind. dem., pp., 
lab., 800. 








HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


State Senator—William E. Thompson, 
rep., 760; John M. Conrow, clem., sil. rep., 
pp., lab., 990; Robt. B. Kelley, ind. dem., 105! 

Representatives—A. P. Stark, rep.. 714; 
Geo. H. Phelps, rep., 691; Mentor Wetzstein,’ 
sd. rep., ind. dem., pp., 407; Robt. Orr sil. 
rep., md. dem., 180; Benj. F. Myers, ind. dem, 
lab., dem., 732; Thos. M. Swindlehurst, ind. 
dem, lab, dem, 790; J. E. Ferte, pp. 28. 

Treasurer—Geo. T., Chambers, rep, 638; 
Geo. T. Young, sil. rep, ind. dem, 543; Maur¬ 
ice Roth, dem, lab, 464; John E. Gustine. pp, 
md, 221. 

Sheriff—A. S. Robertson, rep, 892; 
Frank Beley dem, ind. dem, pp, lab, 983. 

Assessor Zadok H. Daniels, rep, 939; 
James H. Proffitt, dem, ind. dem, pp. lab 
882. 

Clerk and Recorder—Chas. Angus, rep, 
914; James C. Robinson, dem, ind. dem. pp 
lab, 896. 

Clerk District Court—Arthur C. Davis, Jr, 
re P-, 987; James A. Bailey, dem, ind. dem.| 
lab, 849; C. J. Grass, pp, 12. 

Attorney Mathew R. Wilson, rep, 983; 
Hugh J. Miller, dem, sil. rep, ind. dem. pp 
lab, 968. 

Superintendent of Schools—L. D. Glenn, 
rep, 723; Mrs. Nora Colvin, dem, ind. dem, 
lab, i.iii. 

Commissioners—F. A. Krieger, rep, 804; 
Al. Trager, rep, 818; Frank Gibson, rep, 776; 
John F. Locke, sil. rep, ind. dem, 424; J. C. 
McCartney, sil. rep, ind. dem, 150; E. C. 
Culley, sil. rep, 157; Napoleon Ebert, dem, 
lab, 799* Samuel O. N. C. Brady, dem, lab, 
619; Thos. Kane, dem, lab, 488; William 
Jones, ind, dem, pp, 256; John Gilchrist, pp, 
26. 

Coroner-—Dr. S. E. Leard, rep, 1,044; 
Albert F. Leopold, dem, ind. dem, lab, 646. 

Surveyor—S. H. Crookes, rep, 1,122. 

Public Administrator—W. H. Yeaton, 
rep, 781; Emanuel Cameron, dem, sil. rep, 
ind. dem, pp, 830. 


Although Frank Henry did not carry Park 
county for judge, the other counties of the dis¬ 
trict gave him majorities and he was elected. 

Compared with the three previous ones the 
election of 1902 was a quiet one, and the vote 
dwindled down to 1,579. Where two years 
before there had been six county tickets in 
the field, this year there were only the two old 
parties and a part of a ticket by the Socialists. 
Although not a very hard fought campaign, 
the vote of the two parties was close. For the 
head of the ticket—congressman—the Repub¬ 
licans carried the county by a big majority. 
Of the district and county candidates the Re¬ 
publicans elected one representative, sheriff, 
clerk and recorder, county attorney, surveyor, 
coroner and public administrator, while the 
Democrats elected one representative, treas¬ 
urer, assessor and superintendent of schools. 
The Socialists polled from 137 to 227 votes.. 
The official vote: 

Congressman—Joseph M. Dixon, rep, 
859; John M. Evans, dem, 523; Geo. B. 
Sproule, soc, 183; Martin Dee, lab, 14. 

Representatives—Chas. S, Hefferlin, rep, 
685; M. W. Pettigrew, rep, 552; Thos. M. 
Swindlehurst, dem, 666; Benj. Meyers, dem, 
624; John F. Mabie, soc, 195; William Dick, 
soc, 180. 

Treasurer—Geo. T. Chambers, rep, 685; 
Henry McCue, dem., 818; James D. Graham, 
soc., 184. 

Sheriff—A. S. Robertson, rep, 825; Frank 
Beley, dem, 702; Theo. Madden, soc, 227. 

Assessor—Z. H. Daniels, rep, 746; Jas. H, 
Proffitt, dem, 775; Herst Beever, soc, 184. 

Clerk and Recorder—Chas. Angus, rep, 
898; William Mitchell, dem, 637; M. L. 
Baker, soc, 137. 

County Attorney—A. P. Stark, rep, 
L055- 

Superintendent of Schools—L. D. Glenn, 
rep, 740; Mrs. Nora Colvin, dem, 927. 

Coroner—S. E. Leard, rep, 1,059. 






182 


HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


Surveyor—S. H. Crookes, rep., 1,093. 

Public Administrator—C. O. Krohne, 
rep., 822; Emanuel D. Cameron, dem., 615. 

The election of November 8, 1904, was a 
Republican landslide, as was the case through¬ 
out the whole country. The number of votes 
cast was 2,366, and of these President Roose¬ 
velt received a plurality of 825. The Repub¬ 
licans carried the county for congressman by 
nearly as large a vote, for governor by a small 
plurality and for the rest of the state ticket 
by a large plurality. That party elected all 
the candidates on the legislative and county 
ticket with the exception of treasurer, assessor 
and superintendent of schools. The Socialists 
polled an average vote of nearly 250. The 
vote as officially canvassed: 

Presidential Electors—Paul McCormick, 
rep., 1,408; Arthur W. Merrifield, rep., 1,347; 
Thomas Duncan, rep., 1,343; Paul A- Fusz, 
dem., 583; Patrick Carney, dem., 567; Ed¬ 
ward Cardwell, dem., 572; Walter N. Holden, 
soc., 365; John F. Mabie, soc., 354; Jas. G. 
Hoar, soc., 344; Prohibition electors, 9; 
Scattering, 1. 

Congressman—Jos. M. Dixon, rep., 1,371; 
Austin C. Gormley, dem., 692; John H. 
Walsh, soc., 310. 

Governor—William Lindsay, rep., 1,154; 
Jos. K. Toole, dem., 1,020; Malcom Geo. 
O’Malley, soc., 281. 

Judge Sixth Judicial District—Frank 
Henry, rep., 1,654. 

Senator—Arthur W. Miles, rep., 1,276; 
W. B. Dolenty, dem., 900; Jas. H. Lyons, soc., 
255 - 

Representatives—L. H. Van Dyck, rep., 
1,255; W. H. Williams, rep., 1,085; Benj. F. 
Myers, dem., 815; William A. Hall, dem., 
622; William Dick, soc., 265; Daniel F. 
Keeler, soc., 210. 

Sheriff—Almon S. Robertson, rep., 1,322; 
Frank M. Cain, dem., 904; William H. Smith, 
soc., 245. 

Treasurer—Chas. N. Sargent, rep., 849; 


Harry McCue, dem., 1,294; William D. New¬ 
ton, soc., 233. 

Clerk and Recorder—Chas. Angus, rep., 
1,421; O. H. Sandager, dem., 706; Ole S. An¬ 
derson, soc., 245. 

Clerk District Court—Arthur Davis, rep., 
1,332; Jas. E. Mallery, dem., 807; John 
Beard, soc., 239. 

Assessor—John Harvey, rep., 1,028; Jas. 

H. Proffitt, dem., 1,150; Marshall L. Baker, 
soc. 247. 

County Attorney—A. P. Stark, rep., 

I, 474; Wm. D. Cameron, soc., 372. 

Superintendent of Schools—Miss Mary J. 
Davies, rep., 1,165; Mrs. Nora Colvin, dem., 
1,164. 

Coroner—Dan Short, rep., 1,180; H. J. 
Mallory, dem., 835; John Fodness, soc., 295. 

Public Administrator—C. O. Krohne, rep., 
1,225; Frank Acklemire, dem., 745; Joseph 
Herman, soc., 217. 

Surveyor—S. H. Crookes, rep., 1,196; H. 
P. Rygaard, dem., 942. 

Mrs. Nora Colvin, who, according to the 
official count, had been defeated for superin-^ 
tendent of schools by one vote, on November 
26th commenced an action in district court de¬ 
manding a recount. The contest was heard 
before Judge Henry December 20th, when a 
recount was made and Mrs. Colvin declared 
the winner by five votes. Upon an order of 
the court Mrs. Colvin was given the office. A 
change was made in the personnel of the board 
of county commissioners November 11, I 9 ° 5 > 
when Judge Henry appointed M. H. Lashorn 
to fill the unexpired term of F. A. Krieger, 
who had absented himself from the state for 
several months. 

The last election held in Park county prior 
to the publication of this work was the general 
election of November 6, 1906. For congress¬ 
man there were cast 2,192 votes. 

The Republicans, Democrats and - Social¬ 
ists had full tickets in the field. The Repub¬ 
licans carried the county for the head of the 








HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


ticket by 154. The Socialist vote was about 
the same as two years before. The Republi¬ 
cans elected one representative, three commis¬ 
sioners, treasurer, clerk and recorder, county 
attorney, coroner, public administrator and 
surveyor, while the Democrats elected one 
representative, sheriff, assessor and school su¬ 
perintendent. The official vote: 

Congressman—Charles N. Pray, rep., 
1,051; T. J. Walsh, dem., 897; John Hudson, 
soc., 247; J. H. Calderhead, pro., 1. 

Representatives—H. J. Miller, rep., 1,053; 
L. H. VanDyke, rep., 904; Thos. M. Swindle- 
hurst, dem., 955; John M. Darroch, dem., 
685; J. F. Mabie, soc., 235; J. F. Rooney, soc., 
255 - 

Commissioner (six year term)—M. H. 
Lashorn, rep., 1,059; John M. Conrow, dem., 
1,009; John Uhl, soc., 224. 

Commissioner (four year term)—E. G. 
Blair, rep., 1,057;- Emanuel Cameron, dem., 
837; Chas. Elliott, soc., 215. 

Commissioner (two year term)—Lawrence 
Link, rep., 1,228; Martin Wilson, dem., 674; 


183 


Clarence Bishop, soc., 236. 

Sheriff—A. S. Robertson, rep., 1,043; 
Harry McCue, dem., 1,156; O. S. Anderson, 
soc., 197. 

Treasurer—Joseph Brooks, rep., 1,308; M. 
J. Walsh, dem., 783; A. D. Peugh, soc., 211. 

Clerk and Recorder—Ray H. Stevens rep., 
1,329; Walter Shaw, dem., 750; R. B. Nesbit, 
soc., 224. 

Assessor—Daniel Short, rep., 828; Jas. H. 
Proffitt, dem., 1,266; M. L. Baker, soc., 225. 

County Attorney—O. M. Harvey, rep., 
1,134; J. F. O’Conner, dem., 1,051; 

Superintendent of Schools—Mary J. Da¬ 
vies, rep., 868; Jennie B. Smith, dem., 1,308; 
Mrs. Bessie Willey, soc., 168. 

Coroner—S. E. Leard, rep., 1,083 ; J err y 
Melloy, dem., 833; Emil Feyder, soc., 298. 

Public Administrator—C. O. Keohne, rep., 
996; Harry W. Dyer, dem., 918; J. S. Jeays, 
soc., 259. 

Surveyor—Charles T. Sacket, rep., 1,234; 
F. W. Appleton, dem., 780. 


CHAPTER VI 


DESCRIPTIVE. 


Park county lies in the southern part of the 
state of Montana, a little to the west of mid¬ 
way between the eastern and western bound¬ 
aries of the state. To the north is Meagher 
county; its eastern boundaries are Sweet Grass 
county and a small portion of Carbon county; 
on the south is the Yellowstone National Park 
and the state of Wyoming; on the west is the 
mother county of Gallatin. The area of the 
county is 2,788 square miles, and it ranks 
among the smaller counties in area, there being, 
only nine smaller in the state. 


About three-fifths of the area of the county 
is suitable for agriculture and grazing; the rest 
is mountainous and devoted to mining and 
lumbering. Geologists tell us that most of the 
mountainous area of Park county belongs to 
the eozoic and silurian formations, such as 
slate, granite, gneiss and prophyry, with the 
several varieties of schistone rocks, talcose 
schist artd mica schist. Along the base of the 
mountains is a Triassic belt of variable widths, 
and succeeding this is a broad area of nearly 
horizontal creaceous beds, followed by the Ter- 









184 


HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


tiary formation, which covers nearly one-third 
of the county. The formation is the same as 
that of California, the greater part of Col¬ 
orado and the Australian gold fields. The gen¬ 
eral strike of the country is NNE and SSW, 
with a break crossing at nearly right angles, 
and nearly all the mineral so far discovered is 
located in this. Concerning the action of the 
glaciers in the National Park and in Park 
county, Chittenden, in his “History of the 
Yellowstone Park,” says: 

“Next in order of the great events in the 
geological evolution of the park is the glacial 
epoch. Its work is everywhere visible and 
certainly overspread the entire region. Un¬ 
questionably the park was covered with one 
vast sheet of ice, which even the warm ground 
where the hot springs are could not resist. 
Perhaps the most extensive and important of 
all the glaciers was the one which debouched 
from the third canyon of the Yellowstone and 
the lower Gardiner, into the valley below. It 
came from two sources—one in the Absaroka 
range at the headwaters of the Lamar river, 
and the other from the Gallatin range, whence 
ft moved eastward and curved around to the 
left over Terrace mountain, joining the main 
ice stream in the Gardiner valley. The debris 
borne along by these combined glaciers are 
strewn everywhere throughout the north of 
the park, and are particularly prominent in the 
valley of the Yellowstone from the park bound¬ 
ary north, halfway to Livingston.” 

In our description of the topographical 
features of Park county we shall first take up 
the mountains. As stated before, about two- 
thirds of the county’s surface is mountainous. 
Along the western side of the county is the 
Belt range of mountains, the crest of which 
is the dividing line between Park and Gallatin 
counties, and the eastern base of which is the 
western boundary of the Yellowstone valley. 
These mountains present an interesting study 
in the various gigantic forms caused by vio* 
lent upheavals in ages past. To the north of 


this range are the Bridger mountains, which 
lie almost wholly in Gallatin county, but which 
extend for some little distance into Park coun¬ 
ty. In the northeast corner of the county are 
a mass of rugged, snow covered peaks known 
as the Crazies, a most curious and beautiful 
range of mountains. In the southeastern part 
of the county is the Absaroka range, which 
covers the greater part of the county east of 
the Yellowstone river. This name was bestowed 
on these mountains about the year 1885, in 
honor of the immemorial home of the Crow In¬ 
dians, Absaroka, which was in the valley of the 
Big Horn river to east of the mountains. The 
range was first known as the Yellowstone 
mountains, and in 1873 was rechristened by 
Major Jones, Sierra Shoshone. They are also 
sometimes called the Snow or Snowy 
mountains. 

In the Absaroka range within the bound¬ 
aries of Park county are the following promi¬ 
nent mountain peaks and their elevations above 
sea level: Haystack Butte, 10,997; Emigrant 
Peak, 10,960; Needle Mountain, 10,933; Pyr¬ 
amid Mountain, 10,720; Sheep Mountain, 10,- 
628; Mount Cowan, 10,600; Mineral Peak, 
10,250; Chico Peak, 10,200; Sunset Peak, 
10,200; Mount Delano, 10,086; Doane Moun¬ 
tain, 8,650; Old Baldy, 8,640; Monitor Peak, 
8,450. One of the best known of these moun- 
j tain peaks is Old Baldy, the highest in the im¬ 
mediate vicinity of Livingston, w'hich rears its 
bald head to the southeast of the county seat 
town. 

While that peak has been known as Old 
Baldy since there were white settlements in 
the county, it was known by all the old trap¬ 
pers and fur traders as Crow Test Peak. Ac¬ 
cording to E. S. Topping, who has written en¬ 
tertainingly of the early history of the Yel¬ 
lowstone valley, the name had its origin in the 
fact that in the early days, one test of the 
bravery, strength and endurance of a young 
Crow warrior was his ability to climb the steep 
rugged sides of that mountain and re- 







HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


main there for a time. He declared 
that he had known young Crow bucks 
to occupy a position on the extreme 
peak of that mountain for twenty-four 
hours, clothed in nothing whatever except the 
circumambient air and a proud sense of vic¬ 
tory. Thus did ambitious- Crows win their 
spurs and prove their right to enter upon the 
active duties of tribal life and anticipate in 
horse stealing expeditions against the Sioux, 
and other feats of bravery and prowess. 

To the west of the Yellowstone river and 
forming a part of the Belt range is Cinnabar 
mountain, one of the most prominent physical 
features of southern Park county. It was so 
named from the color of its rocks, which have 
been taken for cinnabar, although the red color 
is due to iron. There is a great red gash down 
the side of the mountain, which is known as 
the Devil's Slide. There is an old legend con¬ 
cerning this, to the effect that the imps of hell 
had been coasting down this mountain and had 
left a red streak of blood, marking the course 
from summit to base. The poet has told of it 
in rhyme: 

Ages ago, one could easily see, 

\ ellowstone valley had been on a spree; 

The mountains had risen, canyons had sunk, 

Old Mother Nature got terribly drunk; 

The devil, as drunk as devils could be, 

Slid to the bottom of Cinnabaree. 

But Electric Peak, also in this vicinity, 
leads all the others in height, grandeur and 
character. It is 11,155 f ee t high and is on the 1 
northern boundary line of the National Park. 

It is a mountain of mineral, and the electrical 
display upon its peak during a thunder storm 
is beautiful and appalling. On July 26, 1872, 
Henry Gannett ascended this mountain with 
surveying instruments, when he was overtaken 
by an electric storm. He reported his experi¬ 
ence as follows: 

A thunder storm was approaching as we neared 
the summit of the mountain. I was above the others | 
■of the party, and. when about fifty feet below the sum- | 


185 


mit, the electric current began to pass through my 
body. At first I felt nothing, but heard a crackling 
noise, similar to a rapid discharge of sparks from a 
1 triction machine. Immediately after, I began to feel 
a tingling or pricking sensation in my head and the 
end of my fingers, which, as well as the noise, in¬ 
creased rapidly, until, when I reached the top, the 
noise, which had not changed its character, was deaf¬ 
ening. and my hair stood completely on end, while 
the tingling, pricking sensation was absolutely pain¬ 
ful. Taking off my hat partially relieved me. I 
started down again and met the others 25 or 30 feet 
below the summit. They were affected similarly, but 
in less degree. One of them attempted to go to the 
top, but had proceeded but a few feet when he re¬ 
ceived quite a severe shock, which felled him as if 
he had stumbled. We then returned down the moun¬ 
tain about three hundred feet, and to this point we 
still heard and felt the electricity. 


Park county is exceptionally well watered, 
and it is fortunate that this is so. Nearly all 
the land in the county needs to be irrigated 
before it can be cultivated, and the numerous 
streams in all parts of the county furnish an 
abundance of water for this purpose. 

The principal stream of the county is the 
\ ellowstone river, which enters from the 
south, traverses the county in a general north¬ 
erly direction for about 55 miles, then turns 
abruptly to the east, and after a journey of 
about 20 miles leaves Park county at the town 
of Springdale. This mighty tributary of the 
Missouri has its source in the mountains south 
of the Yellowstone National Park, in which 
region also are started the streams that form 
the Snake and Colorado rivers, that flow into 
the Pacific, and the Big Horn, which with the 
Yellowstone in time find their way into the 
Atlantic. The \ ellowstone flows through the 
lake of the same name, then leaves that beauti¬ 
ful body of water, flowing in a northerly direc¬ 
tion for about 150 miles to the great bend at 
Livingston. There it wheels to the east and 
holds that course in a general sense for an 
hundred miles, when it swings slowly but sure¬ 
ly to the northeast and continues for three 
hundred miles or more, finally mingling its 
waters with those of the Missouri. A peculiar 












HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


186 


feature of the Yellowstone is the fact that all 
its. tributaries of importance come from the 
south side. There is not one stream of conse¬ 
quence flowing into it from the north. From 
the south come such important streams as 
Clark’s Fork, Big Horn, Tongue and Powder 
rivers, while from the north probably the most 
important is the comparatively small Shields 
river. 

Within the county of Park there are in the 
neighborhood of 40 creeks and rivers, of suf¬ 
ficient size and importance to bear names, 
which empty into the Yellowstone. From the 
east or south side come the following creeks: 
Mendenhall, Greeley, Lock, Mission, Poison, 
Chicken, Suce, Deep, Pogl, Pine, Barney 
(formed by Cascade, George and McDonald), 
Shorthill, Strawberry, Elbow, Neill, Emi¬ 
grant, Six-Mile, Cedar, Bassett, Trail. From 
the north or west side these creeks empty into 
the Yellowstone: Ferry, Dry, Owl, Fleshmean, 
Billman, Strickland, Trail, Eight-Mile, Big, 
Dailey, Rock, Tom Miner, Mulhern (formed 
by the Cottonwood, Dickson, Deaf Jim and 
Hoppe), Beattie, Reese. Besides these creeks 
are Shields river, flowing in from the north, 
and Gardiner river, which enters the Yellow¬ 
stone on the southern boundary of the county, 
all of the river except the mouth being in the 
National Park. In the southern part of the 
county there are also a number of other tribu¬ 
taries of the Yellowstone, which empty into 
that river in the National Park, but which rise 
and flow for the greater part of their length 
within Park county. Among these are Eagle 
creek, Bear Gulch creek (formed by North 
Fork, Pine and Palmer creeks), Crevasse 
creek and Hell Roaring creek, of which latter 
steam Grizzly creek is a feeder. Two other 
important streams in this part of the coun¬ 
ty are Buffalo creek and Slough creek, which 
are branches of Lamar river, which in turn 
enters the Yellowstone within the National 
Park. 

Next to the Yellowstone, the most impor¬ 


tant river of the county is Shields river, one 
of its tributaries. This stream is noted be¬ 
cause of its historical importance and because 
of the rich valley through which it flows. The 
name was bestowed upon it by Captain Wil¬ 
liam Clark in 1806 in honor of one of the 
members of the famous Lewis and Clark ex¬ 
pedition. But among the .early trappers it was 
known as Twenty-five Yard creek. Lieuten¬ 
ant Bradley, who visited the river in 1876, said 
in his journal: “Two reasons are assigned for 
the name: its width, which isn’t 25 yards, but 
much less; and the asserted fact that it rises 
only 25 yards from the source of another 
stream, which I can neither affirm nor deny.” 
Shields river, as it flows through the valley, is 
increased in volume by the addition of num¬ 
erous tributary streams, some of them of con¬ 
siderable size, that have their sources in the 
neighboring mountains, and which by corro¬ 
sion have created little valleys throughout the 
plateaus that extend from the river to the 
mountain ranges. The creeks that find their way 
into Shields river from x the east side are Crazy, 
Rock, Cottonwood, Dry, Little Indian, Big 
Indian, Horse, Daisy Dean, Elk. Porcupine, 
Antelope. From the west come Willow, Ray, 
Bangtrail, Canyon, Brackett, Looking Glass, 
Flathead, Cottonwood and Potter. 

In the extreme southeastern corner of the 
county are a number of more or less important 
streams. One fork of Clark’s Fork takes its 
rise there and is fed by Tidewater, w r hich is 
wholly within Park county. Soda Butte creek 
also rises here and flows thence into the Park. 
It is fed by the Republic and Miller creeks. 

Along the boundary line between Park 
and Sweet Grass counties flows Boulder river, 
which empties into the Yellowstone at the town 
of Big Timber. The greater part of this river 
is in Sweet Grass county, but in several places 
it makes a dip into Park county. The West 
Boulder river, one 'its principal tributaries, 
rises in and flows for the greater part of its 
length in Park county. Its branches are 







HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


Davis and Grouse creeks. The western tribu¬ 
taries of the Boulder river, which are almost 
wholly in Park county, are the following- 
creeks: Cowan, Froze-to-Death, Falls, Great 
Falls, Chippie, Four-Mile, War Eagle, Copper 
and Sheep. From the east two creeks enter 
the river within the boundaries of Park county. 
They are Up and Down creek and Basin creek. 

The principal industries of Park county are 
mining, agriculture and stock raising, and it is 
hard to tell which should be placed first. It 
was the minerals of the county that first led 
to its settlement. For some years this was the 
only industry of the county. Then, when the 
railroad was built, settlers rushed in and be¬ 
gan raising stock and tilling the soil, and all 
three industries have been carried on ever 
since. 

The mining products of the county are 
principally coal, gold and silver. Among the 
other minerals of the county, but which have 
not yet been extensively developed, are copper, 
lead, iron, platinum, tin, bismuth, zinc and cin¬ 
nabar. The coal mines are found in the foot¬ 
hills of the Belt mountains, on the west side 
of the Yellowstone river. The precious metals 
are found in the Bear Gulch district, in the 
vicinity of Jardine, in the New World mining 
district ‘about Cooke, and in the Boulder dis¬ 
trict on the east side of the county. Concern¬ 
ing the mining of gold and silver in Park 
county a writer a few years ago said: 

But little of the hidden wealth stored up ages ago 
in these mountains has been discovered, while it is 
nevertheless a fact that Park county has been pros¬ 
pected only in a superficial way. Whole districts, ag¬ 
gregating an enormous area, and filled with the great¬ 
est possibilities have been unvisited by those of prac¬ 
tical knowledge in quest of hidden mineral deposits. 
It is no exaggeration to say that if the practiced eye, 
aided by a knowledge of metalliferous formations 
searches among the mountains for a day it is certain 
to find locations that will justify work and explora¬ 
tion. This is as true of the old districts as it is of 
those but seldom visited. As an example the district 
of Bear Gulch had been prospected to a certain ex¬ 
tent for more than thirty years, when a common land¬ 
slide in the spring of 1898 revealed to the naked eye 


187 


one of the richest lodes of gold bearing ore in the 
state.- The Boulder district has been worked for its 
placer diggings for many years, when during the sum¬ 
mer of 1899 E. H. Cowles, an expert placer miner, had 
used his hydraulic works so thoroughly that on reach¬ 
ing bed rock, the leads of many rich veins of gold 
bearing quartz were revealed to him. The Emigrant 
district was until recent years only worked for its rich 
placer gold; but great possibilities await the develop¬ 
ment of the recent discovered quartz leads in the 
Great Eastern, St. Julien and the North Star. 

The smelting of the ores in Park county has only 
been in operation in the New World mining district. 
This district is only in its infancy; but fabulous pos¬ 
sibilities for her future are often given as the judg¬ 
ment of prominent mining experts. 

Gold to the value of many thousand dollars is ob¬ 
tained annually by the Bear Gulch Mining and Mill¬ 
ing company. 

Gold, fine ounces,' 3,487,814—$71,065.93. 

Placer mining to some extent has always attended 
the discovery of gold. It has been extracted from the 
gravel, either by the old process of panning, or the 
more expensive methods of dredging and hydraulics. 
About one-half million dollars have been realized from 
the partly discovered placer districts of Emigrant 
gulch, while the Boulder district and Bear and Crev¬ 
asse gulches by their past year’s output bear evidence of 
many millions of dollars in undeveloped dust and 
nuggets. 

While it is true that in this district silver usually 
accompanies gold in some quantities at least, of the few 
discoveries that have been made in silver leads, the de¬ 
crease in its marketable price has caused such proposi¬ 
tions to remain idle for the time being. The production 
of silver in Park county for 1898 was about 60.34 fine 
ounces, with a coming value of $78.01. Some of the 
assays made of silver in the New World mining district 
yield 150 ounces per ton and are now lying dormant. 

The status of gold and silver mining in 
Park county at the present time is told in the 
annual report of William Walsh, state mine in¬ 
spector. The report was made early in 1907 
and covers the preceding year. The report 
says: 

The mining of precious metals in Park county dur¬ 
ing the past year has made quite satisfactory progress. 
The chief mineral district of the county is at Jardine, 
formerly called Bear Gulch, where the Kimberly Gold 
Mining company has its operating property and plant, 
and there are also many prospects in the vicinity that 
are especially promising. It is unquestionably a fact 
that there is a large mineral area in this county in 
which there are great bodies of gold ore that only 
await the investment of money in development and 










HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


188 


mills, to produce fortunes in return for comparatively 
small investments. This area is over 20 miles square 
and will compare favorably with any gold district in 
the range. A characteristic of the district is that Val¬ 
ues constantly increase with depth. The field is not 
even prospected, there being as good claims to be dis¬ 
covered as those now located. 

The following is the production of metals for 
1906: 

Gold, fine ounces, 3,487814—$71,065.93. 

Silver, fine ounces, 1,268.74—$1,640.39. 

The Kimberly Gold Mines: This group consists 
of fifteen claims located at Jardine. The property has 
been thoroughly developed by tunnels running in 
length from 250 to 900 feet, the aggregate lineal feet 
of the workings being over 16,000, and the exploration 
is steadily pushed ahead, placing immense reserves of 
ore ahead of the drifting and upraising have been con¬ 
structed during the present year. The veins in the 
upper workings lie flat, and the ore occurs in large 
chambers. The country formation is schist and shale, 
and the strike of the veins is east and west. The 
ore value is in gold. The output of the mine is treated 
in a forty-stamp mill and cyanide plant, and this ca¬ 
pacity is to be increased one-third, the mine now being 
in shape to produce 700 tons of ore per day. The plant 
is operated by electricity. The company has done a 
great deal of surface exploring and in this work dis¬ 
covered shelite ore in such quantity that a mill is be¬ 
ing erected for its treatment. There are 80 men em¬ 
ployed in the mines and mills. The mills are well 
ventilated and provided with proper protection. The 
property is owned and operated by the Kimberly Gold 
Mining company, Mr. H. H. Ryan being the superin¬ 
tendent, and Mr. W. G. McQuillan the foreman. 

The Crevasse and Helena Chief Mines: These 
mines are located four miles east of Jardine and are 
owned by Mr. W. G. Conrad. There are three 
claims in the group, and they are operated under the 
supervision of Mr. J. G. Fletcher, who is employing 
thirty men. The mine is developed with a 1,200 foot 
tunnel that exposes large bodies of ore. During the 
present year 800 feet of work has been accomplished, 
and upraises made to the surface that afford exits 
and good ventilation. The veins are well defined fis¬ 
sures with a dip to the southeast at an angle of 45 de¬ 
grees and run in width from three to six feet. The ore 
is an iron oxide and carries gold as its chief value. 
The country formation is gneiss, shale and granite, with 
the latter as the ‘hanging wall of the veins. A 20-stamp 
mill is located near the workings and is treating from 
600 to 700 tons of ore per month. It is intended to en¬ 
large the mill to forty stamps and equip it with the most 
improved value-saving machinery. 

The Buffalo-Montana Mining Company: This 
is an old property, located at Cooke, and is sixty- 
five miles east of Gardiner, the entrance point, to the 
Yellowstone National Park. The mine has been idle 


for years, but now the old workings are being retim¬ 
bered and put in shape for the extraction of ore, and 
new departments is in active progress, over 300 feet 
of exploration having been accomplished since the re¬ 
sumption of the work the past summer. The company 
smelter, that has been idle for something like twenty 
years, has been repaired and put to work treating 50 
tons of ore per day taken from the old dumps. The 
resurrection of this property, and the starting of the 
smelter which is to be remodeled and made thoroughly 
modern in the near future, marks a new era in the min¬ 
ing history of Cooke. The company is employing 100 
men. Mr. Chas. Eaton is the superintendent and Mr. 
N. P. Trendennick is the foreman. 

The mining of coal is one of the important 
industries of Park county and one of the old¬ 
est. The principal coal mine is at Aldridge, 
where about four hundred men are employed, 
and about as many more engaged in coke 
burning. Until recently the mine at Cokedale 
was in active operation. In other portions of 
the country coal has been mined on a limited 
scale. 

Rich deposits of copper have been discov¬ 
ered in the Boulder and Six-Mile districts, but 
lack of capital has prevented development 
Copper occurs as a by-product in the output of 
gold and silver. 

Iron ore is also found in the Boulder, Six- 
Mile, Emigrant, New World and Sheepeater 
districts. The ore has only been utilized in the 
fluxing of the more valuable metals, with 
which it is found as a by-product. 

Farming has become one of the most im¬ 
portant, if not the most important, industries 
of Park county. In the early history of the 
county this was not considered an agricultural 
country, and very little effort was made to till 
the soil. But in recent years there has been a 
marked change in the industrial pursuits of 
the county, and diversified farming has estab¬ 
lished itself as a sure means of livlihood. The 
former large numbers of cattle and sheep, 
grazing at will on the vast pastures, have been 
cut up into smaller bands, and it has been 
found a more profitable way of engaging in 
the stock raising business. Now the stock 








HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


189 


raiser also engages in farming, and the results 
are beneficial to the farmer and the community 
as a whole. 

The farming lands of Park county are 
most all located in the valleys of the Yellow¬ 
stone and Shields rivers and their tributaries. 
The soil is what is termed semi-arid, as it is 
in nearly all parts of Montana. Only occasion¬ 
ally could crops be raised without irrigation, 
and no one thinks of trying it, because the lay 
of the land is such that irrigation is easy to 
bring about. Perennial streams flow down 
from the snow capped peaks surrounding the 
valleys, and the construction of irrigating 
ditches is £ work of only comparatively small 
labor. The streams are numerous in the agri¬ 
cultural lands; their currents are swift. When 
once the ditches are made the settler can bid 
defiance to the exigencies of the season. The 
system of irrigation here is the most perfect 
in the world, combining light expense, an 
abundance of water, and a constant descent. 

It is acknowledged by all that there are two 
portions of the county that excel the other 
places. These are Shields valley and Para¬ 
dise valley, the latter a portion of the upper 
Yellowstone. For productiveness, uniformity 
of climate, fertility of soil and wonderful nat¬ 
ural resources these valleys have no compeer 
in Montana. 

Paradise valley, lying between the lower 
and middle canyons of the Yellowstone, is so 
called from the evidences of prosperity and 
pleasing picture of contentment on every hand. 
A single instance is yet to be recorded of a 
traveler through the valley failing to express 
admiration for its wonderful beauty. The sub¬ 
lime in nature is expressed by the awe inspir¬ 
ing scenery of the upper Yellowstone more 
fully to the onlooker than ever brush or pen 
portrayed it. Flanking the valley on the east 
the tall serrated peaks of the snowy range rear 
their heads, cleaving the low lying clouds like 
a wedge, an impassable barrier, and seeming 
to guard the seclusion of the valley like huge 


sentinels, grim and vigilant. To the west 
stretch the rounded heights of the Belt moun¬ 
tains, less imposing than those to the east, but 
not less interesting from a geological point of 
view. These ranges, after running parallel 
north and south for thirty-five miles, gradually 
trend toward each other, until they almost 
meet, forming the lower and middle canyons 
of the Yellowstone, and enclosing the valley, 
that lies in an oval shaped basin. The valley 
is thirty-five miles in length and from two to 
eleven in width. 

The general topography of the valley is 
level. The alluvial deposits along the river 
form the bottom lands proper. These are 
flanked on each side by a bench rising about 
40 feet high, which slopes gently upward until 
it merges into the steep ascent of the moun¬ 
tains. Here and there an isolated butte rises 
upward from the bench lands. This bench land 
is ribbed every few miles with strips of timber 
that follow the course of the Yellowstone’s 
tributaries as they rush down from their moun¬ 
tain sources, creating by erosion little valleys 
that intersect the bench lands at right angles 
with the general course of the valley. These 
streams furnish, throughout the summer, 
abundant quantities of water for the purpose 
of irrigation. Rising as they do in the snow 
fields of the surrounding mountains, they are 
steadily fed by the melting snows through the 
months of June, July and August, the time 
when plenty of water for growing crops is 
most needed. The topography of Paradise 
valley also renders irrigation an easy matter. 

Shields river valley, with its many trib¬ 
utary valleys, occupies nearly the entire north¬ 
ern portion of the county. The river empties 
into the Yellowstone at a point about eight 
miles northeast of Livingston, and from this 
point northwest for a distance of about 50 
miles extends the valley, One of the richest in 
Montana. The valley has an average width, 
including the bench lands of twenty miles, 
making a* total area of 640,000 acres. The 








HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY. 


190 


Crazy mountains, one of the loftiest and most 
inaccessible in Montana, border the valley on 
the north and east with an apparently impas¬ 
sible front, while it is enclosed on the west by 
the less rugged Bridger mountains. The river 
valley proper, bordered by the bench lands, 
will average a width of one mile. It is very 
fertile and is much less liable to early frosts 
than any other locality in the state east of the 
Rocky mountains. The soil is a rich alluvial 
deposit, making it the finest kind .of hay and 
grain producing land. 

The plateaus, which flank the bottom lands 
following the course of the river, extend in a 
gradual incline backward into the mountains. 
The soil has an average depth of three feet 
and is underlaid by substratums of argillac¬ 
eous matter, thus retaining the moisture near 


the surface of the ground, and rendering irri¬ 
gation in parts unnecessary. These bench lands 
extending toward the Crazies are a paradise 
for the growth of winter wheat, as the moun¬ 
tain snows lie here throughout the winter, af¬ 
fording entire protection to grain sown in the 
autumn, allowing it to mature in the early 
summer before the need of artificially supplied 
moisture is felt. The bench lands on the other 
side, extending to the Bridger mountains, can¬ 
not be surpassed as stock ranges, exceeding 
any other locality in the state for the advant¬ 
ages furnished in this branch of agriculture. 

The sides of the mountains of Park county ' 
are covered with dense growths <bf timber, 
affording material for lumber and fuel. 
Pine, fir and cedar, abound in all parts of the 
county. 












MONTANA HAYING SCENE 










PART III 

SWEET GRASS COUNTY 


CHAPTER I 


BEFORE COUNTY ORGANIZATION— 1743 TO 1894. 


The county of Sweet Grass came into exist¬ 
ence as a political division of the great state 
of Montana early in the year 1895. The 
county derived its name from Sweet Grass 
river, or creek, which flows from the eastern 
slope of the Crazy mountains to the Yellow¬ 
stone river, and to the late Judge William G. 
Strong belongs the honor of naming the coun¬ 
ty. The creek received its name from the 
abundance of vernal grass which grows in its 
valley. The grass which grows here gives 
forth a peculiar, sweet odor, somewhat like 
that of vanilla; hence the naming of the 
stream. 

The date of the advent of the first white 
men to most of the counties of Montana is 
1805 and 1806, when Lewis and Clark crossed 
the state on their way to and from the Pacific 
ocean, and it was some years after that event 
before other counties were visited by members 
of the Caucasian race. But Sweet Grass and 
a few other counties may justly lay claim to a 
date over a half century earlier than this. 

In the year 1741 M. de la Verandrye, a 
French Canadian, accompanied by some Cath¬ 
olic priests and about fifty men, set out from 
Quebec, Canada, for the headwaters of the 


Missouri river, with the intention of proceed¬ 
ing to the Pacific ocean. His course in what 
is now Sweet Grass County appears in the first 
chapter of this book. 

On the 16th day of July, 1806, Captain 
Clark and party, traveling on horseback on the 
north bank of the Yellowstone, passed a little 
stream, up which a distance of two miles they 
could have found the now famous Hunter’s 
hot springs had they gone out of their way 
that distance. Immediately after crossing this 
stream they entered what is now known as 
Sweet Grass county, within the confines of 
which they were destined to remain six days. 
Details of this are found in a former chapter. 

It was not long after the return of the 
Lewis and Clark party to civilization before 
the fur traders and trappers came to the Yel¬ 
lowstone valley. These hardy pioneers pene¬ 
trated all parts of the valley on their hunting 
and trapping expeditions, and the many 
streams of the present Sweet Grass county 
were thoroughly covered. No forts or trading 
posts were established this far up the river, 
however, the nearest being at the mouth of the 
Big Horn river. For many years these were 
the only people to visit the Yellowstone valley. 






ig2 


HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


and the records of their operations are very 
meager. It was not until the discovery of gold 
in Montana in the early sixties that the coun¬ 
try became known to any considerable extent. 

By a treaty signed September 17, 1851, all 
that part of the present state of Montana south 
of the Musselshell river, west of Powder river 
and east of Shields river and the upper Yel¬ 
lowstone was included in the Crow reserva¬ 
tion, and in this tract, of course, was included 
all of the present Sweet Grass county. This 
was the condition until 1882, when all of the 
present Sweet Grass county north of the Yel¬ 
lowstone river and a small portion of that on 
the south side was opened to settlement by 
treaty. In March, 1891, congress ratified an¬ 
other treaty, which threw open to settlement 
all that part of Sweet Grass county that had 
been up to that time in the reservation. These 
treaties will be treated more fully in their 
chronological order. 

In the latter part of July, 1864, John 
Bozeman piloted the first train of immigrants 
through this section. He was closely followed 
by another train under the leadership of James 
Bridger, that famous trapper and scout. This 
party camped one night in August at the 
mouth of a creek, which since that day has 
been known as Bridger creek. The Bozeman 
and Bridger parties were followed by others 
the same year, and thereafter for several years 
there was considerable travel through the fu¬ 
ture Sweet Grass county. Many parties on 
their return to the states built boats at Emi¬ 
grant gulch (in the present Park county) and 
at other points on the upper river and made 
the trip down the Yellowstone. These en¬ 
countered many dangers from the Indians and 
the treacherous river. 

The second peace treaty with the Crows, 
concluded at Fort Laramie, Dakota, on May 
7, 1868, was an important item in the history 
of Sweet Grass county because of the facts that 
over one-half of the county as it appears on the 
map today was taken out of the Crow reserva¬ 


tion. The new treaty provided that the In¬ 
dian reservation should include that territory 
in Montana that was south and east of the 
Yellowstone river and west of the 107th de¬ 
gree of longitude, which degree of longitude 
runs through the center of the present day 
county of Rosebud. Under this treaty all that 
part of the present Sweet Grass county north 
of the Yellowstone was removed from the res¬ 
ervation. A provision of this treaty was as 
follows: 

1 

The United States agrees at its own proper expense, 
to construct on the south side of the Yellowstone, near 
Otter creek, a warehouse or storeroom for the use of 
the agent in storing goods belonging to the Indians, 
to cost not exceeding twenty-five hundred dollars; an 
agency building for the residence of the agent, to cost 
not exceeding three thousand dollars; a residence for 
the physician, not to cost exceeding three thousand 
dollars; and five other buildings, for a carpenter, 
farmer, blacksmith, miller and engineer, each to cost 
not exceeding two thousand dollars; also a school 
house or mission building, so soon as a sufficient num¬ 
ber of children can be induced by the agent to attend 
school, which shall not cost exceeding twenty-five 
hundred dollars. 

The United States agrees further to cause to be 
erected on said reservation, near the other buildings 
herein authorized, a good steam circular saw, with a 
grist mill and shingle mill attached, the same to cost 
not exceeding eight thousand dollars. 

In July, 1868, Captain LeMott, in charge 
of the troops at Fort Ellis, proceeded to Lit¬ 
tle Timber creek, in the present Sweet Grass 
county, and there distributed the first annuities 
ever received by the Crow Indians. This was 
in accordance with the provisions of the treaty 
just completed. Soon after this Major Camp, 
oif the United States army, was appointed 
Crow agent and he at once began the con¬ 
struction of agency buildings on Mission 
creek, in the present Park county. Why these 
buildings were not put up near Otter creek, 
as was provided in the treaty, is not known. 

In 1871 the control of these Indians passed 
from the war department to the interior de¬ 
partment, and Major Pease was made agent, 
the first civilian to hold the office. In Febru- 






193 


HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


ary, 1875* came orders to remove the agency 
from Mission creek to the Stillwater. Agent 
Clapp was then in command, and by the first 
of April the agency buildings on Mission 
creek were deserted and the agency was estab¬ 
lished some distance up the Stillwater, near 
the mouth of the Little Rosebud, and on the 
Carbon county side of the river. 

During the fall of 1871 the first attempt to 
survey a line for a railroad was made in the 
Yellowstone valley. Mr. Muhlenberg, a 
Northern Pacific engineer, accompanied by a 
small military escort from Fort Ellis, started 
from Bozeman and ran his lines easterly to a 
point near the mouth of Pryor creek, there 
being forced to abandon further work on ac¬ 
count of a heavy fall of snow. During the 
next two years the line was completed through 
the Yellowstone valley. 

The honor of being the first settler on 
Sweet Grass county soil belongs to Horatio N. 
Gage, who settled at the mouth of Duck creek, 
about six miles below Dr. Hunter’s hot springs, 
in 1873. In the latter part of July, 1874, a 
war party of Sioux, which had attacked many 
places on the upper Yellowstone, came to the 
Gage home, killed four head of cattle, but cTid 
not attack the house. Several times the Gage 
family was obliged to seek protection from the 
hostile Indians at Dr. Hunter's home. Up to 
February, 1875, when arrangements were 
made for the removal of the agency to the 
Stillwater, the Gage ranch was the lowest of 
the habitated places on the Yellowstone. At 
that time Horace Countryman and Hugo 
Hoppe moved to the mouth of the Stillwater, 
and their places became the outposts of civili¬ 
zation. When the stage line was established 
between Miles City and Bozeman the Gage 
ranch became one of the stage stations, and 
here were enacted some of the exciting inci¬ 
dents in this new country. On this ranch Gage 
raised the first alfalfa that was ever reaped in 
Sweet Grass county. In April, 1882, the 
Gages sold two or three tons of alfalfa to 
13 


soldiers who were passing through the coun¬ 
try. What was once the site of this old stage 
station is now one of the largest and best 
alfalfa fields in Sweet Grass county, from 
which are cut some 2,000 towns of hay a year. 
On this ranch was located the first irrigating 
ditch of the county. It was constructed in 
1876. 

Almost simultaneously with the advent of 
Mr. Gage in 1873 came two brothers, A 1 and 
Waborn Harrison, who drove in a band of cat¬ 
tle and horses and located on lower Sweet 
Grass creek. There they engaged in stock- 
raising, and there they have made their homes 
ever since. 

The year 1875 brought forth more stirring 
events within the boundaries of the present 
Sweet Grass county, among which was the 
killing of Sam Shively by the treacherous sav¬ 
ages. That year Major Pease, with quite a 
large party, had gone down the Yellowstone 
from Benson’s Landing (about three miles 
east of the present city of Livingston) to the 
mouth of the Big Horn river, where it was 
his intention to establish a trading post. It 
was quite an undertaking, and Major Pease, 
accompanied by a few companions, started out 
from the Big Horn camp with the intention of 
going east to interest capital in the enterprise. 
Owing to the hostility of the Indians the enter¬ 
prise had to be abandoned before long, and 
Fort Pease abandoned. 

The first settlement made in Sweet Grass 
county, excepting the Gage ranch and the Har¬ 
risons’ home, already referred to, was made 
near the mouth of Sweet Grass creek in the 
year 1877. The men who settled here that 
year were W. R. Bramble, Fred Bartels, and 
W. L. Shanks. It may be of interest to note 
that all of these gentlemen are alive today 
David Riffle settled on Big Timber creek the 
same year. So far as we are able to learn these 
were the only permanent settlers in Sweet 
Grass county that year. These gentlemen had, 
practically, the whole of the Yellowstone val- 







194 


HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


ley to choose from, and their choice of loca¬ 
tion was a wise one, as has been proven since 
that time. 

The number of settlers on Sweet Grass 
creek was increased in 1878 by the arrival of 
W. A. Harrison, Mr. Davis and Alex. Ferte. 
The first water right from the Sweet Grass 
was taken that year by W. A. Harrison. The 
same year, through the efforts of W. L. 
Shanks, a voting precinct (of Gallatin county) 
was organized in this colony, and at the elec¬ 
tion that fall eight votes were cast. The name 
of the voting precinct and the postoffice, when 
that was established, was Sweet Grass. 

David Riffle, who had settled on Big Tim¬ 
ber creek the year before, took out an irrigat¬ 
ing ditch in 1878, the first from that stream. 
In 1880 he raised 3,700 bushels of oats and 
four acres of potatoes. 

Sometime in the fall of 1878 Thomas Kent, 
who, as stated before had traveled over the 
whole of the Yellowstone valley, settled at 
the mouth of Bridger creek, at which place he 
has ever since made his home. 

About the time the settlers were building 
homes on the lower Sweet Grass Coleman 
Puett selected a site for a home on the upper 
Sweet Grass, on land that all but joins the 
present site of the town of Melville. 

During the late seventies there had been 
settlement in all parts of the Yellowstone val¬ 
ley and supplies were brought in to these set- 
lers over the stage line between Miles 
City and Bozeman. Along this line in the 
present county of Sweet Grass were established 
a number of stage stations and postoffices that 
became very well known points. One of the 
stations was the Gage place on Duck creek; 
another was the Big Timber postoffice, store 
and stage station, on Big Timber creek, just 
across the Yellowstone from the present site 
of Big Timber; the Bramble road house, at the 
Sweet Grass crossing, was another; while on 
the old government trail leading from, the 
Sweet Grass across the divide to White Beaver 


basin was Canyon station, where there was a 
saloon kept by John Brady and a boarding 
house operated by Mrs. Nostrum. 

Among the settlers of the late seventies 
was Sim Roberts, who settled at a point above 
the present town of Melville. Roberts was a 
conspicuous figure in the early history of Sweet 
Grass county, as he has been in its later history. 
He was known as a “killer,” and became no¬ 
torious as a suspected “cattle rustler.” He was 
in court many times to answer to different 
crimes, but was never convicted. 

Closely following Roberts came John and 
George Cook, who established the first large 
cattle and horse ranch in the future county. 

The settlement on the lower Sweet Grass 
was added to in 1879 by the arrival of Henry 
Fletcher, John Hoff and Benjamin Hovseth, 
who took up claims. 

Concerning an event of the year 1879 Mr. 
E. S. Topping, in his “Chronicles of the Yel¬ 
lowstone,” has written: 

On the upper river, two old-timers, though young 
men, who had had some narrow escapes from Indian 
bullets and arrows, gave up their lives to the Yellow¬ 
stone this summer of 1879; one in doing his duty, and 
the other in that higher duty of helping a comrade in 
distress. 

On the 18th of July Tommy Thompson, Steve 
Gage and some others were driving a small herd of 
Nelson Story’s cattle across the Yellowstone near the 
mouth of Sweet Grass creek. The cattle were forced 
into the river at last, and the two men started to swim 
their horses after them. Gage was riding a broncho, 
or untamed horse, so Thompson went ahead that it 
might follow his. When nearly across Thompson 
looked behind and saw that Gage’s horse was acting 
badly, so, turning, he swam back. As he came near 
to young Gage, the latter' was thrown from his horse, 
and in trying to pick him up Thompson was also torn 
from his horse, and both were swept away and 
drowned. The bodies were found but a short distance 
below and were taken up the river. Thompson had 
been a great favorite with Mr. Story, and the body was 
brought to Bozeman, and a neat monument now stands 
over his resting place. Steve Gage was buried by the 
side of his father, who had died the year before at the 
ranch on Duck creek, which ranch was the lowest 
on the river from 1873 to 1875. 









HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


195 


Closely following the arrival of Puett and 
Cook brothers to the upper Sweet Grass came 
the 22 outfit, a large cattle company owned 
by two men named Flowery and Lowry, who 
located on land adjoining the original Cook 
Bros.’ claim. Sim Roberts was for a consid¬ 
erable time foreman for this company, and he 
was followed by Sam Garvin. 

The years 1880 and 1881 brought quite a 
number of settlers to different parts of the 
county. On November 7, 1880, Veasy, Mc¬ 
Donnell & Fitzpatrick brought the first band 
of sheep to the country which is now Sweet 
Grass county and wintered them on the Riffle 
ranch. 

It was in 1881 that the first school in 
Sweet Grass county was organized; it was lo¬ 
cated on the lower Sweet Grass. A school 
house was built in the fall of the year, and 
Miss Lizzie Evans was the first teacher. W. 
A. Harrison, W. R. Bramble and E. T. Ewing 
were the trustees. Being the only school in 
the country which is now included in Park and 
Sweet Grass counties, it was attended by chil¬ 
dren from a large scope of country. There 
was attendance from Big Timber creek and 
from Duck creek. When a school was organ¬ 
ized in the town of Big Timber in 1884 only 
three or four children of school age were left 
in the pioneer district and it was discontinued 
to be resumed again, however, in 1889. 

The year 1882 was an eventful one in the 
history of Sweet Grass county, for it brought 
about the ceding of the Crow lands located 
west of the Boulder and the completion of the 
Northern. Pacific railroad (late in the year) 
through that part of Gallatin county which is 
now Sweet Grass. 

This treaty was made with the Crows June 
12, 1880, but was not ratified by congress until 
April ii, 1882, and, consequently, the ceded 
lands were not thrown open to settlement until 
that date. The treaty provided for the sale to 
the United States of lands formerly in the 
Crow reservation as follows: 


Beginning in the mid-channel of the Yellowstone 
river at a point opposite the mouth of Boulder creek; 
thence up the middle of the channel of said river to 
the point where it crosses the southern boundary of 
Montana territory, being the 45th degree of north lat¬ 
itude; thence east along said parallel of latitude to 
a point where said parallel crosses Clark's Fork; 
thence north to a point six miles south of the first 
standard parallel, being on the township line between 
townships six and seven south; thence west on said 
township line to the one hundred and tenth meridian 
of longitude; thence north along said meridian to a 
point east or west of the source of the eastern branch 
of Boulder creek to the place of beginning. 

Immediately after the opening of this strip 
of land came W. F. McLeod, in whose honor 
was named the McLeod postoffice, driving be¬ 
fore him a herd of 125 cattle and 200 horses, 
which he brought from his former home in 
Oregon. He is recognized as the first perma¬ 
nent homesteader in the Boulder valley. Mr. 
Jarrett took up his home on Wright creek, 
where he was the first to prove that apples 
could be successfully grown in this part of 
‘the territory. 

With the completion of the railroad late 
in the year 1882 came a new order of things; 
the pioneer days were gone forever. The set¬ 
tlers that came in after that date rode on the 
cars, and the prairie scooner went out of com¬ 
mission. The old stage stations that had 
done duty for so long along the route from 
Miles City to Bozeman were replaced by 
towns. Dornix, later replaced by Big Timber, 
came into existence and became the center of 
population of the surrounding country. Con¬ 
cerning the passing of one of the old stage sta¬ 
tions and an important event in the county’s 
history the Yellowstone Leader in February, 
1902, said: 

In 1883—the year made famous by the building 
of the Northern Pacific and the extinction of the buf¬ 
falo—a half dozen ranchers held possession of the en¬ 
tire valley of the lower Sweet Grass. These men were 
W. A. Harrison, Fred Bartels, John Hoff, A. L. Har¬ 
rison, Ben Hoyseth and W. Ewing. 

At the Sweet Grass crossing, where the home of 
Henry Bartels is now located, W. R. Bramble was 









196 


HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


keeping a road house at that time, and some three or 
four miles further east, on the old government trail 
leading from the Sweet Grass across the divide to 
White Beaver basin, was another road house known 
as Canyon Station. At this place one John Brady, 
who was supposed to be a bad man from 1 exas, kept 
saloon, while the boarding department of the hostelry 
was in charge of a somewhat notorious Mrs. Nostrum, 
whose husband was at that time engaged in getting 
out ties for the new railroad. I he place bore an un¬ 
savory reputation, due in part to the fact that Brady 
and Nostrum had provided their establishment with a 
mysterious underground tunnel leading from the saloon 
to a root house ■ some fifty feet distant. Ostensibly 
this tunnel was to be used for protection against In¬ 
dians, but it was generally rumored that there were 
other purposes. 

Just twenty years ago this spring the roundup was 
vamped one week near the mouth of Sourdough creek, 
a small tributary of the Sweet Grass, a dozen miles 
above the Bramble place. Sam Garvin, who has be¬ 
come prominent in more recent affairs, was captain 
of the roundup, and among 20 or 25 men in camp 
were several who are now w r ell known in this vicinity. 
They were Ed. Cardwell, W. L. Shanks, Thos. Mc¬ 
Donald, H. C. Pound, Olaf Lafverson. Chas. Prutting. 
Alf Downing, Walter Story, H. Lowry, John Cook, 
Gus. Sidle, E. S. Tutt, Pat Patterson and others. 

Late Saturday afternoon a half dozen men, in¬ 
cluding Sam Garvin, E. S. Tutt, Bill Miner, R. 
Potter, Chas. Wickam and Pat Patterson, left the 
camp and rode away in the direction of the Yellow¬ 
stone, returning early the following morning. 

The same night a little incident occurred at Can¬ 
yon Station, which was not only destined to wipe that 
particular name from the map of Gallatin county, 
but also to rechristen the place with the name of "Dead 
Man’s Gulch.” a most suggestive title which it has 
borne to this day. When the shooting ceased and the 
thick mantle of sulphureous powder smoke had lifted, 
the interior of the Brady saloon looked as if it had 
been attacked by the (commando) of Boer riflemen, 
while the lifeless body of the proprietor lay bleeding 
on the floor. 

Aside from those implicated. Nostrum was the 
only person who witnessed the shooting. According 
to his story, Mrs. Nostrum had already retired to her 
room adjoining the saloon and he and Brady were 
about to retire when a man entered and asked for a 
drink. While Nostrum was serving the thirsty cus¬ 
tomer, four masked men entered the room. The 
leader immediately pulled his six-shooter and fired on 
Brady. The latter threw up his left arm just in time 
to intercept the bullet, which penetrated the arm above 
and below the elbow and then passed entirely through 
his body, severing the spinal cord and landing its vic¬ 
tim on the floor in a lifeless heap. 

Then followed a wild fusillade, perforating floor, 


ceiling and walls in every direction. As soon as the 
shooting had ceased and the shooters departed, Nos¬ 
trum started in search of A. L. Harrison, who was 
then deputy sheriff of Gallatin county. During the 
night the two men carefully prepared the body of 
Brady for the “planting,” and as soon as daylight 
came Harrison hit the trail in search of the murderers. 
At the round-up camp he confronted Garvin and his 
companions with the information that he had come to 
place them under arrest for the killing of Brady, but 
in turn those gentlemen informed the officer that he 
might avoid trouble by taking the back track, which 
he proceeded immediately to do. 

Returning to Canyon Station, Harrison assisted 
Nostrum in burying the remains of Brady, whose 
grave, 'which lies on a knoll about a hundred yards 
south of the present road, is still marked by a little 
mound of grass covered earth, enclosed by a rough 
picket fence. 

Soon after the shooting the buildings were torn 
down and hauled away; several of the shooters are 
dead, some are in prison and others are scattered; 
Nostrum and the woman are long since gone and they 
are so nearly forgotten that it is now impossible to 
ascertain their first name. But in his "narrow house, 
John Brady is still waiting for the grand jury at Boze¬ 
man to name the man who sent the big chunk of lead 
crashing through his unworthy hide. 

The settlers in Wright valley built a school- 
house in 1884. As there were no funds avail¬ 
able for the purpose of building the school 
house, the settlers turned out and donated the 
work. Logs were hauled from the Crazy 
mountains with which to put up the building. 
A dance was given at the Jarrett ranch, from 
which was cleared $175, and the building was 
put up free from debt. Miss Agnes Cosgriff. 
now Mrs. J. B. Mendenhall, was the first 
teacher. Among the scholars who attended 
the first school are Mrs. Richard Budd, Mrs. 
T. R. Lanphear, Mrs. J. H. Ammerman, 
James Woods, J. W. Fryer and R. S. Jarrett. 

In 1885 the first irrigating ditch of much 
importance in the Boulder valley was taken out 
by Chas. Kimberling and Geo. W. Baker, who 
reaped such bountiful returns therefrom that 
the theme of its success acted as a stimulus in 
bringing forth scores of settlers, which re¬ 
sulted in the establishment of McLeod post- 
office in 1887. 










HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


197 


The 1887 session of the Montana legisla¬ 
ture passed an act creating the county of Park 
out of the eastern portion of Gallatin. Be¬ 
fore the passage of this act the greater part of 
the future Sweet Grass county had been a 
part of Gallatin county; now it became a part 
of Park county. This included the greater 
part of its area, but small portions of what we 
now know as Sweet Grass county were taken 
from Yellowstone and Meagher counties in the 
formation of the county whose history we are 
writing. 

By an agreement between the Crow In¬ 
dians and the United States concluded Decem¬ 
ber 8, 1890, and approved by congress March 
3, 1891, the Crows agreed to sell to the gov¬ 
ernment all that part of their reservation west 
of a line described as follows: 

Beginning in the mid-channel of the Yellowstone 
river, at a point which is the northwest corner of sec¬ 
tion number thirty-six, township number two north, 
of range twenty-seven east, of the principal meridian 
of Montana; thence running in a southwesterly di¬ 
rection, following the top of the natural divide be¬ 
tween the waters flowing into the Yellowstone and 
Clark’s Fork rivers on the west and those flowing into 
Pryor creek and West Pryor creek on the east, to 
the base of West Pryor mountain ; thence due south 
and up the north slope of said Pryor mountain on 
a true meridian line to a point fifteen miles due north 
from the established line between Montana and Wy¬ 
oming; thence in a due easterly course on a parallel 
of latitude to a point where it intersects the mid¬ 
channel of the Big Horn river; thence following up the 
mid-channel of said river to a point where it crosses 
the Montana and Wyoming state line. 

By this act all of the territory within the 
present county of Sweet Grass was removed 
from Indian territory. The executive procla¬ 
mation opening this land to immediate settle¬ 
ment was signed by President Benjamin Har¬ 
rison on Saturday afternoon, October 15, 1892. 
From this land there had been made about 
320 Indian allotments, but the land thus se¬ 
lected was in the main low, brushy land, and 
not the best by any means. The proclamation 
throwing open the lands had been awaited 


anxiously for a long time, and when it came 
people flocked in in large numbers. That part 
of the lands lying in Sweet Grass county had 
been occupied for many years by two men, 
1 hos. Kane and “Dutch Gus,” for grazing 
ground without molestation from the Indians 
or the government. Now settlers flocked in 
and these two men were obliged to divide their 
territory with others. The opening of these 
lands meant much to the people of eastern 
Montana. They were both agricultural and 
mineral. To show the nature of this land, it 
is said that in 1893 Harrison brothers trailed 
500 head of cattle from Big Timber to Trout 
creek by grazing them down the Yellowstone 
and up Bridger creek, through grass that cat¬ 
tle could hide in and without seeing a fence 
on the trip. 

The year 1892 was a prosperous one for 
the people of the future Sweet Grass county. 
The sheep and wool business was good; there 
was great activity in the Boulder mines; and 
everybody was prosperous. 

We now approach the first attempt of the 
citizens of the eastern part of Park county to 
bring about the creation of Sweet Grass coun¬ 
ty by the legislature of 1893. At that session 
Park county was represented in the senate by 
Georg-e M. Hatch and in the house by Paul 
VanCleve and Thos. S. Ash. The two former 
were residents of the east side of the county 
and lent their assistance to the cause of the 
proposed new county—for which they received 
the highest encomiums at home and the bitter¬ 
est denunciation in the west side of the county. 

The bill to create Sweet Grass county was 
to have come up before the senate on the aft¬ 
ernoon of February 15, but on motion of Mr. 
Hatch it was replaced on the general file. The 
next day, on motion of Senator William L. 
Steele, of Lewis and Clark county, the bill was 
put on final passage and defeated by a vote 
of seven to nine. 

The feelings of the people of Livingston 
and Big Timber over the result are best told 







198 


HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


by the newspapers of the two towns. On 
February 18 the Livingston Enterprise said: 

The joyful news was received in this city Thurs¬ 
day (February 16) afternoon that political perfidy had 
met its just reward and, notwithstanding the base de¬ 
sertion of Senator Hatch and Representative Van- 
Cleve, Park county’s best interests had been sub¬ 
served by the defeat in the senate of the bill creating 
Sweet Grass county. As has been clearly pointed out 
in these columns, the bill was not a meritorious one 
and was demanded only in the interests of Big Tim¬ 
ber town lot boomers and aspiring politicians. For 
this reason it met with the determined opposition of 
three-fourths of the voters of Park county outside of 
the city of Livingston. 

In this city the feeling was bitter against the 
county’s representatives who shamefully betrayed the 
trust reposed in them, and a corresponding feeling of 
relief and joy followed the announcement that they 
had been foiled by the indefatigable labors of Livings¬ 
ton’s citizens, who went to the capital at the outset 
and abated no effort until the result was attained. The 
news was heralded throughout the city and responded 
to by a pyrotechnic display that, though brilliant and 
noisy, but faintly indicated the pleasure of all loyal 
residents of this section of the county. 

The Big Timber Pioneer told another 
story. March 9 it said: 


While we did not get Sweet Grass county, the re¬ 
sult of the efforts have been good, and there is no 
doubt but that the county will be formed at the next 
session of the legislature. Senator Hatch and Rep¬ 
resentative VanCleve arrived home Friday night. 
They were met at the train by a large and enthusiastic 
crowd of citizens, who, to show their appreciation of 
the valuable services rendered them by their repre¬ 
sentatives, had prepared a number of bon-fires, which, 
by the aid of skyrockets and Roman candles, lighted up 
the town and produced an effect altogether grand. 

Thus ended the first campaign for the 
formation of Sweet Grass county. Closely 
following this event came the panic of 1893 
with all its dire calamities. The only bank¬ 
ing institutions of the county closed its doors; 
operations in the mines ceased; business was at 
a standstill; people could not meet their obli¬ 
gations, and disaster followed. Following the 
panic came the period of hard times, which 
held the country in its grip for several years. 
From the effect of this Sweet Grass county 
did not recover until the late nineties. But 
during this time the county of Sweet Grass 
came into existence as one of the political di¬ 
visions of the state of Montana. 


CHAPTER II 


AFTER COUNTY ORGANIZATION—1895 TO 1907. 


Immediately after the defeat of the bill 
for the creation of Sweet Grass county in the 
1893 legislature, the people of Big Timber 
and the surrounding country began their prep¬ 
arations for the campaign before the next leg¬ 
islature. Not 'a stone was left unturned, nor 
a point neglected that might aid in the ulti¬ 
mate success of the venture. Senator George 
M. Hatch, who had led the fighting for the 
bill in 1893, was a holdover senator, and would 
represent Park county in the upper house of 
Montana’s legislature. The east siders there¬ 


fore turned their attention to the choosing of 
favorable men for the lower house, and they 
were even more successful that they had. ex¬ 
pected to be. Their work was very clever, as 
the following explanation of the manner they 
took to secure representation by the Big Tim¬ 
ber Pioneer of February 28, 1895, will testify: 

The history of the late political campaign is fa¬ 
miliar to all or nearly all. It began with a show of 
great strife between factions in Big Timber to elect 
a delegation to the republican county convention. The 
strife might have been real on one side, be that as it 









HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


199 


may, but the proper delegation went to the convention. 
The convention from beginning to end was run in 
the interests of the divisionists. Joy, Meyer and 
Collins were nominated for t'he legislature, and then 
the attention of every prominent republican in the 
state was called to the campaign in Park county. 
Livingston fell into the trap and knifed the ticket, 
while the people of the proposed Sweet Grass county 
elected it, thus giving them prestige and a solid rep¬ 
resentation in both branches of the legislature, while 
Livingston stood in a pretty bad political light and. 
from a division standpoint, with no representation 
whatever. 

On Thursday, November 8—just as soon 
as the result of the election was made known— 
there was organized in Big Timber the Sweet 
Grass County club, the primary object of 
which organization was the formation of 
Sweet Grass county. It was patent to every¬ 
body that a determined effort was to be made 
to secure the division of Park county. The 
officers chosen were H. O. Kellogg, president; 
E. C. Hale, secretary; Harvey Bliss and J. A. 
Hall, vice-presidents. These officers also com¬ 
posed the executive committee. 

The club called a convention to meet at 
Big Timber on December 22 for the purpose 
of drafting the Sweet Grass county bill, pre¬ 
paring a petition for circulation among the 
voters of the east side, selecting officers for 
the proposed new county, and perfecting ar¬ 
rangements for the campaign. The convention 
was called to order in Busha & Bailey’s hall 
by President Kellogg of the Sweet Grass 
County club. A. C. Logan, of Hunter's Hot 
Springs, was selected chairman of the conven¬ 
tion, and E. O. Clark, of McLeod, was chosen 
secretary. The primaries for the selection of 
delegates to this convention had been held in 
the different precincts of the proposed new 
county on December 15. 

The convention was very harmonious and 
adopted the following resolutions without di¬ 
vision : 

Whereas, The people of the proposed county of 
Sweet Grass,'have for several years paid taxes to the 
county of Park, largely out of proportion to the amount 
benefits received, either in the way of roads, pro¬ 


tection for person or property or county bridges, and 

Whereas, The established county of Park is be¬ 
coming involved financially from year to year, and 
the expenditures for the years 1893 and 1894 exceed 
the revenue by $100,000, and 

Whereas, The rapid accumulation of debt ,is 
largely due to the mileage paid witnesses for attend¬ 
ance at the district court and is being rapidly aug¬ 
mented by the increased population, the propensity for 
crime developed by the general financial depression, 
and 

Whereas. We, the citizens of the proposed new 
county of Sweet Grass, believe that by making a 
county of smaller area, the necessary mileage to be 
paid witnesses would lie very naturally reduced, the 
road expenses would either be reduced by making bet¬ 
ter roads for the same money, or less money for the 
same roads, justice would be more easily and cheaply 
obtained by the tax payer, and the prosperity of the 
whole body of citizens would be increased, and 

Whereas, The taxable wealth of the proposed new 
county of Sweet Grass amounts in round numbers to 
two millions of dollars, and the number of voters reg¬ 
istered at the last election is 500, the citizens are in¬ 
telligent, progressive and fairly prosperous, and do not 
believe in taxation 'without representation; then be it 

Resolved. That we, the representatives of the peo¬ 
ple of the proposed county of Sweet Grass, do hereby 
reaffirm our belief that by the creation of said county 
we and our children would be largely benefitted in re¬ 
duced taxation, better means of communication by 
interior roads, better schools and a more upright ad¬ 
ministration of county affairs, owing largely to our 
better acquaintance one with another, and be it 
further 

Resolved, That we urge upon our representatives 
in the legislature of the state of Montana, to do all in 
their power lawfully to have the bill entitled, “A bill 
for the creation of the county of Sweet Grass,” en¬ 
acted into a law. That we hereby express our confi¬ 
dence in the ability of our representatives and hereby 
ratify all that our representatives may do or cause to be 
done in the premises. 

Resolved, That in the work done by the Sweet 
Grass County club they have been actuated by motives 
looking alone to the successful passage of the bill 
creating said county and we view with favor the reso¬ 
lution passed by them disclaiming any claim on any 
office in the bill. 

Resolved, That in order to raise a fund to be le¬ 
gitimately used in the creation of Sweet Grass county, 
that each candidate accepting the nomination from the 
convention be required to contribute a sum equal to ten 
per cent of the compensation he would receive in his 
despective office as salary for the first year’s service, 
and that the said sum is payable on or before Janu* 
uary 1, 1895. 








200 


HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


Resolved, That a county central committee con¬ 
sisting of one member from each precinct to be selected 
by each respective delegation shall have power to fill 
all vacancies, appoint committees, and exercise a gen¬ 
eral supervision over affairs connected with the creation 
of the new county. 

ivesolved, That the county central committee 
choose from its members an executive committee to 
whom shall be paid the money collected from assess¬ 
ments and candidates, and who shall pay said money 
out on orders duly signed and countersigned by the 
chairman and secretary of said committee. 

Resolved, That in view of the adoption of a reso¬ 
lution at the precincts outside of Big Timber at a 
caucus held on the morning of December 22, not to 
entertain nominations for office of residents of Big 
Timber, this convention instructs its presiding officer 
not to present the name or names of any qualified 
elector of Big Timber, whose name may be mentioned 
by a member of the convention, to the convention for 
action. ** * 

Resolved, That should we for any cause fail to se¬ 
cure Sweet Grass county at the fourth session of the 
legislature, we maintain our organization and, regard¬ 
less of politics, renevV the fight at the election to be 
held in November, 1896. 

Although the tjown of Big Timber was 
eliminated as a factor in furnishing candi¬ 
dates .for officers for .the proposed new county, 
there was no dearth'of candidates, and there 
were contests for nearly all the offices. After 
much ballotting, the following were named as 
the officers for the new county who should he 
named in the bill which would be presented to 
the legislature: Treasurer, E. O. Clark, Mc¬ 
Leod; sheriff, Jake L. DeHart. East Boulder; 
assessor, W. A. Harrison, Howie; clerk and 
recorder, G. F. Hudson, Independence; clerk 
of the district court, C. N. Skillman, McLeod; 
county attorney, Sydney Fox, Livingston; su¬ 
perintendent of schools, L. C. Olnistead, 
Blake’s; coroner, W. G. Strong, Melville; pub¬ 
lic administrator. R. B. Dunham. Big Tim¬ 
ber; county commissioners, J. W. Bailey, 
Blake’s; A. C. Logan, Hunter's Hot Springs; 
W. P. Franklin, Melville. 

J. A. Hall was elected chairman of the 
county central committee, and the following 
gentlemen were selected for the other mem¬ 


bers of the committee: Geo. M. Hatch, Big 
Timber; W. P. Franklin, Melville; W. F. Mc¬ 
Leod, McLeod; J. W. Bailey, Blake’s; W. C. 
McCall, Grey Cliff; J. N. Kelley, Duck Creek; 
G. F. Hudson, Independence; S. Jarrett, 
Wright Creek; S. B. Roberts, White Beaver; 
J. Lyon, Upper Stillwater; W. L. Shanks, 
Howie. On the evening of the 22nd the com¬ 
mittee met and selected the following execu¬ 
tive committee: J. A. Hall, chairman; Geo. 
M. Hatch, secretary; G. F. Hudson, J. W. 
Bailey and W. P. Franklin. 

Thus organized, the friends of the pro¬ 
posed new county set to work. A petition was 
circulated, and the number of signers obtained 
was beyond the highest expectations of the en¬ 
thusiasts. Out of five hundred registered vot¬ 
ers in the proposed limits of the new county, 
457 signatures were obtained. Only five who 
had been approached with the petition refused 
to sign. It was estimated that the new county 
would have a population of 1,500 people and 
would start out with an assessed valuation of 
$2,000,000. 

On Monday evening, January 7, a meeting 
was held at the office of Savage & Day to take 
action with reference to an organization in 
opposition to the dismemberment of the 
county of Park. The meeting indicated a 
unanimous sentiment of the people of Livings¬ 
ton against the creation of Sweet Grass county 
and a determination to make a strong effort 
to defeat any legislation of that nature. 

The bill for the creation of Sweet Grass 
county*was introduced in the house January 
14 by Representative William T. Collins, no¬ 
tice of intention to introduce having been given 
January 9. 

At the convention A. C. Logan, W. P. 
Franklin and J. W. Bailey had been named 
as county commissioners, and their names 
were incorporated in the bill. The first two 
named were Democrats, but as the legislature 
was Republican, it did not see fit to start the 







HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


201 


new county off with a Democratic administra¬ 
tion, so the name of P. O. Fallang was sub¬ 
stituted for that of Mr. Franklin. 

On Tuesday, February 19, the bill was 
considered in committee of the whole house. 
The discussion was long and interesting. By 
a vote of 31 to 17 the bill was favorably re¬ 
ported. Then the committee rose, the house 
resumed, and the report of the committee of 
the whole was adopted. 

At the evening session, the bill having been 
engrossed, was read the third time and passed 
by a vote of 34 to 16. 

Tbe bill was now safely through the house, 
but it still had to run the gauntlet of the senate. 

It was reported in that body February 20, 
where it was read first and second times, and 
then referred to the committee on towns, coun¬ 
ties and highways. 

Upon final vote the bill was carried by a 
vote of 11 to 7, and so far as the legislature 
was concerned Sweet Grass county was an as¬ 
sured fact. 

This is the way the Big Timber Pioneer re¬ 
ported the receipt of the news in an extra on 
March 2: 

Yesterday there were several in Big Timber who 
were decidedly blue. They were blue over the delay. 
Not blue because they doubted the ultimate success of 
right and justice, for we believe that every man, 
woman and child, “with a few exceptions, in the new 
county of Sweet Grass had belief that the senate would 
accede to their just demands. This morning the gen- I 
eral feeling was brighter and at ten o’clock, when J. I 
W. Bailey received the following message, a mighty 
shout rent the air: “Carbon final passage today. Our j 
bill before the committee of the whole. We have got 
them.” Everybody yelled, hats flew in the air and a 
most general feeling of gladness prevailed. 

At three o’clock this afternoon the news came 
over the wire that Carbon county had passed the 
sena.e by a safe majority and that a motion to re¬ 
consider had been lost. The news also came that 
the senate was at that time considering Sweet Grass 
county. At 3:45 came the news, “Sweet Grass passed 
by a vote of 11 to- 7.” Then how the people yelled! 

At the hour of going to press, 5 p. m., anvils are j 
being fired, flags are flying and everybody is happy. 
This is but a forerunner of the grand ratification meet- l 


ing which will be held later and of which ample notice 
will be given. 

The bill was signed by Governor Rickards 
at 10:45 a - m - 011 Tuesday, March 5, in the 
presence of State Senator Geo. M. Hatch and 
wife and little daughter Judy, Mrs. O. M. 
Hatch and Captain A. C. Logan. By the pro¬ 
visions of the bill the county of Sweet Grass 
came into an official existence on that date. 

A monster demonstration occurred on 
March 9, upon the arrival of the train from 
the west bearing Senator Hatch, Captain A. 
C. Logan, C. T. Busha and J. A. Hall, the 
men who were largely responsible for the 
forming of the county. The last three named 
had been tbe lobby for the bill. Nearly the 
whole town of Big Timber turned out to meet 
them. Anvils were fired and cheer upon cheer 
rent the air. Banners had been prepared and 
stretched across the streets. They bore in¬ 
scriptions, “7 to 11,” “Welcome,” “Sweet 
Grass County,” etc. 

The campaign had been a bitter one. Wa¬ 
gers bad been freely offered and as freely taken 
between the people of the two sections of Park 
county over the result, and quite a sum of 
money changed hands. 

Sweet Grass county was created with the 
same boundaries it now has and was taken 
from Park, Yellowstone and Meagher coun¬ 
ties, the first named giving up by far the larg¬ 
est share. The boundaries are given in a 
former chapter. 

The act provided that Big Timber should 
be the county seat of the new county, until 
after the general election of November, 1896, 
at which election the permanent county seat 
should be selected by the voters. Sweet Grass 
county was to be attached to, and form a part 
of, the sixth judicial district. The act also 
provided for the distribution of the indebted¬ 
ness of the three counties from which the new 
county had been formed and for the amount 
of this that Sweet Grass county should as- 




202 


HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


sume; the indebtedness to be reckoned at the 
close of business on the first day of March, 
1895. These several indebtednesses were to be 
adjusted by having the county commissioners 
meet with the county boards of the other coun¬ 
ties as follows: Park county, March 11; Yel¬ 
lowstone county, March 18; Meagher county, 
April 1. The amount then determined to be 
due the old counties was to be settled by issu¬ 
ing warrants. 

The political machinery of the new county 
of Sweet Grass was put in motion on Satur¬ 
day, the 9th day of March, 1895, when County 
Commissioners J. W. Bailey, A. C. Logan and 
P. O. Fallang held an informal meeting at the 
law office of A. G. Hatch. At this initial 
meeting there were also present County Clerk 
and Recorder G. F. Hudson and County At¬ 
torney Sydney Fox. There were no official 
proceedings at this meeting, but arrangements 
were made for a special meeting to be held 
March 15. The county officers established 
temporary offices in the Medley building on 
McLeod street. 

At the special meeting of the board, held 
on the 15th at the office of A. G. Hatch, J. 
W. Bailey was elected chairman of the board. 
Constables and justices of the peace were ap¬ 
pointed for the different precincts. On the 
following day the county was divided into 
three townships, Stillwater, Melville and Big 
Timber. The commissioners rented from Mr. 
Hatch a building for the use of the county of¬ 
ficers. On the 23rd a room was rented from 
W. L. Shanks for a court room at a rental of 
$50 per term of court. 

The matter of the adjustment of the in¬ 
debtedness that Sweet Grass county was to 
assume was early taken up, in accordance with 
the provisions of the bill. In order to give a 
clear understanding of the adjustments with 
the several counties, we shall here reproduce 
the section of the bill relating to the settlement. 

That the indebtedness of the three respective 
counties out of whose territory the said county of 
Sweet Grass is hereby created as the same shall exist 


at the close of business on the first day of March. 1895, 
shall be apportioned respectively between each of said 
three counties and the said county of Sweet Grass by 
deducting from the then existing debt of each of said 
three first named counties respectively all monies be¬ 
longing to each county, or in the possession or under 
the control of each respective county treasurer; the 
excess of value between the value of county buildings, 
bridges, real estate or other county property that will 
remain in and belong to each of said first three named 
counties after the creation of Sweet Grass county, and 
the value of county buildings, bridges, real estate and 
other property, if any, that may remain in and be¬ 
come a part of Sweet Grass county, if the greater 
value belong to one of said three first named counties 
respectively shall be deducted from-—but if the greater 
value shall belong to Sweet Grass county, shall be 
added to—said indebtedness. Said values to be esti¬ 
mated by the cost of such buildings, bridges and real 
estate, as shown by the county books, depreciation at 
3^ per cent per annum from date of construction on 
all buildings and bridges to govern such estimate of 
value, and the actual value of all other property as 
the same may exist on the first day of March, 1895, and 
the respective remainder as to each of said first named 
counties shall constitute the net debt of each for the 
purpose of division, and shall be divided between each 
of said three respective counties and said county of 
Sweet Grass, in proportion as the taxable property of 
that portion of each of said respective counties, em¬ 
braced in the said county of Sweet Grass bears to 
the entire taxable property of each county respectively 
—taking as a standard therefor the assessment of 
each county respectively for the year 1894—provided 
that each respective county treasurer of the said three 
first named counties respectively, shall at the time of 
the said adjustment of debt make out and transfer to 
the county commissioner of Sweet Grass county lists 
of all uncollected taxes and delinquent tax payers; 
that no delinquent taxes due any of the said old 
counties respectively shall be considered in said ad¬ 
justment, but the same shall be collected by the county 
treasurer of each county respectively, and when col¬ 
lected, the pro rata share there estimated upon the 
basis of adjustment aforesaid, shall be turned over 
from time to time to the treasurer of Sweet Grass 
county. 

The Sweet Grass and Park county boards 
of county commissioners held a joint session 
at Livingston March 11 and 12 to effect a 
settlement, and the adjustment made was mu¬ 
tually satisfactory. From the assessment 
books of Park county for the .year 1894 it was 
found that the total valuation of all property in 
the new county that had been taken from 
Park county was $1,005,111, or 21.3-8 per cent 







HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


203 


of the total assessed valuation of the whole 
of Park county before the division. The 
total indebtedness of Park county, on 
March 1, 1895, was $210,520. Sweet 

Grass’s 21.38 per cent of this amount was 
$45,009.28. Deducting the value of coupty 
property still left in Park county ($2,334.38), 
there was left the sum of $42,774.90 as the in¬ 
debtedness to be assumed by Sweet Grass 
county. 

Settlement was made with Yellowstone 
county at a joint meeting of the boards at 
Billings on March 18. It was agreed that 
Sweet Grass county should assume $6,857.32 
of the indebtedness of Yellowstone county in 
addition to $750 for property and bridges and 
$52.68 as the new county’s proportion of war¬ 
rants outstanding, making the total indebted¬ 
ness acquired from Yellowstone county $7,660. 

On the first of April Commissioners Bailey 
and Logan met with the Meagher county com¬ 
missioners at White Sulphur Springs, at 
which time a satisfactory settlement was made. 
It was found that the assessed valuation of 
that part of the old county that was gut off for 
Sweet Grass county amounted to $216,000. 
For this territory Sweet Grass county assumed 
$7,508.77 of the debt of the old county. 

This made a total of $57,943.67 assumed 
by the young county as a heritage. Warrants 
for these amounts were drawn on Friday, June 
7. 1895. 

The county’s first assessment—that of 
1895—showed the assessed valuation of the 
county to be $1,743,541, as equalized by the 
state board. Following was the result of the 
assessment as taken by the county assessor: 


Real estate and improvements.$526,113 

City and town lots and improvements. 169,474 

Telegraph lines . 13,000 

Telephone lines . 4,45° 

Irrigating ditches . 9-83 1 

Depots, etc. 6,125 

Personal property . 650,950 


Total .$ 1 , 376,943 


To the above figures should be added 
$ I2 3 > 36 i, the assessed value of railroad lands 
in the county. 

In 1896 Park county brought suit against 
Sweet Grass county for the collection of $1,- 
009.96, interest on the $42,774.90 for which 
the young county had given its warrant. In 
August of that year Judge Frank Henry de¬ 
cided in favor of Sweet Grass county. Park 
county appealed, and in April, 1897, the su¬ 
preme court handed down a decision reversing 
the lower court, and Sweet Grass county had 
that additional sum to pay. 

The assessment of 1896 showed a total 
assessed valuation of $1,978,295—quite an in¬ 
crease over the year before. According to the 
figures of this assessment there were in the 
county the following live stock: 249,295 sheep, 
1,211 work horses, 1,405 range horses, 7,851 
stock cattle, 651 cows, 518 hogs. 

Under the provisions of the enabling act 
Big Timber was to be the county seat of the 
county until after the general election of No¬ 
vember, 1896, at which time the electors 
should select the permanent county seat. As 
Big Timber was the only town of any size in 
the county at the time there was no opposition 
to that place at the election, although a few 
votes were cast for a number of other places. 
Big Timber received 321 votes, Melville 25, 
and the other votes were scattered among the 
different localities in tjie county. 

The new county gained slowly but steadily 
in assessed valuations during the late nineties. 
The assessment for 1898 was $2,277,734.60, 
and on September 6th of that year the county 
commissioners raised the county to the seventh 
class. 

According to the federal census of 1900 
the population was 3,086. At that time there 
were only three counties in the state with 
smaller population—Broadwater, Meagher, 
and Dawson. 

When Sweet Grass county came into ex- 


















204 


HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


istence the country on the upper Boulder river 
had not been surveyed, and, therefore, the lo¬ 
cation of the boundary line between the new 
county and Park county in that vicinity was 
uncertain. It was generally supposed, how¬ 
ever, that the line as defined in the act followed 
somewhere near the watershed on the west side 
of the Boulder, but the survey which followed 
located the line along the stream bottom, some¬ 
times on one side of the river and sometimes 
on the other. This was a very unsatisfactory 
condition and worked a hardship on the mine 
owners and others in the upper Boulder coun¬ 
ty. The wagon road to the Boulder camp neces¬ 
sarily followed the meanderings of the stream 
and was in both counties, the greater portion of 
the road on the southern end being in Park 


county. Much dufficulty was encountered in 
keeping the road in fit condition, and it was the 
general belief that if the road was thrown 
wholly in one county or the other the commis¬ 
sioners of that county would see that it was im¬ 
proved and kept in such condition as the neces¬ 
sities of the mining camp warranted. As it was, 
it was hard to determine just what portions of 
the road were in the respective counties and 
just where each county officer should perform 
work. The mix-up resulted in poor roads in 
that section. 

To remedy this defect, and at the same 
time to secure a slice of territory, the people 
of Park county interested themselves in the 
formation of a bill to be presented to the legis¬ 
lature of 1901, asking that the boundary line 
in that vicinity be changed so as to follow the 
crest of the mountain range that lies on the 
east side of the Boulder. At first there was 
no objection from the people of Sweet Grass 
county who considered that the measure was a 
meritorous one. But when the bill made its ap¬ 
pearance and it was found that quite a gener¬ 
ous slice of territory went with the road there 
was strenuous objections made by the people 
of Sweet Grass county. A mass meeting was 


held at Big Timber, and the following set of 
resolutions was adopted and sent to the legis¬ 
lature : 

To J. N. Kelly, senator, and Robert Brownlee, repre¬ 
sentative, Helena, Montana: 

We, the citizens of Sweet Grass county, Montana, 
in mass meeting assembled, do protest against any 
change in our boundary line as at present constituted 
between Park and Sweet Grass counties for the pur¬ 
pose of correcting wagon roads. 

We can see no necessity for such change. The 
fact of a wagon road laying along the line partly in 
one county and partly in another does not afford more 
excuse for change than does a bridge mutually owned 
by two counties across a boundary stream of water. 

The county commissioners of the respective coun¬ 
ties can readily adjust between the counties the ex¬ 
pense of maintaining such a road, as they do of 
bridges in many counties. 

We further hold that the natural and only outlet 
for the entire Boulder country is Sweet Grass county, 
and that any change in the boundary of the county 
should be to the west of the main Boulder river, 
thereby throwing the main Boulder in Sweet Grass 
county. 

We request that you use every effort to defeat 
any bill that may 'be introduced that would take from 
us any part of our county or of said Boulder river. 

Dated February 16, 1901. 

Through the efforts of Sweet Grass coun¬ 
ty’s representatives the bill was killed. The 
matter of straightning the line between the two 
counties was taken up at the next session of 
the legislature, and this time by the Sweet 
Grass county members, who asked that the line 
be placed to the west of the Boulder. Rep¬ 
resentative Brownlee introduced the bill in the 
house, and the committee to which it was re¬ 
ferred reported it favorably. Later, however, 
it was recommitted to the committee in order 
to give the Park county representatives an 
opportunity to he heard on the question. By 
the terms of a conference between the Park 
and Sweet Grass county representatives Mr. 
Brownlee withdrew his bill in consideration of 
the fact that all parties to the conference 
should agree to assist in killing all county di¬ 
vision bills at that session. So the matter has 
rested, and the original boundary lines cf 







HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


205 


Sweet Grass county have never been disturbed. 

There has been very rapid progress in 
wealth and prosperity during the last few 
years. The assessed valuation was $2,913,653 
for 1905, while in 1906 it had advanced to $3,- 
262,932. That year the total number of acres 
assessed, other than town lots, was 592,197, at 
an assessed valuation of $1,371,917. Town 
property was assessed at $230,953; personal 
property at $1,611,646; and the railroads as 
equalized by the county commissioners and the 
state board, $914,366. The total amount of 
taxes to have been collected for the year 1906 
was $90,794.77, or about $30 for each man, 
woman and child in the county. Of this sum 
the treasurer’s books showed that only $880 re¬ 
mained delinquent, making Sweet Grass coun¬ 
ty in the banner list of the state. 

Early in the year' 1907 Sweet Grass county 
was called upon to make a fight for the pres¬ 
ervation of its territory. This was caused by 
an effort to create the county of Roosevelt out 
of portions of Yellowstone, Sweet Grass and 
Carbon counties. The bill for the creation of 
this county was introduced by Senator Annin, 
of Columbus, Yellowstone county, February 
13. In the bill Columbus was named as the 
county seat, and it was provided that the new 


county should be attached to the sixth judicial 
district. 

A generous slice of this new county was 
to have come from Sweet Grass county (508,- 
800 acres), extending along the whole eastern 
side of the county. 

Sweet Grass county people naturally 
fought the dismemberment. A mass meeting 
was held at the court house in Big Timbe. 
Saturday evening, February 9, to discuss the 
matter and to organize to fight the bill. There 
were present people from all parts of the coun¬ 
ty. A. G. Hatch called the meeting to order 
and E. O. Clark was elected chairman. The 
question was discussed in all its details, and 
the sentiment was unanimous that the bill 
should be defeated. Two committees were 
appointed—one to circulate petitions and ob¬ 
tain statistics, and the other to solicit funds to 
carry on the campaign. 

A lobby against the bill was sent to Helena. 
February 19 there was a hearing before the 
senate committee on towns and counties and 
arguments were heard from both sides of the 
question. Later the committee (reported 
against the bill, but Senator Annin was suc¬ 
cessful in getting the bill printed. That was 
the last heard of the bill, and on March 8 the 
legislature adjourned without taking further 
action. 


CHAPTER III 


POLITICAL. 


One of the arguments put forth by the 
people of the east side of Park county when 
the matter of the formation of the new county 
of Sweet Grass was being discussed was that 
they were being taxed without having repre¬ 
sentation in the government of the county. The 
point seems to have been well taken, for we 
find that when the new county was finally 


created in March, 1895, although the parent 
county had given up fifty per cent of its area 
and thirty per cent of its taxable wealth 
to the new county, not a single office 
holder of Park county was legislated out 
of office by reason of his place of residence; 
there was not a single Park county office holder 
in the east half of the county. Yellowstone 








206 


HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


county, on the other hand, although it gave 
of its territory only about three per cent to the 
new county, lost one of its commissioners, 
whose home was within the boundaries of this 
three per cent segregation. 

The first officers of Sweet Grass county 
were selected prior to the formation of the 
county in a mass convention, attended by all 
citizens regardless of party politics. The 
names ‘of the men so selected were embodied 
in the enabling act, and with the exception of 
one change they became the first officers of the 
new county. These officers were mentioned in 
the preceding chapter. 

Now the constitution of the state of Mon¬ 
tana provides for the filling of vacancies in the 
board of county commissioners by appointment 
by the judge of the district court and of other 
officers by appointment by the county commis¬ 
sioners, so after the bill had become a law, the 
question was raised as to the constitutionality 
of that part of the act that named the county 
officers. The matter was taken up to Attorney 
General Haskell, who held that this section of 
the constitution applied to the officers of new 
counties where no provision had been made 
for their selection by election. To remedy this 
alleged defect, Judge Henry, on Monday, 
March n, appointed to the offices of county 
commissioners the men who had been named in 
the bill. The county commissioners in turn 
appointed to the other county offices the men 
who had been selected and named in the act 
creating the county. Thus everything was 
arranged to the liking of the lawyers, and the 
men above named served until their successors, 
elected in November, 1896, had qualified. 

The first political convention held in Sweet 
Grass county convened at Big Timber May 
9, 1896, when the Republicans selected dele¬ 
gates to the state convention at Butte to select 
delegates to the national convention which 
nominated William McKinley for the presi¬ 
dency. The Sweet Grass county delegates 
chosen were J. E. Barbour, R. B. Briggs, J. 


N. Kelly and C. T. Busha, with Walter Ait- 
ken and M.. W. Hatch delegates at large. 

The Democrats met at Big Timber June 13 
and chose deligates to the Butte state con¬ 
vention, which in turn named Montana’s dele¬ 
gates to the national convention that nomi¬ 
nated William Jennings Bryan to the presi¬ 
dency. The delegates chosen were Harvey 
Bliss, Jake L. DeHart, W. A. Harrison and 
Sydney Fox. 

The Republican nominating convention 
was held at Big Timber September 5. J. N. 
Kelly was chosen chairman of the convention; 
P. L. VanCleve was temporary secretary, and 
E. M. Hall was permanent secretary. There 
were contests for nearly all the offices. The 
convention declared in favor of the free and 
unlimited coinage of silver, in direct opposi¬ 
tion to the Republican national platform. 
Delegates chosen to the state convention, 
which nominated the state ticket, were as fol¬ 
lows : R. B. Briggs, C. T. Busha, R. M. Fry, 
Chas. McDonnell, W. E. Youmans and P. L. 
VanCleve. 

There was a bad split in the Republican 
party over the question of silver, and some of 
the members of that party in Sweet Grass 
county determined to put a separate ticket in 
the field. Some of the leaders of that faction 
gave notice of the bolt as follows: 

Those Republicans who favor the free and unlim¬ 
ited coinage of silver by the United States, without 
waiting the consent of any other nation on earth, and 
who are refused representation on the ticket recently 
presented to the electors of Sweet Grass county by 
the gold-bug element of Sweet Grass county, are re¬ 
quested to meet on Saturday, the 12th day of Sep¬ 
tember, 1896, at ten o’clock a. m., at the office of O. 
M. Lanphear, Esq., in the town of Big Timber, for 
the purpose of considering the advisability of putting 
a silver Republican ticket in the field. 

Henry Nicholson, 
John M. Dodge, 

A. G. Hatch, 

L. F. Douthett, 
William M. Irvine. 
Sidney Sanner, 

Committee. 






207 


HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


The silver Republicans met on the 12th and 
decided to nominate a joint ticket with the 
Democrats. 

The Democratic nominating convention 
met in Big Timber on the same day. A. C. 
Logan was made chairman and W. A. Moore 
secretary of the temporary organization, and 
a committee was named to confer with the 
silver Republicans with the object of accom¬ 
plishing fusion. In the permanent organiza¬ 
tion Harvey Bliss was made chairman and W. 
A. Moore secretary. The conference commit¬ 
tee reported that the silver Republicans would 
unite with the Democrats and work for the 
interest of the whole ticket if the new party 
were given the naming of the officers for 
representative, clerk and recorder, clerk of the 
district court, one county commissioner and 
superintendent of schools. The Democrats 
acceded to these demands, and proceeded to 
the nomination of the other officers. The 
ticket was named without many contests. The 
convention declared for free silver. 

For the first election the county commis¬ 
sioners, on September 8, created the following 
election precincts, named the polling places and 
judges of election: 

Big Timber —Busha & Bailey’s hall. T. T. 
Prather, C. T. Busha, T. K. Lee, N. Budd, S. 
A. Perrine. 

Grace Park —Logan’s ranch. A. C. 
Logan, Chas. Meigs, E. C. Baxter. 

Swamp Creek —Swamp Creek school 
house. A. Anderson, John B. Morris, W. E. 
Youmans. 

McLeod —McLeod school house. G. B. 
Loasby, Frank McLeod, George Muncaster. 

• Gillette —Toolhurst’s ranch. Branson De¬ 
Hart, Jas. Reed, John K. Davis. 

Boulder —Perkins’ ranch. Wm. Perkins, 
Adam Troutman, Jake Miller. 

Upper Stillwater —Jeff Balenger’s ranch, 
W. H. Hibbert, W. H. Balenger, G. D. 
Pretton. 


Lower Stillwater —W. E. Anderson’s 
ranch. W. E. Anderson, Thos. Flanagan Ed. 
Buck. 

Merrill —Mathew Miller’s ranch. Olof 
Lavorsen, F. A. Austen, Jacob Kroft. 

Reeds Point— Reeds Point school house. 
A. T. Irwin, Jos. Lay, P. L. Hicks. 

Grey Cliff —Grey Cliff school house. W. 
L. Shanks, J. M. Wadsworth, Richard 
Cosgriff. 

Sweet Grass —School house. B. L. Ryan, 
Eric Solberg, Fred Bartels. 

Melville —Melville hotel. Kerschel .Frank¬ 
lin, C. P. Thompson, John Rye. 

Fish Creek —R. Andrews’ ranch. Robt. 
McClatchie, J. C. Farrington, Robert Andrews. 

American Fork —Parberry’s ranch. A. E. 
Hopkins, Joe Shutz, Ed. Vesey. 

Jarrett —Jarrett school house. C. W., 
Westfall, Spencer Jarrett, John Fryer. 

The campaign preceding the election of 
November 3, 1896, was an exciting one, ow¬ 
ing to the excitement over the free silver ques¬ 
tion and the breaking up, to a greater or less 
extent, of party lines. The free silver'advo¬ 
cates carried the county for Mr. Bryan for 
president by a plurality of six votes out of a 
total of about six hundred. The Republican 
candidate for congressman carried the county 
by 12 votes, while the Republican candidate 
for governor had a plurality of 116. On the 
county ticket where there were contests the 
fusionists elected their candidates for senator, 
one commissioner, county attorney, sheriff, 
assessor and superintendent of schools; the Re¬ 
publicans elected representative, clerk of the 
district court, two commissioners, clerk and 
recorder and treasurer. Following was the 
official vote: 

Presidential electors—Democratic, 298; 
Republican, 292; Prohibitionist, 1. 

Congressman—Chas. S. Hartman, sil. 
rep., 261; O. F. Goddard, rep., 273. % 

Governor—Robt. B. Smith, dem. and sil. 










208 


HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


rep., 232; Alexander C. Botkin, rep., 348. 

Senator—William J. Hannah, dem. and 
sil. rep., 317; C. T. Busha, rep., 277. 

Representative—John M. Dodge, dem. and 
sil. rep., 226; J. N. Kelly, rep., 316. 

Judge Sixth Judicial District—Frank 
Henry, rep. and sil. rep., 491. 

Clerk District Court—Sydney Sanner, 
dem. and sil. rep., 211; C. N. Skillman, rep., 
369- 

County Commissioners—Thomas Flana¬ 
gan, dem. and sil. rep., 357; Henry Nicholson, 
dem. and sil. rep., 276; William Nelson, dem. 
and sil. rep., 217; J. W. Bailey, rep., 366; 
Matthew Miller, rep., 216; R. J. McConnell, 
rep., 303. 

County Attorney—Sidney Fox, dem. and 
sil. rep., 389; E. M. Hall, rep., 209. 

Clerk and Recorder—Geo. F. Hudson, 
dem. and sil. rep., 292; J. H. Moore, rep., 304. 

Sheriff—Jake L. De Hart, dem. and sil. 
rep., 342; B. F. Lamb, rep;, 272. 

Treasurer—Thomas K. Lee, dem. and sil. 
rep., 291; E. O. Clark, rep., 311. 

Assessor—Waborn A. Harrison, dem. and 
sil. rep., 307; B. O. Forsythe, rep., 283; Fred 
Tritinger, 10. 

Public Administrator—-E. C. Hale, rep.. 
376; Lige Fowler, 1. 

Coroner—Harvey Bliss, 2; Phil Crossing, 

1; Geo. Muncaster, 4; Thos. K. Tolhurst, 1. 

Superintendent of Schools—Bessie H. 
Marieless, dem. and sil. rep., 372; L. C. Olm- 
stead, rep., 213. 

Surveyor—D. J. Walvoord, rep., 324; Sol. 
Craft, 1; John F. Simmons, 1. 

Fusion between the Democrats and Silver 
Republicans was attempted again in 1898, but 
was not accomplished, and all three parties had 
tickets in the field. Some candidates of the 
Democrats and Republicans were endorsed 
by the Silver Republican party, but there was 
no fusion, in the general acceptance of the 
term. The Republicans were generally suc¬ 
cessful, electing the whole ticket, with the ex¬ 


ception of the nominees for treasurer and sur¬ 
veyor. There were 620 ballots cast at this 
election, about the same as at the preceding 
election. Following was the official vote: 

Congressman Thomas C. Marshall, rep., 
324; Albert J. Campbell, dem., 189; Thos. S. 
Hogan, sil. rep. and pp., 51. 

Representative—W. W. Beasley, rep., 
317; W. P. Franklin, dem. 196; L. F. Dou- 
thett, sil. rep., 79. 

Sheriff—A. T. Kellogg, rep. and sil. rep., 
310; J. L. De Hart, dem. 293. 

Treasurer—A. Whitney, rep., 288; A. E. 
Snook, sil. rep. and dem., 307. 

Clerk and Recorder—John H. Moore, rep. 
and sil. rep., 498; Peter Wormser, 1. 

County Attorney—E. M. Hall, rep., 342; 
Sidney Sanner, dem., 155 > A. G. Hatch, sil. 
rep., 90. 

Assessor—C. O. Hathaway, rep., 289; 
John Prutting, dem., 99; O. M. Lanphear, sil. 
rep., 184. 

Superintendent of Schools—Eva L. Dana, 
rep. and sil. rep., 342; Mary Frawley, dem., 

2 54- J 

Surveyor—D. J. Walvoor, rep. and sil. 

rep., 253; Solomon J. Craft, dem., 313. 

Coroner—Albert Stubblefield, dem., 12; 
Scattering, 10. 

Public Administrator—A. G. Yule, rep., 
358. 

J. W. Bailey, who had been elected county 
commissioner in 1896, resigned the office July 
16, 1900, and Judge Henry appointed New¬ 
ton Budd to fill the unexpired term. Mr. Budd 
resigned the following spring and J. A. Hall 
was appointed to the place. W. J. Hannah 
was also appointed to fill a vacancy as county 
commissioner in September, 1901, and served 
a short time. 

The election of November 6, 1900, was a 
hotly contested affair, resulting in a victory for 
the Republicans. The Silver Republicans ele¬ 
ment did not put a ticket in the field this year, 
and the contest was fought out between the 







HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


209 


Democrats and Republicans. Four years be¬ 
fore Mr. Bryan had carried the county; now 
Mr. McKinley had a big majority, as did the 
other Republican candidates for state offices. 
The Democrats carried the county for their can¬ 
didate for district judge and elected the clerk 
of the district court and superintendent of 
schools. There was a gain of 154 votes in the 
number cast—774 being the total vote. Fol¬ 
lowing is the result of the 1900 election as of¬ 
ficially canvassed by the board of county com- 
• missioners: 

Presidential Electors—Republican 460; 
Democratic, 287; Prohibitionist, 1. 

Congressman—S. G. Murray, rep., 447; 
Cardwell Edwards, dem., lab. and pp., 276; 
C. F. Kelly, ind. dem., 8; Martin J. Elliott, 
soc. dem., o. 

Governor—D. E. Folsom, rep., 435; J. K. 
Toole, dem., pp. and lab., 305; T. S. Hogan, 
ind. dem., 12; J. F. Fox, soc. dem., 1. 

Judge Sixth Judicial District—W. H. 
Poorman, rep., 361; Frank Henry, dem., ind. 
dem., lab. and pp., 393. 

Senator—J. N. Kelly, rep., 452; W. J. 
Hannah, dem., 304. 

Representative—Jake L. De Hart, dem., 
345; Robert Brownlee, rep., 418; W. W. Beas¬ 
ley, ind., 8. 

Sheriff—Oscar Fallang, rep., 390; Thos. 
K. Lee, dem., 384. 

Clerk and Recorder—J. H. Moore, rep., 
409; M. S. Bryant, dem., 362. 

Clerk District Court—B. F. Mjelde, dem., 
387; C. N. Skillman, rep., 370. 

Treasurer—W. A. Harrison, dem., 298; 

J. W. Geiger, rep., 460. 

County Attorney—A. G. Hatch, dem., 
358; E. M. Hall, rep., 400. 

Surveyer—D. J. Walvoord, rep., 493 ; S. J. 
Craft, dem., 13. 

Superintendent of Schools—Stellah Wal¬ 
ker, dem., 402; Edith Marieless, rep., 361. 

County Commissioners—Francis Irwin, 
rep., 379; O. B. Nevin, rep., 456; R. J. Mc- 

14 


Connell, rep., 454; Harvey Bliss, dem., 358; 
Peter Michaels, dem., 351; C. P. Thompson, 
dem., 231. 

Assessor—C. O. Hathaway, rep., 528; 
Albert Haak, dem., 230. 

Public Administrator—A. G. Yule, rep., 
392 . 

The general election of November 4, 1902, 
resulted in a complete victory for the Repub¬ 
licans, that party electing every candidate on 
its ticket. This was the first election in the 
county at which the dominant party had car¬ 
ried the ticket from top to bottom. There was 
a falling off of the vote, the highest number of 
votes cast for any one office being 631. Never 
in the political history of the county had there 
been so many “split” tickets. The official 
vote: 

Congressman—J. M. Dixon, rep., 376; 
John M. Evans, dem., 200; Geo. B. Sproule, 
soc., 5; Martin Dee, lab. and pp., 7. 

Representatives—Robert Brownlee, rep., 
393; E. H. Cowles, dem., 224. 

Sheriff—O. A. Fallang, rep., 435; Geo. 
M. Briner, dem., 196. 

Treasurer—J. W. Geiger, rep., 389; Chas. 
A. Bailey, dem., 239. 

Clerk and Recorder—Harry Allen, rep., 

3 T 9 J J- W. Cochran, dem., 311. 

Assessor—Ralph Jarrett, rep., 340; Pros¬ 
per Tessier, dem., 283. 

County Attorney—E. M. Hall, rep., 316; 
A. G. Hatch, dem., 309. 

Superintendent of Schools—Mrs. S. G. 
Webster, rep., 353; Rose Maupin, dem., 276. 

Surveyor—D., J. Walvoord, rep., 366; S. 

J. Craft, dem., 239. 

Senator J. N. Kelly resigned in the spring 
of 1903 to accept the office of receiver of the 
Bozeman land office, and on April 30th Gov¬ 
ernor Toole issued a proclamation calling for 
a special election in Sweet Grass county to 
elect a successor. May 16th was the date set 
for the election. The Republicans nominated 
J. W. Bailey and the Democrats W. P. Frank- 












210 


HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


lin. The vote was: J. W. Bailey, 272; W. P. 
Franklin, 100. 

B. F. Mjelde resigned the office of clerk 
of the district court in the summer of 1903 
and on August 5th of that year the county 
commissioners appointed Harvey C. Pound to 
fill the unexpired term. 

Seven hundred and eighty-six votes were 
cast at the general presidential election 
November 8, 1904, the largest number that 
' had ever before been cast in the county. Again 
were the Republicans successful in electing 
every candidate on the county ticket. Theo¬ 
dore Roosevelt carried the county for president 
over Judge Alton B. Parker by a vote of 538 
to 174, and the Republican candidates on the 
state ticket carried the county by nearly as 
large a vote. Following is the vote at this 
election: 

Presidential Electors—Republican, 538; 
Democratic and Labor, 174; Peoples party, 1; 
Socialist, 48; Socialist Labor, o; Prohibition, 2. 

Congressman—Jos. M. Dixon, rep., 533 > 
Austin C. Gormley, dem., lab. and pp., 185; 
John H. Walch, soc., 43. 

Governor—William Lindsay, rep., 477; 
Jos. K. Toole dem., Jab. and pp., 261; Malcom 
G. O’Malley, soc., 40. 

Judge Sixth Judicial District—Frank 
Henry, rep., 605. 

Senator—Chas. McDonnell, rep., 420; W. 
L. Martin, dem., 325; W. J. Knapp, soc., 35. 

Representative—Benjamin ‘ O. Forsythe 
rep., 434; Herman Utermohle, dem., 296. 
Thomas B. Breedlove, soc., 36. 

Treasurer—Dick Budd, rep., 618; M. N. 
Olmstead, soc., 49. 

Sheriff—Oscar A. Fallang, rep., 473 > 
Henry Schrader, dem., 248; Frank Schaefer, 
soc., 65. 

Clerk and Recorder—Harry C. Allen, rep., 
566; A. E. Walker, dem., 188. 

Assessor—Ralph S. Jarrett, rep., 516; 
Geo. Munroe, dem., 227; J. M. Dunbar, soc., 
32 - 


County Attorneys—John E. Barbour, rep., 
434; H. A. Hatch, dem., 316. 

Surveyor—Derk J. Walvoord, rep., 532. 

Superintendent of Schools—Alice Web¬ 
ster, rep., 452; Mattie Smoot, dem., 314. 

Clerk District Court—Harvey C. Pound, 
rep., 443; John H. Ammerman, dem., 286; 
L. C. Bade, soc., 34. 

Under the new law the nominations for 
county offices were made at a primary election 
held September 4, 1906. The result of the 
Republican election was as follows: 

Representative—Robert Brownlee, 311; B. 
O. Forsythe, 284. 

Sheriff—O. A. Fallang, 292; H. M. Lamb, 
260. 

Treasurer—Dick Budd, 587. 

Clerk and Recorder—H. C. Allen, 499; 
F. O. Maerdian, 131. 

Assessor—Ralph Jarrett, 259; J. W. 
Davis, 248: E. L. Patterson, 122. 

County Attorney—J. E. Barbour, 331; J 
T. Vaughan, 305. 

Superintendent of Schools—Mary R. 
Deegan, 383; May Baxter Vestal, 243. 

Surveyor—D. J. Walvoord, 567. 

County Commissioner (two year term)— 
H. O. Kellogg, 294; Jos. Kern, 214; B. O. 
Hollopeter, 97. 

County Commissioner (four year term)— 
John Rye, 522. 

County Commissioner (six year term)— 
Geo. Loasby, 447. 

The Democrats, believing that there was 
very little hope for any ticket they might name 
and not desiring to go through the expense of 
two campaigns for one election, did not attend 
the primary election in any numbers. There 
were a few votes cast, however, for nominees 
on the Democratic ticket, many of them being 
for Republicans. The result of this election, 
as canvassed by the board of county commis¬ 
sioners was as follows: Representative, 

Robt. Brownlee; treasurer, Dick Budd; clerk 
and recorder, H. C. Allen; assessor, R. S. Jat- 






HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


211 


rett; county attorney, John T. Vaughan; su¬ 
perintendent of schools, M. B. Vestal; sur¬ 
veyor, D. J. Walvoord; commissioner (two 
year term), Theo. Olson; commissioner (four 
year term), Jos. Lay; commissioner (six year 
term), Henry Nicholson. There were ties on 
the vote cast for some of the offices and these 
were decided by lot by the board. For the of¬ 
fice of representative Robt. Browmlee and Geo. 
W. Baker received the same number of votes, 
and the former was declared the nominee by 
the board. For county commissioner, two 
year term, Theo. T. Olson and Jos. Kern were 
tied, and the former was selected by lot. Some 
of the candidates named by the Democrats re¬ 
signed and others were named by the central 
committee. 

When the general election was held in No¬ 
vember there was opposition to the Republi¬ 
can ticket only for four offices—representative, 
county attorney and two commissioners. The 
result was a falling off in the vote, only 586 
votes being cast. The Republican ticket was 
elected without a break, although the result 
was close on one of the commissioners. Fol¬ 
lowing was the official vote: 

Congressman—Chas. N. Pray, rep., 403; 


Thos. J. Walsh, dem. and lab., 152; John Hud¬ 
son, soc., 22; J. H. Calderhead, pp., o. 

Representative—Robert Brownlee, rep., 
407; Geo. W. Baker, dem., 154. 

Sheriff—O. A. Fallang, rep., 498. 

Treasurer—Dick Budd, rep. and dem., 
528. 

Clerk and Recorder—Harry C. Allen, rep. 
and dem., 534. 

Assessor—Ralph S. Jarrett, rep. and dem., 
521. 

County Attorney—John E. Barbour, rep., 
309; A. G. Hatch, dem., 277. 

Superintendent of Schools—Mary R. 
Deegan, rep., 467. 

Surveyor—Derk J. Walvoord, rep. and 
dem., 487. 

County Commissioner (two year term) — 
H. O. Kellogg, rep., 301; Theo. T. Olson, 
dem., 243. 

County Commissioner (four year term)-^- 
John Rye, rep., 425. 

County Commissioner (six year term)— 
Geo. A. Loasby, rep., 281; Henry Nicholson, 
dem., 277. 

Coroner—Mulkern, rep., 44. 


CHAPTER IV 


DESCRIPTIVE. 


Sweet Grass county, Montana, is located 
in the south central part of the state, its south¬ 
ern boundary being only about ten miles from 
the Wyoming line. It is about eighty miles 
in length from north to south—and its great¬ 
est width is a little less than fifty miles. 
On the north lies Meagher county; to the east 
is Yellowstone county; Carbon county is on 
the southeast, separated by the Stillwater 


river; Park county bounds Sweet Grass on the 
south and west. 

The area of Sweet Grass county is 2,887 
square miles, and the altitude ranges from 
4,000 to 11,000 feet above the sea level. Of 
this area a rough estimate would place about 
one-half in the class designated as valley and 
bench lands; the remainder consists of moun¬ 
tain ranges and forests. Of the latter 570 









212 


HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 






square miles are included in the Yellowstone 
forest reserve and 90 square miles in the 
Crazy mountain reserve. There are, perhaps, 
five or six hundred square miles of the area 
of Sweet Grass county that can be irrigated, 
while the rest' is grazing land. While there 
is that much that can be used for irrigated 
farm purposes, less than one-tenth of that 
amount of land is under water today. The 
remaining acres are still waiting for the ap¬ 
plication of work and water to make them pro¬ 
ductive and profitable to their owners. 

Within the county of Sweet Grass are 
rugged mountains and sheltered Valleys, many 
rivers and creeks, deep canyons, great forests, 
a land of sunshine and shadow and peaceful 
homes. The summers are cool and delightful, 
and the winters are exceedingly mild and com¬ 
paratively free from severe storms. The air 
is pure and 'invigorating; the scenery grand. 
Here are opportunities for those who are seek¬ 
ing homes in one of the best countries in these 
United States. And Sweet Grass county has 
a population of about 3>5°° P^P^ • 

In the northwestern part of the county is 
the Crazy range of mountains with their per¬ 
petual snow covered peaks, from which rise 
the streams that flow into the Yellowstone 
from the north. There are many high peaks 
in these mountains within the borders of Sweet 
Grass county. Among these are Crazy Peak 
on the western boundary line of the county, 
raising its snow covered head to an elevation 
of 11,194 feet above the sea level; Fairview 
Peak, also on the western boundary line; Cin¬ 
namon Peak in the extreme northwestern cor¬ 
ner; and Porcupine Butte, in the northwestern 
part of the county, which has an elevation of 
6,970 feet. In the southern part of the county 
are the Absaroka range of mountains, not less 
lofty and awe-inspiring than the Crazies. 
Mount Douglas is the highest mountain peak 
of this range in Sweet Grass county; its eleva¬ 
tion is 11,300 feet. 

Sweet Grass is one of the best watered 


counties in Montana. The Yellowstone river, 
flowing from west to east, divides the county 
into two nearly equal parts. Flowing into the 
Yellowstone from both the north and south 
sides are no less than fifteen or twenty import¬ 
ant creeks, which, with their tributaries, form 
a perfect network over the county, furnishing 
the elixir of life to vegetation in erevry por¬ 
tion thereof. 

On the south the county is hemmed in by 
spurs of the Rocky mountains, from whose 
snow-capped summits come many important 
tributaries of the Yellowstone. The farthest 
west of these is Wright creek, in the valley of 
which some of the earliest settlers took up 
residences. A little to the east of Wright creek 
is Prather creek. Then comes the Big Boulder 
river, or creek, one of the most important 
streams of the county. Its principal tributaries 
are the West Boulder, East Boulder and Bahel 
creek. Some sixty miles from the point where 
this stream flows into the Yellowstone at the 
town of Big Timber a little spring bubbles out 
of the ground, and this is the commencement 
of the Boulder river. This is in the extreme 
southern part of the county, away up in the 
mountains which cover the whole of that part 
of the county. The journey from that point 
to the mouth is an ever shifting panorama of 
beauty. Surrounding the upper valley are the 
giant peaks standing guard over the untold 
mineral wealth buried there; down in the lower 
valley are the happy homes and highly de¬ 
veloped ranches of the men and women who 
have builded. 

The power that could be generated along 
this stream is incomprehensible, and were it 
properly harnessed to modern machinery it 
would produce sufficient electricity to run 
many mills and factories, besides furnishing 
light and heat for a large city—and that with¬ 
out in the least interfering with either present 
or prospective diversion of water for irriga¬ 
tion purpose?. 

Twenty-eight miles above the mouth of 












HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


213 


Boulder river are the Natural bridge and the 
Natural bridge falls, where the waters of the 
river fall a distance of about one hundred feet. 
The Natural bridge is a limestone formation 
over the river at the head of the falls, it having 
been carved out by the action of the water. 
At the ordinary stage of the river the water 
goes under this bridge, but in high water the 
river flows over the bridge. 

Continuing east from the Boulder we find 
these other streams coming into the Yellow¬ 
stone from the south: Upper Deer, Lower 
Deer, Bridger, Work, Hump, Whistle, Section 
House Gulch, Countryman, which is formed 
by North Fork, South Fork and numerous 
other creeks, and then the Stillwater river, 
which forms the southeastern boundary of the 
county. 

Flowing into the Stillwater from the Sweet 
Grass county side are the following creeks: 
Buck, Jackson, Cow, Spring, Trout, Bad Can¬ 
yon, West Fork of the Stillwater and others. 

Equally well watered is the northern half 
of the county. From the perpetual snow fields 
among the lofty peaks of the Crazy moun¬ 
tains come down numerous babbling creeks, 
traversing the whole of the northern part of 
the county and furnishing abundance of water 
during the irrigating season. Farthest to the 
west is the historic Duck creek, upon the banks 
of which located the first white settler of 
Sweet Grass county. There are three principal 
forks to this creek. Next to Duck creek is 
the Little Timber, with east and west forks and 
other tributaries. White Tail creek lies to the 
east of this. 

The next stream of importance is Big 
Timber creek, which rises in the Crazy moun¬ 
tains just outside of Sweet Grass county, 
flows in a southeasterly direction, and empties 
into the Yellowstone opposite the town of Big 
Timber. Its principal tributaries are Swamp 
creek, South Fork, Devil creek, Amtong creek 
and Hailstone creek. Otter creek empties into 
the Yellowstone a short distance east of Big 


Timber, and with its branches drains a large 
territory. Its most important branches are 
Ten-Mile creek, Wheeler creek and the North 
and South Forks. 

One of the most important streams flow¬ 
ing into the Yellowstone from the north is 
Sweet Grass river, or creek, which has its 
source in the Crazies at a point twenty-five 
miles north and west of Big Timber, flows in 
a southeasterly direction, forming almost a 
half circle, and debouches into the Yellowstone 
at a point about twelve miles east of the 
mouth of the Big Timber. Its tributaries are 
the East Fork, Cayuse creek and Scofield 
creek. To the east of this river is White 
Beaver creek, which has a large tributary in the 
West Fork. 

The Musselshell river touches the county 
on the northeast corner, and the extreme north¬ 
ern and northeastern part of the county is 
drained by creeks which flow into that river. 
One of these is Big Elk creek, which flows 
across the extreme northwestern corner. Lebo 
creek and American Fork are two important 
streams which drain the northern part of the 
county and empty into the Musselshell. Other 
important creeks in the northern and north¬ 
eastern part of the county flowing into the 
Musselshell are Fish creek with numerous trib¬ 
utaries, Mud creek and Big Coulee creek. 

Now let us consider the relation these num¬ 
erous streams bear to the prosperity of Sweet 
Grass county. Anyone at all conversant with 
the nature of the soil of the arid west and the 
scarcity of rainfall realizes the value of moun¬ 
tain streams. While the plainsman regards 
the mountains as representing so much waste 
land, the western farmer knows that they are 
the very fountain head of his wealth and 
prosperity. These mountains conserve the 
water supply until the heat of the long 
summer days melt the snow, which has 
been held in storage in the higher ranges, at 
a time when it is needed by the farmer to 
moisten his crops. While there is some “dry 





214 


HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


land farming” carried on in Sweet Grass coun¬ 
ty, it is the exception rather than the rule. 
The principal crops of the dry farms are winter 
wheat and rye. 

Because of the splendid distribution of 
water and the ease with which this water can 
be diverted from the streams, owing to the 
natural slope of the land, hundreds of canals 
now tap the sources of supply and carry the 
water to every portion of the numerous val¬ 
leys. As a result many thousands of acres of 
arid land, which in days gone by were consid¬ 
ered worthless, have been reclaimed from their 
desert state and now produce crops of grain 
and grasses that are unsurpassed in quality and 
quantity anywhere on earth. 

The farming lands of Sweet Grass county 
are, of course, in the valleys of the streams, 
and nearly all of these valleys are highly pro¬ 
ductive. It shall be our purpose now to de¬ 
scribe some of the most important of these 
agricultural areas. 

The Yellowstone valley extends across the 
county from west to east, and its length in 
Sweet Grass county is about fifty-five miles; 
its average width about two miles. There are 
many fine farms in the valley. 

The Boulder river valley is one of the best 
known and most prosperous in the county, and 
has been described as the “Garden Spot of 
Sweet Grass County.” In fertility of soil and 
scenic grandeur it is unsurpassed. From the 
mouth of the stream at Big Timber for a dis¬ 
tance of thirty miles up the stream it is all 
taken up with ranches, and many hundreds 
of acres are under cultivation. Including the 
bottom and bench lands, the valley is about 
five miles wide. Of the Boulder valley a writer 
in the Big Timber Pioneer of December 13, 
1906, said: 

* * * No transformation could be more bewil¬ 
dering than that which has taken place in Boulder 
valley within the past ten years—and alfalfa is its name. 

Oats and wheat are among the most profitable 
crops grown on the Boulder. The yields are enormous, 


and the market very satisfactory. ‘The hog industry 
has not yet assumed large proportions, but it is re¬ 
garded as holding bright prospects for the future. 
Whilst the cattle industry has 'been the most im¬ 
portant on the Boulder, the big sheep feeder has 
early recognized the superior fattening qualities of 
alfalfa. 

As in all parts of the county the Boulder 
valley is watered by irrigation, and it contains 
numerous private irrigating ditches. 

The valley of the Sweet Grass was the first 
part of the county that received settlers, and 
it is one of the richest parts. Near the foot 
of the Crazy mountains, where the stream 
heads, the valley is in the form of a large basin, 
in which are many thousand acres of rich 
farming lands. Following down the stream 
the valley narrows, yet many ranches are scat¬ 
tered along it, all using the Sweet Grass water 
in the cultivation of the adjacent lands. About 
eight miles from the mouth of the creek the 
valley widens again, and here are many thou¬ 
sand acres more of good land. Of the many 
private ditches in this valley there is one of 
special importance. This is 19 miles long and 
carries 1,000 inches of water. It was com¬ 
pleted October 15th, 1903, for O. B. Nevim 
Three, thousand acres of land were covered 
at a cost of $4,000. The water is taken from 
the creek at a point about two miles north of 
the town of Melville. 

To the west of the Sweet Grass valley are 
a number of valleys which are very productive 
and thickly settled. These are the valleys of 
the Big Timber, Otter and Swamp creeks, all 
of which have their source in the Crazy moun¬ 
tains. The Big Timber valley is about six¬ 
teen miles long and the average width about 
a mile and one-half; the south fork of the Big 
Timber is five miles long and one mile wide; 
Swamp creek is ten miles long and about one 
mile wide. These valleys are watered by 
canals taken from the streams and run paral¬ 
lel with the creeks. 

Another one of the important valleys of the 









HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


215 


county is the Stillwater, lying along the south¬ 
eastern border. This valley is 65 miles long, 
and on the Sweet Grass county side there are 
about forty ranches in the valley. This was 
in the Crow reservation until 1892, since 
which time it has been settled. Leaving the 
Yellowstone at Columbus you can pass up the 
Stillwater and see mile after mile of land in 
alfalfa, oats, wheat and other cereals in the 
valley proper, while back in the hills are graz¬ 
ing lands of unsurpassed luxuriance. If you 
go up the river far enough you will come to 
what is known as the lower canyon, far famed 
for its beauty and grandeur, with its midnight 
gulch, its natural bridge, its bee-hive rock, its 
ramparts and battlements, and its buttes. Then 
comes the far famed Stillwater basin, with its 
coal, copper, nickel and other precious metals. 

One of the best and cheapest water pro¬ 
perties in the state of Montana is that operated 
by the Dry Creek Canal company, a co-opera¬ 
tive irrigating concern which has its canal 
south of the Boulder river. The canal is eight 
miles long, carries 2,500 inches of water and 
supplies 3,200 acres of land, comprising sep¬ 
arate ranches. The greater part of the stock 
was issued in exchange for labor performed 
by members of the company and beneficiaries 
of the canal, and the expense for water is 
limited by the cost of maintenance, which is 
merely nominal. There are no flumes, the 
ditch being cut through solid ground. This 
ditch was put in by a settlement of Mormons. 

In the northern part of the county are 
other agricultural communities, on American 
Fork and other streams. 

Many of the ranches of Sweet Grass 
county contain from 25,000 to 30,000 acres, 
but these are gradually being divided 
into smaller ranches. Except on dry land 
farms, where summer fallowing is necessary 
and only one-half of the farm can be cropped 
every year, 160 acres is plenty large enough 
for any farmer to cultivate as a farm should 
be cultivated. 


Within the last five years ranch property 
has fully doubled in value. Ranches that 
could have been purchased for $3,000 five 
years ago cannot be bought for less than $6,- 
000, while lands that were barren wastes and 
considered worthless at that time are now pro¬ 
ducing splendid yields. The rapid decrease 
of the public range compels the stockmen to 
depend more on the production of his ranch 
to feed his stock. As the result the ranchman 
is paying more attention to the intensified 
farming of his land by adopting more ap¬ 
proved methods, thus increasing the produc¬ 
tivity of the soil. This, in connection with 
an increasing demand for tillable land, ac¬ 
counts for the rapid increase in valuation. 
Lands improved and unimproved sell from $10 
to $50 per acre. Agriculture is only in the in¬ 
fancy of its development in Sweet Grass- 
county, and the opportunities and natural ad¬ 
vantages here are unsurpassed in the west. It 
is estimated that there were 6,500 acres more 
land under cultivation in 1906 than there were 
in 1905. 

Formerly the public range was depended 
upon almost entirely to provide feed for stock,, 
but under the new order of things an acre of 
land will produce sufficient food to keep ten 
times -as much stock as it did before. 

On properly irrigated ranches wheat yields 
from forty-five to sixty-five bushels per acre, 
oats from sixty to one hundred and five bush¬ 
els, barley from seventy-five to one hundred 
bushels, potatoes from two hundred to four 
hundred bushels, alfalfa from three to six tons, 
timothy from two to three tons, and other pro¬ 
ducts in like quantities. 

Although for a long time it was supposed 
that fruit could not be raised in this climate. 
Sweet Grass county is now producing fine ap¬ 
ples and plums, while the smaller fruits—ber¬ 
ries, currants, strawberries, etc.—grow every¬ 
where. 

One of the leading industries of the county 
is stock raising, although it is not carried on 




2l6 


HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


as it was in the early days before the ranges 
were taken up for ranches. Nowhere in Mon¬ 
tana are the natural advantages more favor¬ 
able for stock raising than in Sweet Grass 
county. Blessed with a most generous supply 
of water, a very essential commodity for grow¬ 
ing forage crops and for the winter feeding of 
stock, and sheltered by the mountain peaks 
from the cold winds and severe storms, Sweet 
Grass is indeed a paradise for the stockman. 
Among the stock, sheep easily lead. In fact, 
for years Sweet Grass county had the reputa¬ 
tion of being the greatest sheep raising county 
in the state. During the winter of 1906-07 fully 
350,000 sheep were fed on the ranches of the 
county. Of this number, about 110,000 were 
owned by sheep men of other places, who rec¬ 
ognize the superior quality of Sweet Grass 
county alfalfa. 

This is also a great cattle country. During 
the year 1906 there were shipped from Big 
Timber 355 cars of cattle, which went to the 
eastern markets. 

Another industry that is fast coming to the 
front is the raising of hogs. Those who have 
tried the experiment have found it very profit¬ 
able. The hogs are fed on alfalfa during the 
summer and then fed on grain about two 
months. During the winter of 1906-07 A. L. 
Bray shipped, from Big Timber, five or six 
cars of hogs to Seattle and Billings. 

A writer in the Big Timber Pioneer of De¬ 
cember 13, 1906, tells of mineral resources 
of the county as follows: 

In the matter of mineral resources few states and 
not every nation can claim the variety or amount found 
and utilized in Sweet Grass county. 

Gold* silver, lead, iron, copper, coal, lime and 
sandstone, all have been mined and sold from this 
county. 

Gold to the amount of about $200,000 has been ex¬ 
tracted from rock and gravel in the Boulder river 
district. Silver in combination with lead—galena— 
has been shipped in car load lots to be smelted, and 
profitable returns received. 

The Boulder river district is continuous from Big 
Timber southward for a distance of sixty miles, the 


valuable metals being found in the part beyond thirty 
miles from Big Timber. Through the canyon, the 
rocks, corroded by water and ice to a depth of hundreds 
of feet, show metal bearing seams continuously, so 
that even those that run may see. 

Every mile of the thirty miles of canyon has 
located claims, some being worked, many held be¬ 
cause of lack of money to do more; the owner sure of 
its value confidently looks forward to the time when 
the Boulder will come to its own and its worth be 
appreciated. 

Hundreds of mining claims, showing now only a 
little hole in the ground and a little pile of ore near 
by, were at one time valued in the thousands of dol¬ 
lars, and at such valuation many were sold. Now 
they can be secured by anyone taking the trouble to 
claim them. 

Commencing at Big Timber and continuing south¬ 
ward directly great beds of sandstone are seen, all 
of a uniform gray color, but for building or shaping, 
this stone is as good as can be found in Montana. 

Beyond the upper sandstone, the Larmine beds 
outcrop, and in it are several layers of coal, thick enough 
to warrant mining and from which a considerable 
quantity of coal has already been mined. These 
layers, though but at most four feet thick, supply 
coal superior to anything found in the west, so much 
better that, though costing fifty per cent more, it is yet 
economical for fuel. As a substitute for imported 
soft coal, which is yet considered a necessity for the 
working of iron, it has been proven to be equally 
good. 

Beyond the sandstone beds lime rock shows, not 
in seams, not in beds, but mountains of it, and in 
comparison with other lime rocks none can be su¬ 
perior to it. Kilns for producing lime suitable for 
building purposes have been in operation for years. 

Beyond the lime area for thirty miles the rocks 
are seamed with quartz bearing iron, copper, silver, 
lead and gold. Iron ore of good quality and high 
percentage shows in such quantities that if but a small 
part of it could be so placed that transportation would 
cost but little, such as is possible in the Great Lake 
region, a million dollars would be a small estimate 
of its value; located as it is, it is valueless. It will not 
always be so. 

Recently the statement was made that under very 
favorable conditions one per cent copper ores could 
be worked with a small profit—there are half mile 
areas in Sweet Grass county in which the ordinary 
country rock contains more than that, and rock with 
percentages as high as five per cent can be found as 
easily as boulders in Big Timber. 

There is an area of over twenty square miles in 
the Boulder district where copper bearing quartz can 
be found outcropping in any half mile square. With 
a few exceptions the percentage is not high—eight 
per cent or less. Occasionally, however, it is found 
up to forty per cent. Leads on which development 










HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


217 


work has been done in every case have exceeded ex¬ 
pectations when depth was obtained. One with a depth 
of something over two hundred feet gives assay with 
over twenty per. cent copper with forty dollars of gold 
per ton. This ore, though very rich, is so located 
that it could be taken only at great expense from the 
mine, an expense so great that the possibility has 
not been considered. 

Another copper lead, having a width of over 
thirty feet and extending over three miles, is now be¬ 
ing developed with extensive operations in view. Six 
men are at work at the present time on this lead, 
.and the results shown are reported as being most sat¬ 
isfactory. 

The Crazy mountains, twenty miles north of Big 
Timber, have never been prospected by persons com¬ 
petent to give an opinion of any value. 

Some ranchmen, however, resting a few moments 
while following a deer on one of the mountains, 
noticed that the rock they were sitting on was un¬ 
usual in appearance, and taking some with them, learned 
from others that the rock was galena—almost pure 
lead with silver. Where found the rock was nearly a 
foot and a half thick and extended as far as examined. 
Development work later confirmed the value of the 
lead, but difficulty in getting the ore down the moun¬ 
tain and transporting to railway with lack of capital, 
by which these could be overcome, necessitated the 
temporary closing of the mine. Work will be com¬ 
menced in the spring as soon as conditions allow. Car¬ 
load shipments from this mine give smelter returns 
of sixty per cent lead and about twenty ounces of 
silver per ton. 

That there are enormous bodies of lead in these 
mountains is proven beyond a doubt by the presence 
•of galena crystals in the gravelly soil eight miles from 
the mountain along Big Timber creek. The amount 
of galena in this soil is almost enough to make it 
profitable washing for that alone. 

While there has not been much activity in 
mining operations in Sweet Grass county for 
many years, during the early nineties there was 
more interest taken in mining operations on 
the Boulder than in any other industry. The 
Boulder district is partly in Sweet Grass 
county and in Park county; but as the 
town of Big Timber was the principal 
outfitting point for the camp during 
the days of activity. They are properly consid¬ 
ered as belonging to this county. Of the his¬ 
tory of this district prior to the panic, which 
.suspended all operations, Mr. H. C. Freeman 
wrote in 1895: 


According to the best information obtainable gold 
was first discovered on Baboon mountain in 1864 by 
those pioneer prospectors, John Allen and Barney 
Hughes. This district was then within the territory 
of the Crow Indians and continued so until by treaty 
the western part, including this district, was ceded to 
the United States, and by proclamation of President 
Harrison it was formally opened to the public. In 1891, 
1892 and 1893, up to the period in the summer when 
the panic struck Montana, it was the scene of great 
activity. During this time, also, the available agri¬ 
cultural lands in the valley of Boulder creek were taken 
up for homesteads. 

A large number of mining claims were located, and 
the rush of prospectors and miners into the district 
started the town of Independence, about three miles 
above the head of Boulder creek, in 1893. After the 
usual preliminary work incident to a mining camp in 
an isolated district, far from supplies and roads, supplies 
and machinery were gotten in from Big Timber, and 
systematic work was begun. As four cents per pound 
was the rate for transportation for supplies and machin¬ 
ery from Big Timber, a portion of their labor was natur¬ 
ally directed to opening and improving a road. Prog¬ 
ress enough was made to reduce freights to three cents 
a pound, and this was reduced to one and one-half 
cents a pound in the autumn of 1894. 

The first stamp mill taken in, other than a pros¬ 
pecting mill, was that of the Hidden Treasure Com¬ 
pany—a ten-stamp mill—and located on Basin creek, 
on the west side of Baboon mountain, the mine being 
nearly a mile distant on the south slope of the same 
mountain. The next mill was taken in by the Inde¬ 
pendence company and was located on Boulder creek, 
just above the townsite of Independence. This was a 
three-stamp Kendall mill, estimated to be equal to an 
ordinary ten-stamp mill. In the next year this com¬ 
pany added a ten-stamp mill of the ordinary style. 
About the same time the Daisy organized as the Treas¬ 
ure State Mining company, put in a ten-stamp mill on 
their property on the south slope of Baboon mountain, 
adjoining the mine of the Hidden Treasure company, 
and the Poorman company brought in a Crawford mill 
and put it on its property, three-fourths of a mile south 
of the Treasure State and Poorman mines, to furnish 
the power for the mills and light for mills and mines. 

In August, 1893, another ten-stamp mill was 
brought in by the King Solomon company and located 
about a mile southeast of the Poorman. Some lesser 
outfits for prospecting and light work had also been 
brought in, which are not necessary to mention in de¬ 
tail. At this time, when the camp was booming and 
alive with hope and expectation, the panic struck Mon¬ 
tana. Some of the banks went under, and very soon 
the necessary money supply to keep the mining opera¬ 
tion afloat until self sustaining, was cut off, and only 
one developed to a condition to be self-sustaining, had 
funds tied up in suspended banks. Very soon all opera¬ 
tions were brought to a standstill. 




CHAPTER V 




BIG TIMBER AND 

There is only one town in Sweet Grass 
county that has arisen to the importance of 
having municipal government; this is Big 
Timber, the county seat, and a town of about 
1,000 population. Next to the county seat 
town comes Melville, a little village in the 
Sweet Grass valley. These two are the prin¬ 
cipal towns, but there are a few other settle¬ 
ments in teh county that should be considered 
in this chapter. There are at present nine 
postoffices in the county as follows: Big Tim¬ 
ber, Melville, Nye, Howie, McLeod, Grey- 
cliff, Reed, 'Merrill and Busteed. 

BIG TIMBER. 

Big Timber is situated on the main line of 
the Northern Pacific railroad, a little to the 
west of the geographical center of the county. 
The town is builded on a high bench or plateau 
a short distance above the confluence of 
the Boulder with that river . The bench 
upon which the town is built is 4,090 
feet above sea level, d The location is a 
sightly one and commands a good view of the 
surrounding country. To the north one can 
look over twenty or thirty miles of ridgy green 
uplands to the superb Alpine range of the 
Crazy mountains. To the south one can look 
across a vast billowy expense of pasture and 
farming lands to the Snowy or Absaroka 
range, whose enormous bulk reaches away into 
Wyoming, lifting their masses of granite and 
snow 10,000 feet to the blue heavens. The 
landscape is unique and beautiful in whatever 
direction the eye is turned. 

Nature has paved the whole townsite with 
boulders and gravel. In fact, this particular 


OTHER PLACES. 

locality appears to have been one of nature’s 
chief dumping grounds for drift in the glacial 
age. Bed rock is fifty feet below the surface, 
and down to that depth the soil is full of 
boulders of all sizes, shapes and formations. 
Undoubtedly, during the glacial period these 
were carried down from the mountains from 
the south. On the principal thoroughfares of 
the town these boulders have been cleared 
away, but once out of the main streets they are 
the first thing to attract the notice of the 
stranger. Big Timber has sometimes been 
termed the “Cobblestone City” because of 
these boulders. 

Big Timber is the natural business center 
of a large scope of country, and draws its 
of a large scope of country, and draws its trade 
from great distances. Livingston, the nearest 
town on the west, is 35 miles away, while 
the nearest town on the east is Columbus, at 
a greater distance. Most of the business houses 
of the city are built of building stone, quarried 
a few miles from town, and give the little town, 
a handsome appearance. To see Big Timber 
at its best, one should visit it during-the sum¬ 
mer months, the wool hauling period. Then 
the wool teams come in for fifty miles or more 
—from up the Boulder, the Sweet Grass, the 
Big Timber and from the flanks of the 
Crazies. Two, and sometimes three, wagons 
are fastened together, drawn by six or eight or 
ten horses. 

The name of the town is a misnomer and 
conveys a wrong impression, as there is no 
natural timber on the townsite or near it and 
never was. The town was named after the 
old Big Timber stage station at the mouth of 
Big Timber creek, and there in the early days 




HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


219- 


were found some of the largest trees in the 
whole Yellowstone valley. 

Big Timber came into existence on its pres¬ 
ent location in the year 1883, but before that 
date there had been Setlements near this spot, 
accompanied by efforts to found a town, and 
we shall consider these before taking up the 
history of the town proper. 

Back in the late seventies, after the In- 
chans in this part of the country had been sub¬ 
dued and white people were beginning to make 
their homes in the Yellowstone valley, but be¬ 
fore the railroad was built, there was estab¬ 
lished a stage and mail route between the 
towns of Bozeman and Miles City. This stage 
road passed along the north bank of the Yel¬ 
lowstone river, and along the line were num¬ 
erous stage stations, where horses could be ex¬ 
changed and where passengers and drivers 
might secure refreshments. One of these sta¬ 
tions was located on the north side of the river, 
just below the mouth of Big Timber creek, and 
was known as the Big Timber road house; 
this was the first Big Timber. J. F. Marley 
conducted the station, and there was also a 
saloon owned by another party. Later other 
enterprises were started there. A toll ferry 
was put on the river by Keiger brothers; a 
store was started by R. B. Dunham; Big Tim¬ 
ber postoffice was established with Mr. Dun¬ 
ham as the first postmaster. This station on 
the north side of the river remained in exist¬ 
ence until the railroad was built through this 
part of the territory in 1882, when the stage 
line went out of existence, and with it the sta¬ 
tion of Big Timber, which was moved across 
the river and formed the nucleus of a new 
town. 

This brings us up to the founding of 
Dornix, which was in turn to be abandoned 
for the starting of the town of Big Timber 
on its present location. In the summer of 
1882 the Northern Pacific railroad was built 
through this part of the country, and a bridge 
construction camp was located on the south 


side of the Yellowstone, just west of Boulder 
creek and nearly opposite the mouth of Big 
Timber creek. Here the men who were em¬ 
ployed in building the bridge across the 
Boulder were camped. Most of the laborers 
were Irishmen, and they christened the camp 
Dornix, which, though appropriate for the 
camp, did not preserve the euphony so char¬ 
acteristic of the names oi>f western towns, and 
was not destined to live. Harvey Bliss, for 
many years afterward a prominent citizen of 
Sweet Grass county, was one of the contractors 
and built the approaches of the railroad bridge 
across the Boulder. 

The railroad company put in a spur down 
to the river at the point and named the station 
Dornix. The depot consisted of a platform 
and a tent. Quite a little settlement was then 
built up here. The store and postoffice were 
moved over from across the river, and a saw¬ 
mill was erected, which manufactured rough 
lumber for the construction of buildings by 
the few settlers, the lumber being rafted down 
the Big Timber from the forests up in the 
Crazy mountains. After the bridge had been 
constructed and the railroad builders had de¬ 
parted a new industry sprang up to keep the 
town of Dornix in existence. This was the 
matter of getting out ties for the railroad com¬ 
pany. Contractors employed forces of men to 
get out the ties from the timber up the Big 
Timber and Boulder, and these were brought 
down to the Yellowstone and piled up along 
the track for use at different points on the 
line. Owing to this work and the fact that 
quite a number of settlers were, coming into 
the country and taking up land in the vicinity, 
we find that Dornix had grown to quite a 
flourishing little village by the summer of 
1883. 

That fall arrangements were made to plat 
a townsite at this point, and as the town was 
builded on government land, the platting was 
done under the direction of the probate judge 
of Gallatin county. Sigmund Deutsch, of 






220 


HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


Bozeman, a surveyor was sent to Dornix to 
lay out the townsite, which he did in the latter 
part of September. Concerning the platting 
of the town and the condition of the little place 
at that date we reproduce the following, which 
was published in a Bozeman paper about the 
first of October: 

U. S. Engineer Deutsch has just returned from 
making a survey of the embryo city of Dornix, located 
thirty-five miles east of Livingston on the Yellowstone 
river, at the mouth of Boulder creek and on the North¬ 
ern Pacific railway. He reports the town growing very 
rapidly. There are already twenty-five houses, four 
stores, four saloons, a blacksmith shop and the usual 
number of trades and professions which are the usual 
adjuncts of a town. The population numbers about 
loo, the majority of whom find employment with the 
Montana Lumber company. This firm has a very large 
saw mill on Boulder creek, and manufactures about 
six million feet of lumber annually. This is also a 
great point for getting out railroad ties. Over 200,000 
are stacked up along the track for shipment. 

Mr. Deutsch was ordered by the territorial author¬ 
ities to survey and plat eighty acres of a townsite. The 
probate judge of Gallatin county is selling lots at $10 
each. He (Deutsch) predicts a prosperous future for 
the town, which, by the way, is owned by the company 
and is without real estate scheme to profit by its growth. 

The town of Dornix was not to retain its 
identity long after this. Farther up the 
Boulder, about a mile from Dornix, John An¬ 
derson had settled upon land, which later be¬ 
came the townsite of Big Timber. Here in the 
latter part of 1883 the railroad company 
moved its station and built a neat depot. This 
change in location, it is said, was made be¬ 
cause of the steep grade at the town of Dornix 
and the difficulty in handling trains there. The 
company called the new station Big Timber, 
and abandoned the Dornix station. A Dornix 
correspondent to the Livingston Enterprise of 
November 12, 1883, said of the arrangements 
at that time:' “A stop is made at the town of 
Dornix, where there is not even a platform, 
but where all passengers alight or come aboard. 
The train then crosses Boulder creek to a neat 
new depot called Big Timber, erected on the 
railroad land, but which has no buildings 


around it nearer than those of Dornix, across 
the stream.” 

In the month of December, 1883, the town 
of Dornix ceased to have an official existence, 
and the town of Big Timber was founded. 
Postmaster R. B. Dunham received instruc¬ 
tions to move the office to the new location, 
and the name was changed to Big Timber. 
Mr. Dunham, who was also the proprietor of 
the s'tore in Dornix, moved that to the new 
town. Concerning the removal to the new 
site, a correspondent writing on December 11, 
said: “The old town of Dornix is a thing of 
the past. Everybody is moving up to the new 
town, one mile west, at the new depot, as fast 
as possible. * * * R. B. Dunham, postmaster, 
has received instructions to move the postoffice 
up to the new town, which he will do tomor¬ 
row, together with the store. There are others 
who will soon follow in the same wake.” 

Several others moved at about the same 
time. The neighbors came with teams and 
moved the store building of James Mirielles 
up to the new town, and it was made into a 
hotel for William Bramble. Mr. Mirielles was 
appointed postmaster, and later, in partnership 
with Walter Allen, erected a building and 
started a store. C. E. Brooks and brother 
moved their saloon to the new town at about 
the same time. A correspondent writing from 
Big Timber December 20, said: “The new 
town of Big Timber now has two stores, one 
saloon and a hotel, and another saloon and 
restaurant are in contemplation.” 

Of these early buildings in the new town, 
the Wool Exchange saloon building and the 
Owl saloon building were destroyed by fire on 
April 9, 1894. The Big Timber hotel (Bram¬ 
ble’s) was also destroyed by fire in the mid¬ 
dle nineties. The old Kieger ferry, which had 
done duty so long across the river from 
Dornix, was purchased by Joseph Hooper, and 
it was hauled up the river for him by J. G. 
Marley. It was placed in position on the west 
side of the Boulder near the town and was op- 






'HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


221 


crated until 1884, when Mr. Hooper con¬ 
structed a toll bridge. The Hart brothers had 
charge of the bridge for a time, and later A. 
G. Yule was in charge. 

Church and Sunday school work was taken 
up in the little town at this early date. Mrs. 
Ellen DeWitt Hatch took up the work of 
forming a Sunday school, which she conducted 
for a long time. The first church services were 
held in the town in 1884 by Rev. Alfred 
Brown, who came from Livingston. 

While the population of Big Timber did 
not increase rapidly during the first few years 
of its existence, it became one of the best trad¬ 
ing points in the Yellowstone valley. This 
was because of the wool trade which centered 
here, and while we find that during the late 
eighties the population of the town was not 
at any time over 200, it became noted as one of 
the largest wool market in the United States, 
an average of about 1,000,000 pounds being 
shipped every year. C. T. Busha and Joseph 
Hooper put up a wool house in 1885, but the 
bales of wool came in such numbers that the 
railroad company was obliged to build a large 
store house to keep it from being damaged. 
One of the earlier business houses of the town 
was a meat market, which was started by 
Daniel Hogan. The building was made by 
standing railroad ties on end. 

One of the editors of the Livingston En¬ 
terprise visited Big Timber in May, 1886, and 
wrote as follows of the town as he found it at 
that time: 

Big Timber is a most thrifty little town, and when 
its resources are considered, it is apparent that it can 
never be anything other than a good business point. 
It is the main supply point for a large and productive 
territory on the north and south, ranks next to Helena 
and Benton as a wool market, and has the advantage 
of being favorably located in numerous other particulars. 

I 

During the year 1886 there were shipped 
from the town about 1,028,000 pounds of wool. 
Heavy losses were made by the sheepmen dur¬ 
ing the severe winter of 1886-87, and the ship¬ 


ments for 1887 feM a trifle below the million 
pound mark. That year Big Timber ranked 
second among the towns of Montana terri¬ 
tory as a wool shipping point. Mr. Thos. K. 
Lee furnishes the information that during the 
winter of 1886-87 there were just fifty-one resi¬ 
dents in Big Timber. 

An estimate of the town’s population in 
1888 placed it at 200. That year about 
1,000,000 pounds of wool were shipped. An¬ 
other event of that year was the establishment 
of a store by Busha & Bailey. 

Although John Anderson had surveyed the 
townsite when the town was first started, it 
was not recorded until 1889. According to 
the official records he platted the townsite on 
August 27, 1889, filed the plat for record on 
September 5, and the plat was approved by 
the commissioners of Park county on Septem¬ 
ber 6th of that year. The townsite consisted of 
160 acres, which had been homesteaded by 
Mr. Anderson, and the streets were laid out 
parallel with, and at right angles to, the rail¬ 
road. The lots were placed on the market by 
Mr. Anderson and A. M. Harris. Since the 
original townsite was platted there have been 
three additions made. Boulder addition No. 
1 was platted by Lucy A. Merielles September 
4, 1890, and was filed September 18. It con¬ 
sisted of eighty acres and had been taken as a 
homestead by Mrs. Merielles. Boulder addi¬ 
tion No. 2 was platted by Albert Stubblefield 
September 4, 1890, was filed and approved the 
same day. This was an eighty-acre tract and 
was one-half of Mr. Stubblefield’s homestead. 
He sold one-half of the townsite to T. K. Lee. 
Yellowstone addition was platted by Daniel 
Hogan July 25, 1891, was filed July 27 and 
approved by the Park county commissioners 
August .5. There were eighty acres in this 
addition, and was originally the homestead of 
Mr. Hogan. 

The wool shipments for 1889 were about 
up to the average, 984,635 pounds being billed 
out of the town. Besides the wool, 33 cars of 






222 


HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


mutton sheep and 27 cars of horses and cattle 
were shipped. 

The year 1890 brought the town’s first 
fire, which destroyed a few thousand dollars 
worth of property. It occurred April 9, when 
the following losses were reported: Shank &. 
Lee, bank building, $500; Moore & Stocker, 
drugs and stock, $2,500; Oscar Anderson, 
house, $800; H. O. Kellogg, house; H. O. 
Hickox, house, $400; Harvey Bliss, two 
houses, $250. 

The federal census of 1890 gave Big Tim¬ 
ber a population of 265. That year trade 
opened up better in the spring than ever before 
in the town’s history, and an era of prosperity 
was begun. Merchants did a thriving busi¬ 
ness, and new buildings were going up all over 
the town. Among others was the first sub¬ 
stantial brick building, put up by George 
Hatch. In April W. L. Shanks and T. K. Lee 
started a private bank, the first in the town. 
The wool business was good, and there was the 
largest shipment that had yet been recorded in 
the town’s history. 

While the year 1890 had been a prosperous 
■one the next year distanced it completely. In 
December the Livingston Enterprise said of 
the little town down the river: “During the 
year now closing the growth of Big Timber 
has been marvelous, fully $150,000 having 
been spent during that time in the way of 
buildings and improvements.” Among the 
principal buildings put up that year were the 
Grand hotel, erected by Jacob Halverson; and 
the brick block, now the Oxford hotel, erected 
by W. L. Shanks. Among the new business 
enterprises was the Frst National Bank, which 
opened its doors in July. The wool shipments 
for 1891 were nearly 2,000,000 pounds, or 
over one per cent o|f the entire wool clip of the 
United States. Other shipments from Big 
Timber were thirty-two cars of cattle, ten cars 
of horses and 115 cars of sheep. While there 
had been a school in Big Timber from the time 
the town was founded, there was not a suitable 


building for school purposes until 1891, when 
Judge Lee and George Hatch donated land 
where their claims joined for a site for a brick 
school house. This was built, but had to be 
rebuilt because of a storm on Thanksgiving 
day, which blew off the second story. 

For some time each year seemed to eclipse 
all previous years in the building up of Big 
Timber, and the year 1892 was no exception 
to the rule. The Pioneer of June 28 said that 
a census of Big Timber taken at that time 
would reveal the fact that the town had dou¬ 
bled in population during the last twelve 
months. There was some little talk of incor¬ 
porating at this time, but there were no results 
from the talk. The wool shipments for 1892 
were the largest in the history of the town, 
and were believed to have been the largest 
from any town in the state. The shipments 
were as follows: Sold, 1,446,342 pounds; 
consigned, 640,309 pounds, making a grand 
total of 2,086,651 pounds. The ruling price 
was from 16^ to 18 cents a pound. 

The year 1893 opened up with the usual 
activity, and there were more people in Big 
Timber that spring than there had been in the 
town before. Many of these were outfitting 
for the Boulder mines, which were then in the 
height of their glory and adding much to the 
prosperity of the town. 

Then came the panic, which seized the 
whole country in its iron grasp. Big Timber 
suffered severely. Its wool and mining in¬ 
dustries, which had contributed most to the 
town’s prosperity, were paralyzed. Mining 
was discontinued entirely; the price of wool 
got so low that it was hardly profitable. Dur¬ 
ing all its previous history Big Timber had 
been a place of unusual activity and business 
enterprise, and the depression led some to be¬ 
lieve that its former standing was lost forever. 
Adding to the general feeling of depression 
was the failure of the First National Bank, 
' which closed its doors on July 27. 

The bank’s affairs were not in bad shape, 







HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


223 


and steps were soon taken toward a reorgani¬ 
zation. This was accomplished by the organ¬ 
ization of the Big Timber National Bank, 
which opened its doors on December 18. De¬ 
positors of the old bank were paid in full by 
the new concern. There were other business 
failures, and for a time the bottom seemed to 
have dropped out of the town. But there was 
soon a rally, and the panic was weathered. 
The town was a long time in recovering from 
the effects of the panic. During the next few 
years there was a gradual improvement, but no 
radical change for the better until the latter 
part of the decade. 

Coming on the heels of the financial de¬ 
pression were a series of fires, nearly all of in¬ 
cendiary origin, which from October, 1893, to 
the next April did damage estimated at $50,- 
000. The first of these fires occurred on the 
evening of October 31, when the Criterion 
building and three adjoining buildings were 
destroyed, the fire having been started, it was 
supposed, by a tramp. The second conflagra¬ 
tion was on the evening of December 26, when 
the livery and feed barn of Mastin & Co. 
burned, together with part of its contents. This 
was started by an incendiary. 

The most disastrous conflagration in the 
history of the city up to that time was set by 
a firebug on Thursday morning, March 29, in 
a vacant building owned by the Clark Cattle 
cpmpany, and before the fire was gotten under 
control nearly $15,000 worth of property had 
been destroyed. The town at the time had 
very poor fire protection, and it was only by 
the greatest exertions of the citizens that much 
greater damage was prevented. 

The last of this series of fires occurred 
Monday night, April 9, 1895, and was the 
most disastrous of all, the losses being about 
$20,000. 

The creation of Sweet Grass county in the 
spring of 1895 had a beneficent effect upon the 
town of Big Timber, and resulted in a small 
but healthy growth. The wool shipments that 


year reached the enormous figures of 4,138,- 
763 pounds, equalled by no other city in the 
state. The average price paid was only about 
nine cents, but at this low price the receipts 
were nearly $400,000. To ship this product 
required 169 cars, and the freight charges were 
over $43,000. On October 25th the wool 
warehouse of the Northern Pacific burned, 
causing quite a loss. Two other buildings in 
the vicinity were also consumed by the flames. 
Another event of this year was the erection of 
the Episcopal church, a stone structure. 

Two of the principal events of the year 
1896 were the starting of a flour mill and the 
establishment of an electric lighting system. 
Articles of incorporation of the Pioneer Mill¬ 
ing company were filed on the second day of 
the year in the county clerk’s office. The in¬ 
corporators were C. T. Busha, E. O. Clark 
and E. B. Clark, of Big Timber ; and N. L. 
James, of Richland Center, Wis. The capital 
stock was $15,000, and the purpose of the com¬ 
pany were to erect and maintain a milling 
plant. Work was commenced at once on the 
mill, and it began grinding wheat June 25th. 

Articles of incorporation of the Big Timber 
Electric Light and Power company were filed 
March 6th. The incorporators were John 
Martin, Sr., and J. S. Jays, of Livingston, 
and Charles Bowhay, of Townsend, and the 
capital stock was $5,000. The plant was erec¬ 
ted at once, and since then Big Timber has had 
electric lights. 

The town was visited by another fire early 
on the morning of June 11, 1896, which did 
considerable damage, destroying two stone 
business block and stocks of goods. 

The wool shipments for 1896 amounted to 
3.281,155 pounds. This was believed to be a 
larger shipment than from any other point in 
Montana that year. 

The years 1897 and 1898 passed without 
incident worthy of mention. There was very 
little improvement in the town, but the effects 


* 






224 


HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


of' the hard times were gradually passing 
away, thus paving the way for the activity 
that was to come in 1899. 

Times continued to steadily improve. In 
1900 the federal census showed a population 
of 438. The wool shipments that year were 
2,300,000 pounds. The next year they were 
about 2,000,000 pounds, and the average price 
paid was 13 cents. 

In 1901 several events took place that are 
worthy of being recorded in the history of Big 
Timber. One was the establishment of a 
county high school. This question was de¬ 
cided favorably at a special election through¬ 
out the county on July 8th. There was a small 
vote cast, but the majority for the establish¬ 
ment of a school was large. 

Another important event was the building 
of a woolen mill in the city, the first woolen 
mill ever built in the state of Montana. Wil¬ 
liam Whitfield was the promoter of the mill, 
but a large share of the stock was taken by 
local capitalists. The mill started up July 26, 
1901. 

The question of incorporation was a live 
issue in 1901. During all the years of 
its history Big Timber had been without a 
water system and fire protection, and many 
citizens were anxious to incorporate in order 
that these might be secured, either by having 
the village put in the water works or to grant a 
franchise to some company that would. In the 
spring of the year a gentleman arrived in Big 
Timber who signified his desire to establish a 
water works system in the town, and set about 
to secure the interest of others in the enter¬ 
prise. After talking the matter over, he dis¬ 
covered there was a strong sentiment in favor 
of incorporating the town. A petition was 
then prepared, and in a few hours 105 signa¬ 
tures had been secured, nearly everybody ap¬ 
proached signing it. The petition was consid¬ 
ered by the board of county commissioners 
June 3; that body took favorable action on it 
and employed A. E. Snook to take the census 


of the proposed incorporation. Mr.' Snook 
completed his work and reported to the board 
two days later; he had found 673 people living 
within the proposed limits of the town. Ac¬ 
cordingly the board ordered that an election be 
held on Monday, July 15th, to vote on the 
question. 

Immediately began a hard fought cam¬ 
paign. Some of the citizens thought that the 
city should own its own water works system 
when one was installed, while others believed 
the proper way would be to grant a franchise 
to a private company, and it was generally 
understood that this was to be done if incor¬ 
poration should carry. Those who opposed 
were not, necessarily, adverse to incorporation, 
but they were against the granting of fran¬ 
chises. The vote was close, and incorporation 
was defeated by a vote of 54 to 50. 

The third company of the Montana na¬ 
tional guard was organized in Big Timber in 
1901 and mustered into the service on August 
26th by Adjutant General McCulloch, assisted 
by Lieutenant Colonel Harvey Bliss. The com¬ 
pany was known as C company. The commis¬ 
sioned officers were: Captain G. H. Preston; 
first lieutenant, Bird Vestal; second lieuten¬ 
ant, H. Hanly. 

Big Timber was finally incorporated in 1902. 
A petition was circulated early in August 
asking the county commissioners to take the 
necessarily legal action to bring about the 
founding of municipal government. The mat¬ 
ter was considered at a special meeting of the 
board on August 6th. The petition was found 
to have 130 signatures, but its legality was 
questioned, and action was deferred until the 
September meeting that the question at issue 
might be referred to the attorney general of 
the state. The bone of contention was sub¬ 
stantially as follows: 

When the petition was first circulated a 
clause was inserted to the effect that the 
signers pledged themselves to oppose the grant¬ 
ing of franchises or contracts for any public 










HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


225 


utilities. That section of the petition was 
worded as follows: 

We, the signers of this petition, believing that the 
proposed incorporation should own and operate its 
own water works, it is mutually understood that we are 
opposed to the granting of franchises or contracts for 
public utilities by such proposed incorporation, and in 
case the town is incorporated we will always do all 
within our power to prevent the granting of such fran¬ 
chises or contracts. 

To the petition with that clause inserted 
there were 107 signers. Several citizens, how¬ 
ever, who favored incorporation but did not 
desire to bind themselves by the aforemen¬ 
tioned clause, inserted another clause to the 
effect that they favored incorporation, but 
would not pledge themselves either for or 
against municipal ownership, franchises or 
contracts. Of these signers there were 23, 
making a total of 130 signers to the petition 
asking for an election for incorporation. In 
the list of signers were the names of a few men 
who had left the city before the matter was 
considered by the county law makers and there 
were also found the names of a few who lived 
outside of the proposed boundaries of the in¬ 
corporation. 

On these grounds Messrs. Harvey Bliss, 
H. O. Kellogg and J. E. Barbour objected to 
the board granting, the petition. County At¬ 
torney Hall held that the two clauses defining 
the position of the signers were surplusage and 
therefore should not be considered by the board 
in considering the petition. However, to avoid 
complications, it was decided to wait until .a 
later meeting before taking final action. 

At the commissioners’ meeting September 
2nd the matter was again taken up and 

After a careful examination and investigation of the 
same, and it appearing to the satisfaction of the board 
that said petition contains more than ioo qualified 
electors now residing within the limits of the pro¬ 
posed incorporation after deducting the names of all 
persons who have withdrawn from said petition or 
moved from the limits of said proposed incorporation 
since signing said petition, upon motion of Commis¬ 
sioner McConnell, seconded by Commissioner Nevin, 
15 


it was ordered that a census of the proposed incor¬ 
poration be taken. 

John E. Clark was named enumerator, and 
he reported to the board September 4th that he 
had found 665 persons living in the town. The 
commissioners then granted the petition and 
named October 18th as the day for holding 
the election at which to decide whether or not 
the town should be incorporated. As judges 
for this election they named H. C. Allen, L. M. 
Howard, Harvey Bliss, H. O. Kellogg and J. 
F. Asbury. 

At the election incorporation carried by a 
vote of 94 to 16. After the commissioners 
had canvassed the vote they ordered an elec¬ 
tion to be held on Saturday, November 9th, 
for the purpose of electing a mayor and four 
aldermen, two from each of the two wards. 
Two parties, each representing the policies of 
the two factions, came into existence. A meet¬ 
ing was held and a “citizens” ticket nominated, 
the members of which were pledged to oppose 
municipal improvements and were against the 
granting of franchises and contracts. Another 
set of men met and placed in nomination can¬ 
didates on a “progressive citizens” ticket. It 
was the sense of those who took part in this 
convention that the city should put in and 
maintain a water works system and should es¬ 
tablished an efficient fire department. x\n ex¬ 
citing campaign followed. 

At the election probably every vote in tbe 
town was brought out. The candidates on 
both tickets were solid business men of the 
town, and the election hinged almost entirely 
on the policy which was to govern the young 
city. The “progressive citizens” elected every 
man on the ticket by decisive majorities. Fol¬ 
lowing was the vote: 

Mayor—John F. Asbury, p. c., 84; H. O. 
Kellogg, c., 61. 

Aldermen First Ward—Henry Witten, p. 
c., 62; S. A. Perrine, p. c., 57; Solberg, c., 31; 
W. L. Shanks, c., 31. 













226 


HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


Aldermen Second Ward—Frank Blakes¬ 
lee, p. c.; 32; Henry Nicholson, c., 25; A. G. 
Hatch, p. c., 49. 

The first meeting of the city council was 
held at the office of the county assessor on the 
evening of December 10. The oath was ad¬ 
ministered by Judge H. C. Pond, after which 
the wheels of the city government were set in 
motion. A. G. Hatch was chosen president 
of the council. The following appointments 
were made by the mayor and confirmed by the 
council: Clerk, E. C. Hale; police magistrate, 
H. C. Pound; treasurer, J. W. Geiger. At a 
later meeting A. G, Yule was appointed 
marshal. 

Under the law municipal elections are held 
on the first Monday in April, and it was there¬ 
fore necessary to hold another election on 
April 6, 1903. There was only one ticket in 
the field and this contained the names of the 
officials then serving. There were a few scat¬ 
tering votes cast. 

At the annual election of 1904 only one 
alderman from each ward was elected. S. A. 
Perrine succeeded himself in the first ward, 
and F. E. Blakeslee in the second. 

Although the much desired water works 
had not yet been put in, the necessity for some 
kind of fire protection was felt, and in 1904 
the Big Timber fire department was organized 
with a membership of 39, with J. P. Clark as 
chief. Two chemical engines and a hook and 
ladder truck were purchased by the city, and 
quite an efficient department came into ex¬ 
istence. 

The worst fire in the history of the city, 
from the stand point of property loss, occurred 
Monday night, January 16, 1905, when the 
Hatch block and the entire stock of the Hun- 
gerford pharmacy and almost the entire stock 
of the Fair store were destroyed, involving a 
loss of about $35,000. 

At the annual election held on April 3. 
1905, John F. Asbury was reelected mayor, 
defeating H. O. Kellogg by a vote of 69 to 


37. Henry Witten and A. G. Hatch were re¬ 
elected aldermen from the first and second 
wards, respectively, without opposition. 

At the annual election of 1906 S. A. Perrine 
was reelected alderman from the first ward; 
in the second G. H. Howard was elected, de¬ 
feating F. E. Blakeslee. 

During the year 1906 Big Timber made 
rapid strides in public improvements, and the 
rapid growth and thriving condition of the 
town has resulted beneficially. To show the 
condition of the town as a shipping point, it 
may be said that the receipts of the Northern 
Pacific railway for the year ending December 
1, 1906, was approximately $206,487, an in¬ 
crease over the previous year of $50,000. 

At a special election held June 23 the 
electors of the town decided to issue bonds for 
$40,000 for installing a system of water works, 
something that had been needed for years. It 
is to be a gravity system, and work will be be¬ 
gun on it in the spring of 1907. 

During the year more than one and one- 
quarter miles of cement walks were constructed 
and about three-quarters of a mile more were 
contracted for. The Big Timber Pioneer said 
of the building activity for the year 1906, in 
its special edition of December 13: “The past 
year has witnessed an unprecedented growth 
in buildings, but the demand for dwellings 
and store buildings is far in excess of the sup¬ 
ply. Not an empty house of any description 
can be found in the city, notwithstanding the 
large number that have recently been erected, 
and a number of prospective residents are 
awaiting the completion of dwellings now in 
course of construction.” 

In the matter of education Big Timber has 
always kept pace with the demands of the 
steadily increasing population. A handsome 
new high school building was erected in 1905, 
which is thoroughly modern in every respect 
and splendidly furnished. The county high 
school is accessible to all of the children of the 
county and presents an opportunity to the 







HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY’ 


227 


young people to acquire such an education as 
will prepare them for college or fit them for 
the practical duties of life. That the value of 
the school is appreciated is shown by the large 
attendance of pupils from every part of the 
county. The city public schools are graded to 
and including the eighth grade and employ five 
teachers. The work embraces the prepara¬ 
tion of the pupil for the high school. 

Big Timber supports three church organi¬ 
zations—Methodist, Episcopal and Congrega¬ 
tional. Each organization has a substantial 
church edifice, and enjoys a growing congrega¬ 
tion. There are also a number of members of 
the Catholic denomination, and services are 
held here occasionally. 

The secret organizations of the town are 
as follows: F. O. E., Aerie No. 790; K. P., 
Big Timber Lodge, No. 25; Masons, Doric 
Lodge, No. 53; M. W. A., Big Timber Lodge. 

MELVILLE. 

The second town in Sweet Grass county in 
size and importance is Melville, located on 
Sweet Grass creek, twenty miles due north of 
Big Timber. The little village is on the stage 
and mail route from Big Timber to Two-dot 
and has daily mail. The townsite is on an ex¬ 
tensive flat, which takes its name from Cayuse 
butte, a large jagged shaped elevation that 
overlooks the town. 

Although Melville is not a large town, it 
is, and has been from the date of founding, a 
thriving trading point. In the town are one 
general .merchandise store, a harness and shoe 
shop, a blacksmith shop, a saloon, a hotel, a 
school building, a church and several secret 
organizations. 

Melville came into existence in 1882, when 
H. O. Hickox started a store there and named 
the place Melville in honor of Lieutenant Mel¬ 
ville, of Arctic fame. 

By the fall of 1888 we find that the village 
consisted, besides the store, of a school, sa*w- 


I . , . : • 

mill, blacksmith shop, a harness shop, and a 
hotel building was built there that year. 

The Melville townsite was platted by Mr. 
Hickox November 21, 1904. Since then sev¬ 
eral residences have been erected, and the lit¬ 
tle town has become the winter residence of 
several neighboring ranchers who take up their 
residence here in order to give their children 
the advantages of the excellent school there. 

NYE. 

Nye is the name of a postoffice and little 
Village on Stillwater river, thirty-six miles 
southwest of Columbus, with which point it 
is connected by a state and mail line, and 
forty miles south of Big Timber. The busi¬ 
ness houses of the little village consist of a 
store, hotel, blacksmith shop, and there is also 
a public school in town. The present village 
has a very uneventful history, but the old Nye, 
or Nye City, as it was called, which was lo¬ 
cated south of this point, had as interesting a 
history as one could wish for. 

The old Nye City came into -existence in 
the year 1887, and for a period was one of the 
liveliest mining camp in Montana. Prior to 
that date there were a few shacks in the vi¬ 
cinity of the spot on which was afterwards 
built the town. They were the property of 
Jack V. Nye, Joseph Anderson (commonly 
called Skookum jQe), A. S. Hubble and a few 
other prospectors and original locators of min¬ 
ing claims. Among the other early prospect¬ 
ors who operated in this vicinity during the 
seventies and up into the eighties were Wil¬ 
liam Hamilton, Hedges brothers, M. M. and 
R. L. McDonald, Joe Shutes and others. These 
worked their claims on the upper Stillwater 
with indifferent success until the year 1886, 
when the Minneapolis Mining and Smelting 
company bought most of the claims in the vi¬ 
cinity and began operations on a large scale. 

Then began an era of activity on the upper 







228 


HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


Stillwater and Nye City, named in honor of 
Jack V. Nye, sprang into a lively existence. 
The company, at an expense of about $4,000, 
built a wagon road into the camp and spent 
other thousands of dollars in other improve¬ 
ments. Miners and laborers poured into the 
new camp from all directions. Cooke City, the 
flourishing mining camp to the south, was 
nearly deserted, and there was almost a stam¬ 
pede from Big Timber. 

The town dates its existence from early in 
August, 1887, and in an almost incredibly 
short time there was a flourishing little city. 
According to a correspondent from the new 
camp to a Livingston paper, grading for the 
smelter began on August 8, and there was on 
that date quite a force of men at work there 
and a big rush was on. From the same 
authority we learn that preparations were be¬ 
ing made for the opening of a general mer¬ 
chandise store and a restaurant, and that a 
petition was being circulated asking the postal 
authorities to establish a postoffice there. Two 
saloons were opened on the 20th of the same 
month. 

The townsite was platted in August, and 
there was a big demand for the lots. A Nye 
correspondent to the Livingston Enterprise 
of August 27, said: “The arrival of the com¬ 
pany’s attorney, accompanied by A. S. Hovey, 
surveyor, of Helena, has caused some demand 
for town lots, their business being the platting 
of the townsite, etc. Pending the completion 
of this work, the refusal of over forty lots 
has been given by the townsite agents.” The 
town was built in a well shaded basin at the 
base of the well known Granite range, the 
mountains rising abruptly from the outskirts 
of the village and towering into the clouds. 
The view from the town was a grand and pic¬ 
turesque one. 

Work was provided for everyone who 
came to the camp in the construction of the 
mills and smelter and in the mines. By fall 
there was a town of five or six hundred people 


where a few months before there had been 
nothing. During this, its most flourishing 
period, there were two stores, five or six res¬ 
taurants, eleven saloons and a few other enter¬ 
prises that go to make up a mining camp. The 
postoffice was established that fall, mail being 
carried by a private carrier, who was paid with 
money raised among the inhabitants of the 
town. These were the only mail facilities un¬ 
til July, 1888, when a tri-weekly service was 
established by the government. The name of 
the postoffice was Nye, but the townsite and 
town itself were referred to as Nye City. 

Nye City was not destined to long remain 
the flourishing town it was during the first 
days of its existence. Because of the fact that it 
was found that the town was on the Crow In¬ 
dian reservation, thus making impossible the 
I acquiring of title to mining claims, and be¬ 
cause of internal dissension, the Minneapolis 
Mining & Smelting company closed all its 
works. This was fatal to the town. The peo¬ 
ple who had gone there with the idea of gain¬ 
ing untold wealth gradually abandoned the 
camp. Finally practically everybody left, and 
there came a time when there was no one left 
but the postmaster, and Nye City entirely dis¬ 
appeared. Then the postoffice was moved up 
to its present location, and there was nothing 
left of the old town but the memory. 

There was some little activity in the camp 
in the spring of 1894, owing to some discov¬ 
eries and developments of nearby properties, 
but this did not last long. A bridge was built 
over the Stillwater at the camp by James 
Hedges, E. A. McAtee and Lee Lute; that 
spring, a blacksmith shop was built and there 
were a few other improvements. 

OTHER PLACES. 

Ten miles southeast of Big Timber is the 
postoffice and station of Grey Cliff. Here is 
also a store and blacksmith shop, which sup¬ 
ply the wants of the farmer and stock raiser 






HISTORY OF SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 


229 


in that vicinity. Grey Cliff came into exis¬ 
tence as a railroad station in the spring of 
1894. Prior to the ceding of a tract of land 
by the Crows in 1892 this part of the county 
was on the reservation, and of course not open 
to settlement. It was in March, 1894, that a 
surveying party, in charge of Harry Ralph, of 
Helena, located depot grounds for the North¬ 
ern Pacific at different points along the line in 
the recently ceded ‘Crow lands. The govern¬ 
ment allowed the railroad company acreage 
for depot sites, at points ten miles apart, on 
these lands, and one of the points selected by 
the surveying party was that of Grey Cliff. 

Reed postoffice is located on the Northern 
Pacific railroad and the Yellowstone river 
twenty-four miles southeast of Big Timber, 
the station name being Reeds Point. There is 
a general merchandise store at this point. 

Howie is the name of a country postoffice 
located on Sweet Grass creek, twelve miles 
northeast of Big Timber, with which place it 
is connected by stage and mail route. This is 
the oldest settled community in Sweet Grass 
county,* it having been settled in 1877. In the 
early days a postoffice was established near 
the mouth of the creek and named Sweet 
Grass. Here in 1881 a school was established, 
which has been in existence ever since, with 
the exception of the years from 1884 to 1889. 
There is also a Norwegian church organiza¬ 
tion, which has been in existence here ever 
since 1886; services being held in the school 
house. 'In May, 1892, the name of the post- 
office was changed to Howie by the postoffice 
department, without consulting the wishes of 
the patrons of the office, a fact which was re¬ 
sented by the people of the vicinity. 

McLeod is the name of a postoffice on 


Boulder creek, twenty miles southwest of Big 
Timber. It is on the stage and mail route be-: 
tween Big Timber and Contract. The postoffice 
was established in 1887, and was named in 
honor of W. F. McLeod, who came to the 
Boulder valley from Oregon in 1882. 

Wormser was the name of a postoffice 
(since discontinued) located twelve miles 
north of Big Timber, on Big Timber creek. 
It was named in honor of Rev. A. Wormser, 
who was president of the Holland Irrigation 
Canal company, which in 1896 built a large 
irrigating canal in the Big Timber valley, for 
the purpose of putting under water a large 
tract of land. Wormser postoffice was estab¬ 
lished that fall and the town of Wormser City 
was founded. A. L. Ouwersloot opened a store 
in the place, which drew trade from quite a 
large colony of Hollanders who settled on the 
irrigated land. Wormser City townsite was 
platted by Mr. Wormser October 25, 1898, 
and the plat was filed March 17, 1899. Ho 
lots were ever sold in the proposed town, and 
there is no such place now in existence, the 
postoffice having been discontinued. 

Merrill is a postoffice and railroad station 
on the Yellowstone river and Northern Pacific 
railroad 32 miles southeast of Big Timber and 
ten miles west of Columbus. It has daily mail. 

Busteed is a country postoffice on Cedar 
creek in the extreme eastern part of the county. 
It is twenty-eight miles north of Columbus, 
from which point comes its mail. 

Reynolds is a railroad station two miles 
west of Grey Cliff. 

Manila is a Northern Pacific railway sta¬ 
tion, located four miles west of Reed postoffice. 

De Hart is a railway station seven miles 
southwest of Big Timber. 







PART IV 

CARBON COUNTY 


CHAPTER 1 


CURRENT 

The territory now comprising Carbon 
county, was, prior to 1892, a part of the Crow 
Indian reservation, with the exception of a 
small piece of territory lying in the southwest 
corner which had been opened previous to this 
and made a part of the county of Park. This 
was done because of the immense coal deposits 
at Red Lodge which the owners wished to de¬ 
velop. When this strip of territory became a 
part of the county of Park in 1887, active de¬ 
velopment work was started at the coal fields 
at Red Lodge and an embryo town was started 
adjacent to them. 

It was not, however, until the completion 
of the Rocky Fork and Cooke City branch of 
the Northern Pacific railroad in 1889, that the 
mines were worked on an extensive scale. 
After the completion of the road a large force 
of men was employed at the mines and Red 
Lodge came into prominence as a coal produc¬ 
ing district. 

At that time this was considered princi¬ 
pally as a coal mining and stock raising district 
and but little thought was given to the agri¬ 
cultural possibilities then lying dormant with¬ 
in its borders. A few, however, saw these pos¬ 
sibilities and knowing the value of the rich bot¬ 
tom lands, settled along the creeks and valleys 
in the ceded strip. Those who settled here 
prior to 1889, were: Thomas P. McDonald, 


EVENTS 

Preston Hicox, William N. Hunter, Anthony 
Chaffin, A. A. Ellis, Thomas Hogan, J. L. 
Maryott, W. R. Mahan, James W. and John 
W. Torreyson, and B. F. Pippinger. In 1889, 
the first sawmill was brought into what is now 
Carbon county by A. S. Douglas. It was a 
small portable steam sawmill with a capacity 
of about 5,000 feet per day and was located a 
short distance above the town of Red Lodge. 

In 1892, the remaining portion of the ter¬ 
ritory now comprised in Carbon county was 
ceded by the Indians to the government and 
thrown open for settlement. This territory 
rapidly filled up with, settlers and the fertile 
creek bottoms soon became the homes of hun¬ 
dreds of thrifty people and the country was 
transformed as if by magic into fields of wav¬ 
ing grain, and the Indian tepees were replaced 
by comfortable, though, sometimes rude, dwel¬ 
lings of the white settlers. 

It was not until 1895, that the thought of 
a separate political division entered the minds 
of the people of the new territory, and, even 
then, many were opposed to the plan. In fact, 
during the political campaign of 1894, the sen¬ 
timent of a majority of the people was strong¬ 
ly opposed to it and the members of the legis¬ 
lature elected that year, were generally under¬ 
stood to be unfavorable to the plan. The mem¬ 
bers of the legislature from Park county were 





232 


HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY. 


Allan R. Joy, of Livingston, Dr. Collins, of 
Hunters Hot Springs, and W. F. Meyer, of 
Red Lodge. During the winter of 1894-5, 
the sentiment of the people in this section 
underwent a complete change and they clam¬ 
ored for county division. Accordingly W. F. 
Meyer, the member from this end of the 
county, introduced House Bill No. 9, provid¬ 
ing for the creation of the county of Carbon 
and fathered the bill through the house. He 
was aided in his efforts by his colleagues from 
the other end of the county. The bill passed 
the house by a large majority, but when it 
reached the senate the vote was a tie. T. P. 
McDonald was sent to Helena by the citizens 
of Red Lodge to lobby for the bill and the fol¬ 
lowing telegrams will be of interest. These 
were sent to C. C. Bowlen, who was chairman 
of the committee here and were as follows: 
February 19, 1895, “Bill in hands of senate 
committee. Have five days to report.” Feb¬ 
ruary 27th, “Bill will be voted on today, will 
wire result.” February 27th, “Bill put over 
until tomorrow. Broke.” February 28th, 
“Tie vote in senate on Carbon county. Will 
come up tomorrow when president of senate 
will be present.” March 1st, “Carbon county 
bill passed senate on a vote. Botkin voting for 
us. Will be reconsidered tomorrow.” March 
2nd, “Carbon county bill only lacks signature 
of officers. Motion to reconsider lost. Shake.” 
March 2nd, “Send me three hundred by Mon¬ 
day’s mail, sure.” 

The contest in the senate was very close 
and needed the deciding vote cast by Lieut- 
Gov. Alexander Botkin to decide it. W. F. 
Meyer still retains the gold pen used by Gov¬ 
ernor Richards in signing the bill. The act 
creating the county of Carbon was as follows: 

CARBON COUNTY, II. B. NO. 9. 

Be it enacted by the legislative assembly of 
the State of Montana: 


Section I. That all that portion of Park 
county and Yellowstone county situated with¬ 
in the following boundaries, to-wit: Beginning 
at a point in the mid-channel of the Yellow¬ 
stone river opposite the mouth of the Stillwater 
river; following thence down the mid-channel 
of the said Yellowstone river to the intersec¬ 
tion of said channel of said Yellowstone river 
with the township line running between 
Ranges twenty-four (24) East and twenty-five 
(25) East; thence following said township 
line due south to its intersection with the west¬ 
ern boundary of the Crow Indian reservation; 
following thence in a southwesterly direction 
the west line of said Crow Indian reservation 
to the terminus of the said southwest direction 
of said line; thence running due east to the in¬ 
tersection of the mid-channel of the Big Horn 
river; thence following the said channel of the 
said Big Horn river up in a southwesterly direc¬ 
tion to its intersection with the north line of the 
State of Wyoming, all of said boundary from 
the said northwest corner of the Crow Indian 
reservation to the Wyoming line being a part 
of the boundary line of the Crow Indian reser¬ 
vation, as established by law; proceeding 
thence from the intersection of the mid-channel 
of the Big Horn river with the south line of 
the State of Montana, due west to the inter¬ 
section of the south line of the state of Mon- 
I tana with the township line separating range 
j fifteen (15) East from range sixteen (16) 

I East; thence following along the line between 
j ranges fifteen (15) and sixteen (16) East to 
point in the mid-channel of the Stillwater 
I river; thence following the mid-channel 
the said Stillwater river to the place of beginn¬ 
ing, be. and the same is hereby created into a 
new county, to be known as and named Car- 
j bon county; and the town of Red Lodge with¬ 
in the boundaries mentioned shall be, 
until otherwise provided by law, the county 
seat of said county, and all laws of a general 
nature applicable to the several counties of the 
state and their officers are hereby made ap- 












































































































































































A BAND OF SHEEP READY FOR MARKET 





HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY. 


233 


plicable to the said county of Carbon, and its 
officers, as the same may be hereafter elected 
or appointed, save as herein otherwise espe¬ 
cially provided. 

The following named persons are hereby 
appointed to fill the offices set opposite their 
names, respectively: 

Alvin A. Ellis, county commissioner; 
Orville E. Millis, county commissioner; 
Robert C. Beattie, county commissioner; 
Thomas Hogan, sheriff; Charles C. Bowlen, 
treasurer; Edward McLean, clerk and re¬ 
corder; Henry G. Province, assessor; George 
\V. Pierson, county attorney; Henry G. New¬ 
kirk, clerk district court; Lizzie McDonald, 
superintendent of schools; J. H. Johnson, 
coroner; Gilbert Patterson, administrator; 
Charles Printz, county surveyor. 

Approved March 4, 1895. 

The new county was organized May 1, 
1895, and the building formerly occupied as 
a store building by J. H. Conrad & Co., was 
utilized as a court house. The county commis¬ 
sioners at once let the contract for a jail to 
Phillip McLaughlin for $1,700. Among the 
first acts of the board was the appointment of 
justices of the peace and constables in the pre¬ 
cincts recently formed. The names of the pre¬ 
cincts and officers appointed were as fol¬ 
lows: Red Lodge. Geo. H. Hey wood, 

Henry M. McIntosh, justices; John Mc- 
Keever, John Johnson,, constables. Rock- 
vale, Edward J. Boulden, Orrin Clauson, jus¬ 
tices ;• James Newton, — Hughes, constables. 
Joliet, Bruce Leverich, W. R. Crockett, jus¬ 
tices ; Harry Duffield, Caleb Duncan, consta¬ 
bles. Absarokee, S. . T. Simonson, justice; 
Dana F. Cushing, constable. Rosebud, R. O. 
Morris, justice; T. F. George, constable. 
Red Lodge Creek, Geo. Jackson, justice; Geo. 
B. Stevenson, constable. Clark s Fork, Geo. 
Urner, justice; Phillip Sidle, constable. 

In the settlement between Park and Carbon 
counties, it was determined that Carbon county 
should pay to the county of Park the sum of 


$14,524.14, as her proportionate share of the 
Park county indebtedness. Carbon county’s 
share of the indebtedness of Yellowstone county 
amounted to the sum of $11,986.28, and in 
September, 1895, the county of Carbon issued 
twenty year bonds in the sum of $46,028.65, 
to cover the entire indebtedness of the county. 

The affairs of Carbon ran along very 
smoothly for a number of years and the county 
grew in wealth and population. In 1899, the 
assessed valuation of all taxable property in 
the county had passed the two million dollar 
mark and the county was raised to the seventh 
class. The raising of the rank of the county 
also raised the salaries of the county officials 
and the raise was as follows: Treasurer, 

$1,500 to $1,800; sheriff, $1,800 to $2,000; 
assessor, $1,000 to $1,200; clerk of court, 
$1,200 to $1,200; clerk and recorder, $1,200 
to $1,800; county attorney, $1,000 to $1,200; 
county superintendent of schools, $600 to $800 
per year. 

That the stock industry had grown and 
prospered in this county is evidenced by the 
fact that in the year 1899 over one million 
pounds of wool were shipped out of Carbon 
county and many shipments of cattle were 
made. 

The court house was burned to the ground 
in 1899, but nearly all the records were saved. 
A new brick court house costing about $15,- 
000. was constructed immediately which is up- 
to-date and modern, and has ample office room 
for the transaction of county business. 

The Absarokee Forest reserve was set 
aside by proclamation of President Roosevelt 
in 1902 and is bounded as follows : Beginning 
at the northwest corner of township 5. south of 
range 16 east, thence running east to the north¬ 
west corner of township 5, range 18, which is a 
point where Fishtail creek crosses the township 
and range lines; thence south fo' the standard 
parallel; thence east along standard parallel 
to the southwest corner of township 5, south 
of range 18, east; thence south to the south- 




234 


HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY. 


west corner of township 7, south of range 19 
east; thence east along township lines between 
townships 7 and 8 south of range 19 east, to 
southeast corner of township 7, south of range 
19 east; thence south to the boundary line 
between Montana and Wyoming. 

The assessed valuation of Carbon county 
since its formation in 1895 has been: 1895, 
$1,300,000; 1896, $1,369,272; 1897, $1,367- 
642; 1898, $1,826,513; 1899, 2,206,635; 190°. 
$2,346,547; 1901, $2,572,824; 1902, $3,253- 
543; 1903, $3,054,356; 1904, $3,522,932; 
1905, $4,062,063; 1906, $4,217,886. By com¬ 
parison with the assessment of last year the 
valuation shows an increase of $161,000 in 
real estate and improvements, including both 
ranches and town lots, $30,000 in'mortgages 
and money, $72,000 in net proceeds from 
mines, $19,000 in merchandise, $58,000 in 
sheep, $23,950 in beef cattle, there being no 
beef cattle at all in the county a year ago the 


first of March, and $3,000 in work horses. It 
also shows 157,468 acres of land assessed, as 
against 152,801 in 1905. 

The Yellowstone park branch of the 
Northern Pacific railroad is now building 
toward the Bear Creek coal fields and new 
towns have been started at Belfry and Bear 
Creek and it is exxpected that the Bear Creek 
fields as soon as opened up will surpass even 
those at Red Lodge. 

The county of Carbon has a brilliant 
future assured. No county in the state has so 
many and varied resources. It has the best 
defined and best developed beds of high grade 
semi-bituminous coal west of the Missouri 
river, many fertile valleys where crop failures 
are unknown and the yield is always surpris¬ 
ingly large, a good home market for all pro¬ 
duce, and, above all, a good healthful and in¬ 
vigorating climate and industrious and law 
abiding citizens. 


CHAPTER II 


CITIES AND TOWNS. 


Red Lodge, the capital of Carbon county, 
is located on Rocky Fork creek at the foot of 
the Bear Tooth mountains. The elevation 
above sea level is about 5 > 5 °° ^ ee ^- Although 
located in a high altitude the climatic conditions 
are very uniform and the temperature rarely 
goes to extremes. Sufficient snow for sleigh¬ 
ing purposes is a treat seldom experienced in 
winter and disagreeably hot weather in sum¬ 
mer is almost unknown in this section. 

The vast coal deposits existed at Red 
Lodge were known of many years before an 
attempt was made to develop them, but in 
1887 the Rocky Fork Coal company was 
formed by Walter Cooper, Sam Hauser and 
Sam Word and active developments were com- 


1 menced. In 1888,- Babcock and Miles and J. 
D. Losekamp were the first merchants and the 
next year O. E. Millis and J. H. Conrad Co., 
opened mercantile establishments here. This 
year marks the beginning of the industrial and 
commercial importance of Red Lodge and the 
coal camp, as it was formerly termed, assumed 
an air of stability. The town now boasted of a 
population of about four hundred people. The 
Rocky Fork branch of the Northern Pacific 
railroad was completed to Red Lodge in June, 
1889, and was followed by a large influx of 
settlers and workmen for the mines, and the 
output of the mines was greatly increased, 
new buisness enterprises promulgated and the 
I town grew apace. 








HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY. 


235 


The town was platted in November, 1889, 
by John W. Buskett, secretary of the Rocky 
Fork Town and Electric company. Some 
trouble was experienced in getting title to the 
land by the townsite company owing to the 
priority rights claimed by the railroad com¬ 
pany. The railroad claimed by right of grant 
every odd numbered section in this territory, 
but the government decided that as this had 
been a part of the Crow reservation their claim 
was invalid. 

In the spring of 1892, T. P. McDonald and 
135 others petitioned the county of Park for 
incorporation and Joseph McAnnelly was ap¬ 
pointed to take the census of the town. Ac¬ 
cording to his official report the population of 
the town at that time was 1,180. An election 
was held to determine the proposition with T. 
P. McDonald, M. J. Fleming and Keyser 
Brown as judges, and the proposition carried 
by a vote of 146 to 18. Another election was 
held August 15th, to select officers for the 
town with Keyser Brown, Roger Fleming and 
Jewett L. Miskimin as judges, which resulted 
as follows: Wm. O’Connor, mayor; C. C. 
Bowlen, A. E. Flager, Thomas Bailey, Hugh 
Earley, Terrence Fleming and August Egan, 
aldermen. 

For the next two years the town enjoyed 
a substantial growth, and the coal mines, 
which have always played a very important 
and transcendent part in the continued growth 
of the city of Red Lodge, constantly increased 
their output. Several hundred men were em¬ 
ployed by them and the increasing payroll 
added to the volume of business transacted in 
the town. 

The town experienced its first large fire 
on March 23, 1900, and the following morn¬ 
ing only the charred and blackened walls re¬ 
mained to mark the spot which had been the 
business center of Red Lodge. The fire broke 
out in W. R. Hall’s general merchandise store 
about six o’clock in the morning and was pro¬ 
gress was not stayed until it had devoured the 


three compartment two-story brick buildings 
owned by the Red Lodge Improvement com¬ 
pany, occupied on the ground floor by W. R. 
Hall’s general merchandise store, Larkin & 
Fleming’s wholesale and retail liquor house, 
and the extensive hardware store of Fulton & 
Dalton. On the second floor were the rooms 
of the Red Lodge Business Men’s Club and 
the offices and printing plant of the Red Lodge 
Picket and Carbon County Democrat, the 
dental parlors of Dr. George Dilworth and the 
office of Dr. A. C. McClanahan. In addition 
to this block, which was a land mark of the new 
town/being.the first brick business block erec¬ 
ted in the town was the brick block built the 
previous year by the I. X. L. Co., and occupied 
on the ground floor by the extensive clothing 
department store of Alderman Frieman, with 
offices of Attorney George H. Bailey upstairs 
—representing in the aggregate an expendi¬ 
ture of over $100,000—and it was only owing 
to the fact that there was scarcely no wind 
blowing at the time that the flames did not 
communicate to the adjoining property on the 
north and south and carry away the entire 
business section of the town, at least, it was 
due, perhaps, to the fact and the bucket bri¬ 
gade stationed on the tops of adjoining bind¬ 
ings, who incessantly kept pouring streams of 
water upon the burning buildings, and the 
committee who had charge of the blowing up 
of the burning walls, that the flames were con¬ 
fined to the property destroyed. The origin of 
the fire is unknown, but it probably started 
from spontaneous combustion in the basement 
of Hall’s store. Because of the strike, the 
pumps at the mines were closed down and out¬ 
side of the bucket brigade, no water was avail¬ 
able. 

Several heroic rescues were made, but be¬ 
cause of an explosion in the basement of Hall’s 
store, one man was pinioned in the debris of 
falling walls and was burned to death. He 
was John E. Davis and his last words to- his 
companion, George W. Wisewell, who was 





236 


HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY. 


saved, were: “George this is a hard way to 
die.” 

The loss and the amount of insurance as 
far as can be ascertained were as follows: I. 
X. L. Co., $35,000, insurance $14,000; W. R. 
Hall, $25,000, insurance $14,000; Larkin & 
Fleming, $6,000, insurance $2,000; Fulton & 
Dalton $10,000, insurance $3,000; Red Lodge 
Picket and Carbon County Democrat printing 
plants, $5,000, insurance on Picket $1,600; 
Business Men’s Club $2,000, no insurance; Dr. 
Dilworth, $1,500, insurance $700; Dr. A. C. 
McClanahan, $500, besides loss of A. H. 
Davis, jeweler, and the block owned by Mr. 
Frieman, value unknown. 

The result of this conflagration clearly 
demonstrated the necessity of an organized fire 
fighting force and in July a department was 
organized with a charter membership of fifty- 
eight. The membership fee was fixed at one 
dollar and the number of members limited to 
fifty. B. E. Vail was elected president; C. C. 
Bowlen, vice president; F. W. Dalton, secre¬ 
tary; W. J. Deegan, treasurer, and Wm. Lar¬ 
kin, J. A. -Virtue and Elmer Akin, trustees. 
Wm. Larkin was elected as chief and J. J. 
Fleming, assistant chief. 

A hook and ladder company and two hose 
. companies were formed and members of each 
and foremen were as follows : 

Hook and Ladder Company—Wm. Gebo, 
foreman; Barney Hart, assistant foreman; Ja¬ 
cob Jarvin; George W. Burl^e. F. C. Byrne, 
Frank Sicori, James McGinnis, Martin Golden, 
James G. Smith, Thomas Ross, C. J. Wilks, 
Thomas Conway, Matt Gillen, Henry Green, 
John Murray, F. W. Dalton, B. E. Vail, W. 
D. Hays, Val Bailey, Roger Fleming. 

Hose Company No. 1—Elmer Alkin, fore¬ 
man; Wm. Larkin, Walter Akin, Paddy Flem- 
ing, J. J. Fleming, W. J. Deegan, F. W. Alden, 
A. J. Egan, Frank Lyle, T. Fleming, T. R. 
Austin, E. J. McLean, Simon Hasterlick, P. 
Gillen, T. F. Pollard, A. Budas, R. L. Davis, 


M. J. Kerrigan, J. E. Mushbach, Arthur Mor¬ 
gan, A. Morrison. 

Hose Company No. 2—Joe Hart, foreman; 
J. A. Virtue, assistant foreman; Thomas 
Skelly, F. Sparling, C. C. Bowlen, James 
Copeland, O. Paulson, George Jones, Prosper 
Vanlippeloy, George Taft, Sanford Reuland, 
Walter Alderson, Grant McMasters, Bernh 
Rydberg, A. H. Davis, George Mushbach, 
John Dunn, Ed. Ricketts, D. G. O'Shea, and 
F. L. Cameron. 

It is well to note that since the organiza¬ 
tion of this department and their acquisition of 
a suitable equipment, the town has not had a 
fire of much consequence, and the citizens point 
with pride to its fire department which is not 
surpasser by that of any town in the state of 
comparative size. 

On May 1, 1899, the tax payers of Red 
Lodge voted in favor of the issuance of bonds 
to the amount of $25,000 for the purpose of 
constructing a system of water works. These 
bonds were redeemable in ten and twenty years 
and the rate of interest was five per cent, an¬ 
nually. This issue was dated October 2, 1899. 
This amount of money was found to be inad¬ 
equate for the undertaking and accordingly, in 
order to furnish the necessary funds with 
which to complete the project an election was 
held July 16, 1900, which resulted in a vote of 
51 to 42 in favor of a second issue to the 
amount of $10,000, ten and twenty year bonds, 
bearing five per cent, interest. 

The source of water supply is Rocky Fork 
Creek, a stream of pure sparkling mountain 
water and the water is taken from the creek 
two and one-half miles above the city, and the 
gravity system is utilized. Five miles of 
water mains have been laid at a cost of about 
38,000 dollars, and the revenue since the com¬ 
pletion of the plant has more than paid all 
operating expenses and the interest on the 
bonds. Water was available for use in Oc¬ 
tober, 1901, since that date Red Lodge has 





HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY. 


237 


had the purest and best supply of water to be 
found in the state. 

In October, 1901, an infantry company of 
the Montana National Guard was organized 
here and mustered in by Adjutant General R. 
Lee McCulloch, being Company D, First Mon¬ 
tana Infantry. The company started with a 
membership of fifty-one and elected Joseph Z. 
Vennie, captain; E. E. Esselstyn, first lieuten¬ 
ant; W. J. Deegan, second lieutenant. That 
membership of the organization has increased 
to about seventy-five. All the members take 
great pride in their organization, and as a con¬ 
sequence, they have a well drilled and well 
disciplined company. 

The Rocky Fork Coal company, was suc¬ 
ceeded in 1902 by the Northwestern Improve¬ 
ment company, a company controlled by the 
Northern Pacific Railway Co. Since the ac¬ 
quisition of the mines by the new company the 
output has been greatly increased and up to 
the time of the fire in June of this year as high 
as one hundred car loads of coal were shipped 
from this point daily. 

On June of this year a dire catastrophe 
ossurred at the mine workings when eight 
miners met their death from the effects of the 
terrible white damp. It seems that the night 
shift, unable to penetrate through the foul air, 
had made their exit through the air shaft about 
two and one-half miles to the east, and their 
non-appearance at the usual hour and place, 
aroused the apprehension of the day shift, who 
feared that some accident had befallen their 
comrades. The alarm was given and a rescu¬ 
ing party of some twenty men at once started 
to render every possible assistance to the un¬ 
fortunate men. The work of rendering as¬ 
sistance was made doubly difficut by the failure 
of the large electric fan to work and purify 
the air. Many of the rescuing party were ef¬ 
fected by the awful damp and had to be as¬ 
sisted to the surface by their companions. The 
death list comprised the following J. E. Bracy. 
Terrence Fleming, Mike Garrish, Tom Skelley, 


Wm. Bailey, Matt Riekki and Alvin McFate. 

A great crowd surrounded the mine, many 
being in the most intense state of excitement; 
anguished relatives of the doomed men were 
almost frantic with grief, and the scene was 
such as to excite the utmost sympathy. 

The members of the rescuing party showed 
themselves to be of indomitable courage. 
Among the most daring of these were Wm. 
Haggerty, Samuel Hasterlick, James McAllis¬ 
ter, Fred Willey, and E. J. McLean, who 
worked like veritable trojans and vastly aided 
in recovering the bodies of the dead miners. 

From the facts brought out at the coroner’s 
inquest, the jury found that these men had met 
their death as a result of the carelessness of 
the officials of the mine who had not reported 
the existence of the damp in the mine. 

The fires which had been raging in these 
mines for fifteen years, broke out in the new 
workings at this time and for the past two 
months a large fire fighting force has been em¬ 
ployed at the mines. The fire was placed un¬ 
der control about the middle of July and now 
the miners have gone back to the work of min¬ 
ing coal and by September 1st of this year, it 
is expected that the mines will be working in 
full blast again. 

Because of the big fire which occurred in 
1900, and which destroyed the record books 
of the city, it is impossible to ascertain with 
any degree of certainty, the names of the mem¬ 
bers of the council of the city of Red Lodge 
prior to that time. The officers of the city 
since its incorporation, so far as can be ac¬ 
curately learned, are as follows: 

1892— Mayor, Wm. O’Connor; city clerk. 
T. C. Ross. 

1893— Mayor, Wm. O’Connor; clerk, T. 
C. Ross. 

1894— Mayor, E. E. Esselstyn; clerk and 
attorney, Geo. W. Pierson. 

1895— Mayor, J. M. Fox; clerk and attor¬ 
ney, Geo. W. Pierson. Mr. Pierson resigned 






238 


HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY. 


during his term of office and G. D. O’Shea 
was appointed. 

1896— Mayor, Geo. G. Hough; clerk, J. 
R. Andrews. 

1897— Mayor, Geo. G. Hough; clerk, R. 
L. Davis. 

1898— Mayor, Wm. Larkin; clerk and at¬ 
torney, Geo. H. Bailey. 

1899— Same as 1898. 

1900— Mayor, Wm. Larkin; clerk and at¬ 
torney, Geo. H. Bailey; aldermen, A. E. Fla- 
ger, T. R. Austin, Fred Willey, Dan Davis, 
Emil Romersa, and M. H. Lucas; city treas¬ 
urer, Edward Olcott; police magistrate, Oscar 
Geanstrom. 

1902—Mayor, Wm. Larkin; clerk and at¬ 
torney, Geo. H. Bailey; aldermen, John Dunn, 
A. Morrison, S. Reuland, Emil Romersa, M. 
H. Lucas, A. E. Flager; treasurer, Edward 
Olcott; police magistrate, Oscar Geanstrom. 

1902—Mayor, C. C. Bowlen; clerk and at¬ 
torney, Geo. H. Bailey; aldermen, W. A. Tal- 
mage, B. Hart, F. A. Sell, A. Morrison, John 
Dunn, Wm. Haggerty; treasurer, E. J. Mc¬ 
Lean; police magistrate, L. P. Sichler. 

I 9 ° 3 —Mayor C. C. Bowlen; clerk and at¬ 
torney, G. W. Pierson; aldermen, J. S. Rob¬ 
bins, Geo. Burke, W. S. Hall, W. A. Tal- 
mage, B. Hart, F. A. Sell; treasurer, E. J. 
McLean; police magistrate, L. P. Sichler. 

1904— Mayor,. S. D. Metier; clerk and at¬ 
torney, Geo. W. Pierson; aldermen, Lewis 
Chapman, Martin Wood, Thos. Donahue, 
Geo. Burke, W. S. Hall, J. S. Robbins; treas¬ 
urer, E. J. McLean; police magistrate, Chas. 
Wilson. 

1905— Mayor, S. D. Metier; clerk and at¬ 
torney, Geo. W. Pierson; aldermen, Roger 
Fleming, H. C. Provinse, J. F. Flaherty, J. M. 
Logan, Lewis Chapman, E. P. Ricketts; treas¬ 
urer, E. J. McLean; police magistrate, Chas. 
Wilson. 

1906— Mayor, T. R. Austin; clerk and at¬ 
torney, Geo. W. Burke; aldermen, Roger 
Fleming, Frank Valentine, H. C. Provinse, 


Oscar Johnson, Wallace Hayworth, J. M. 
Logan; treasurer, E. J. McLean; police magis¬ 
trate, M. H. Lucas. 

Red Lodge has the destinction of having 
the only socialist mayor in the State of Mon¬ 
tana, in the person of T. R. Austin. 

The city is well supplied with churches, 
having six church organizations with good 
memberships. The Congregational church is 
the oldest organization, having started in the 
old log school house in the summer of 1890. 
It now has a membership of about sixty. The 
Calvary Episcopal was the second church or¬ 
ganization in the city and this also started in 
1890. It has a membership of about sixty-five. 
St. Agnes Catholic church was established in 
1893 and enjoys having the largest member¬ 
ship of any church in the city, having 677 
members. The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran 
is second in membership in the .city having 
about 600 members in good standing. The 
Methodist Episcopal church which was started 
in 1891, has a membership of about seventy- 
five. The Adventists also have a church or¬ 
ganization, but do not hold regular weekly 
services. 

Eight secret societies have organizations 
and all are in a flourishing condition. They 
are: 

Carbon County Lodge, No. 56, A. O. U. 
W. Bear Tooth Lodge, No. 534, B. P. O. E. 
Brondel Court, No. 1493, Catholic Order of 
Foresters. Red Lodge Aerie, No. 742, F. O. 
E. Garfield Lodge, No. 36, I. O. O. F. Star 
in the West Lodge No. 40, A. F. & A. M. 
Summit Camp No. 328, W. O. W. Red 
Lodge Cabin, No. 4, Fraternal Order of 
Mountaineers, recently instituted. 

The following is a summary of the condi¬ 
tions as they exist at present: f 

Red Lodge, with a population of over 
3,000, is situated at the terminis of the Rocky 
Fork and Cooke City branch of the Northern 
Pacific railroad, 44 miles from the main line 
and 45 miles from the Yellowstone National 







HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY. 


239 


park by trail over the Bear Tooth Mountains. 
It has a good water works system owned by 
the city, an electric plant, two telephone ex¬ 
changes, a fire department that would be the 
pride of any city, of like size, three banking in¬ 
stitutions, three hotels, and scores of handsome 
homes and business blocks. It is the center of 
the largest measure of semi-bituminous coal 
in the west, and also the center of a large agri¬ 
cultural, stock raising and wool growing area, 
and exports annually large consignments of 
hay, grain and vegetables. The variety of its 
resources, the beauty of its environs, the purity 
of its water supply, and the health producing 
qualities of its climate all combine to add to its 
attractiveness as a home and business location. 

BRIDGER. 

j 

Bridger is a flourishing village on the 
Northern Pacific railroad and Clark’s Fork 
river, twenty-five miles northeast of Red 
Lodge and 45 miles southwest of Billings. It 
was platted February 27, 1902, by A. H. We- 
they, and is located on section 21, township 6. 
south range 23, east, M. P. M. It is the center 
of a rich coal mining and stock raising dis¬ 
trict and near the town are found large stucco 
beds which have been worked for the past ten 
years almost continuously. The town has a 
bank, three hotels, school and opera house with 
a seating capacity of 300, a creamery, with a 
capacity of 300 pounds per day, a good water 
system and an electric light plant. It has a 
population of about 300 and will soon vote on 
the question of incorporation. It has telephone 
connections with Red Lodge and Joliet and 
daily stages to Red Lodge, Joliet, Golden and 
Riverview. The only church organization is 
the Methodist Episcopal church which is 
largely attended. It has three secret societies, 
the Brotherhood of American Yoeman, Fores¬ 
ters of America, Court No. 6, and Camp No. 
6819 of the Modern Woodmen of America. 


JOLIET. 

Joliet is the second town in importance in 
Carbon county, both in the matter of popula¬ 
tion and volume of business transacted. It is 
situated in the midst of the largest and best 
agricultural district in the county, on the 
Rocky Fork and Cooke City branch of the 
Northern Pacific railroad, 26 miles north of 
Red Lodge and 17 miles northwest of Brid¬ 
ger. The town is about half a mile from the 
railroad and the station name is Wilsey. Con¬ 
tains a bank, flour mill, hotel, live weekly 
newspaper, the Joliet Journal, and other lines 
of business common to small towns. It has 
long distance telephone connections with out¬ 
side points and a rural free delivery service. 
Stage daily, except Sunday between Bridger 
and Gebo. 

The population is about 300 and the ques¬ 
tion of incorporation is soon to be voted on by 
the residents of Joliet and present indications 
point to a large vote for the proposition. 

GEBO. 

T lie station name for which is Fromberg 
is a village on the Northern Pacific railroad 
and Clark’s Fork river, which was first settled 
in 1897 and platted April 20, 1898, by Fred¬ 
erick H. Davis. It is twenty miles northeast 
of Red Lodge and seven miles north of Brid¬ 
ger, the banking point. It is located in the 
midst of a good coal mining district and a con¬ 
siderable amount of coal is shipped from this 
point every year. 

OTHER TOWNS. 

Absarokee is a postoffice on Stillwater 
creek, 35 miles northwest of Red Lodge and 
13 miles southwest of Columbus, the nearest 
banking and shipping point on the Northern 
Pacific railroad. 









240 


HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY. 


Bowler is a village first settled in 1892, on 
the Burlington and Missouri river railroad 
and Sage creek, 40 miles east of Red Lodge 
and 18 miles southwest of Bridger, the bank¬ 
ing point on the Northern Pacific railroad, 
and 48 miles southwest of Billings. Stage 
every other day to Bridger. 

Carbon is a station on the Rocky Fork 
branch of the Northern Pacific railroad, 38 
miles southwest of Billings. 

Chance is a postoffice and settlement 18 
miles southeast of Red Lodge, the shipping 
point on the Northern Pacific railway, and 20 
miles southwest of Bridger, the banking point. 
Stage and mail tri-weekly from Red Lodge. 

Dean is a country postoffice 35 miles 
northwest of Red Lodge, the banking point, 
and 30 miles southwest of Columbus, the ship¬ 
ping point on the Northern Pacific railway. 
Mail and stage daily from Columbus. 

Edgar, a station on the Clark’s Fork 
branch of the Northern Pacific railway, 31 
miles southwest of Billings and six miles 
southwest of Silesia, the postoffice. 

Ewing, a post office on the Big Horn river, 
70 miles southeast of Red Lodge, 60 miles 
south of Billings, the banking point, and-30 
miles southeast of Bowler, the shipping point, 
on the Burlington railroad. 

Fishtail, a country post office on the Rose¬ 
bud creek, 35 miles northwest of Red Lodge 
and 20 southwest of Columbus on the North¬ 
ern Pacific railway, the shipping and banking 
point. Has stage to Absarokee and Columbus. 

Fromberg is a postoffice and the station 
name for Gebo, 20 miles northeast of Red 
Lodge, seven miles north of Bridger, the bank¬ 
ing point, and 38 miles southwest of Billings. 

Linley, a country postoffice, 17 miles from 


Red Lodge, the shipping and banking point, on 
the Northern Pacific railway. 

Riverview is a country postoffice on 
Clark’s Fork River, established in 1901, 18 
miles east of Red Lodge and 15 miles south of 
Bridger, the banking and shipping point. 
Mail tri-weekly from Bridger. 

Roberts is a postoffice, the station name 
for which is Merritt, on the Northern Pacific 
railway, and Rock creek, 12 miles north of 
Red Lodge, the banking point. Long distance 
telephone connections. 

Rockvale is a postoffice and flagstation 
on the Northern Pacific railway, settled in 
1893, 30 miles northeast of Red Lodge and 6 
miles from Joliet, the banking point. 

Roscoe is a country postoffice first settled 
in 1901 on the Big Rosebud river, 22 miles 
west of Red Lodge, the banking and shipping 
point on the Northern Pacific railroad. Stage 
and mail tri-weekly from Red Lodge. 

Silesia is a postoffice and station on the 
Rocky Fork branch of the Northern Pacific 
railway, at the junction of the Clark’s Fork 
branch, 35 miles northeast of Red Lodge and 
19 northeast of Bridger, the banking point. 

Tony, a country postoffice 12 miles south 
of Red Lodge, the banking point. Mail tri¬ 
weekly from Red Lodge. 

Bearcreek, a new town just started five 
miles east of Red Lodge, in the midst of a 
large coal mining district. Platted September 
6, 1905, by Geo. T. Lamport and wife and 
Robert Leavens and wife. Bearcreek post- 
office was established in May, 1906. 

Belfry, new town at junction of Clark’s 
Fork and Yellowstone Park railway. Platted 
July 26, 1905, by F. A. Hall, president Belfry 
Townsite company. 







CHAPTER III 


DESCRIPTIVE. 


Carbon county has been aptly and correctly 
named the “Gem of the Mountains.” This 
county was formed and organized in 1895 
from what was formerly a part of the Crow 
Indian reservation and which was ceded to the 
government in 1892 and thrown open to set¬ 
tlement. It lies between the Yellowstone and 
Stillwater rivers on the north and west, the 
Wyoming state line on the south and the Crow 
Indian reservation on the east; comprising 
seventy miles east and west by forty-five miles 
north and south. 

Not in all the broad domain of the “Treas¬ 
ure State of Montana” are the natural resour¬ 
ces more fittingly adapted for the agriculturist 
and stock-grower than are those within the 
boundaries of Carbon county. The numerous 
small streams flowing down its fertile valleys 
furnish an abundant supply of water for irrigat¬ 
ing purposes not surpassed by any other agricul¬ 
tural section of the state. Water for irriga¬ 
tion, domestic and power purposes is furnished 
by the Yellowstone, Stillwater, Rosebud and 
Clark’s Fork rivers and their tributaries, mak¬ 
ing it the best watered county in the state. In 
the southeast corner of the county are the Prior 
mountains and in the southwest are the Bear- 
tooth mountains, both offering an unlimited 
and everlasting supply of the finest of water 
and timber, and along the streams and ridges 
running through the county are large bodies 
of timber within easy reach of all. The nat¬ 
ural conformation of the county is a succes¬ 
sion of broad, rich valleys between wide, open 
ridges, running north from the mountains to 
the Yellowstone river. 

In the past years the rills and valleys of 
what now comprises the county of Carbon were 
16 


monopolized by large herds of cattle and 
sheep, but since the valleys have been settled 
upon and the streams fenced in to a large ex¬ 
tent, the great herds have been reduced, until 
the stock is almost entirely owned by the small 
owners and ranchmen. The hills and grazing 
lands back from the streams will always afford 
plenty of pasture lands for small herds of 
stock, and the rapid development of the coal 
mining industry provides a ready home market 
for the products of both farm and ranch. 

Alfalfa, the staple fodder for cattle, sheep 
and hogs, is being raised on nearly every ranch 
in the county and the yield for a season is 
from three to six tons to the acre. Barley, 
equal in every respect to the noted product of 
the Gallatin valley, is grown here, and finds 
a ready sale in the eastern markets. Oats yield 
from sixty to eighty bushels to the acre, wheat 
from thirty-five to forty bushels and other 
grains in proportion. Flax is also grown suc¬ 
cessfully and the farmers are encouraged to 
make it a staple crop. Potatoes yield prolifi- 
cally and attain unsurpassed perfection. Small 
fruits are raised in all the valleys and yield 
largely. Their culture has paid well and 
farmers are every year devoting more attention 
to their production. The experiments in the 
growing of apples, grapes and plums have 
proven successful and many orchards have 
been planted, promising to make Carbon one 
of the fruit counties of the state. The rapidity 
with which all vegetation responds to the 
genial influence of warmth and moisture is 
marvelous, and the productiveness of the soil 
excites the wonder of those unaccustomed to 
farming operations under the influence of ir¬ 
rigation. The principal agricultural valleys 







HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY. 


243 

of the county are the Clark’s Fork, Rocky 
Fork, Stillwater and Rosebud and its tribu¬ 
taries. 

However much Carbon county may be 
blessed with agricultural and stock-growing 
resources, the fact must not be lost sight of 
that her coal mining industry is one of the 
chief institutions of the state. The entire 
county is underlaid with seemingly inexhaust- 
able measures of semi-bituminous coal, which 
cannot be surpassed for steaming and heat¬ 
ing purposes. The mines at Red Lodge have 
been worked continually since 1889, and the 
coal is being used on railroads, in smelters, 
mills and for domestic purposes from St. Paul 
to the Pacific coast. These mines employ 650 
men and indirectly support as many more, 
while their production during the past year 
has amounted to more than half a million tons. 
At Bridger the coal measures have been devel¬ 
oped and a mining plant erected which will 
soon be shipping from 150,000 to 250,000 tons 
of coal a year. At Gebo a company has put 
in a plant that will have an equal capacity. At 
Bear Creek, which is supposed to be the great¬ 
est coal field ever explored in the west, work 
is progressing rapidly. With the advent of 
the Yellowstone Park railway into the town of 
Bear Creek, which will occur in August, that 
coal camp will take on new life. Everything is 
now in readiness for the shipment of several 
hundred tons of coal per day, as soon as the 
transportation facilities will permit. 

The town of Bear Creek is situated in a 
narrow gulch, which has been surveyed and 
laid out in town lots for a distance of two 
miles. The town already has one general store, 
drug store, restaurant, five saloons, livery barn, 
butcher shop, etc., and when the mines are run¬ 
ning on full time a water system will be added, 
when water will be brought several miles from 
the headwaters of Bear Creek to supply the 
town. 

The Bear Creek Coal company owns 720 
acres of coal lands in the vicinity of the town 


and- these are all developed by tunnels, the 
longest one being 1,200 feet in length. There 
are six tunnels on the property and all show 
coal from six to fourteen feet in thickness. A 
complete coal plant has been installed on the 
property and is already to begin operations. 
Several large electric dynamos have recently 
been added to the equipment, which will fur¬ 
nish all the power that will be used in the mine. 

Off to the left of the Bear Creek property 
about two miles and near the top of the hill, 
are situated the Mushbach and Rosetta prop¬ 
erties, which are now being worked. This 
mine has been developed by a number of tun¬ 
nels and the quality of the coal is all that could 
be asked for. The percentage of carbon is 
high and, like all Bear Creek coal, is excellent 
for steaming and heating purposes. 

To the west of the Bear Creek Coal com¬ 
pany’s holdings are located the properties of 
the Amalgamated Copper company, which 
owns 3,000 acres of virgin coal lands, all of 
which have been developed more or less by 
shafts and tunnels. A large amount of land 
held by this company has been prospected with 
diamond drills to depths of several hundred 
feet with excellent results. The railroad now 
building into that country will touch all of 
these properties and several hundred tons of 
coal will be shipped from that vicinity daily 
with the completion of the road. 

Butte and Helena parties are also inter¬ 
ested in the same field and they are making ar¬ 
rangements at present for the active develop¬ 
ment of their properties which lie to the south 
and on the extension of the Cooke City exten¬ 
sion of the Yellowstone Park railroad. It is 
understood upon the best of authority, that 
these mines will furnish a large amount of coal 
to the smelters of Cooke City when the latter 
resume operations. The haul from the mines 
to the smelters will be a short one, while the 
quality of the coal is the same as found on the 
Bear Creek side of the mountains. 

The Northwest Improvement Co., which 










HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY. 


243 


owns the coal mines at Red Lodge, have large 
holdings in this field and active development 
work is soon expected to start upon their prop¬ 
erties. The Montana Coal and Iron Co. is 
another of the large owners of coal land here 
upon which development work has been started, 
and this property is expected to commence 
shipping in the near future. 

The branch line ot the railroad from Belfry 
to Bear Creek will be co. ^.eted before con¬ 
struction is commenced on the extension to 
Cooke City, as the coal companies have large 
contracts to fill. But the grading to Cooke will 
probably be completed this fall and the steel 
laid in the spring. 

A number of other minerals have also been 
disco. >.red on the Bear Creek side of the moun¬ 
tains, which show low grade values in gold, 
silver and copper. A number of promising 
claims have been held by old timers in that 
section for years and with the advent of the 
new road these will became shippers and pro¬ 
ducers to a large degree. 

Near the headwaters of Butcher creek, 
about fifteen miles west of Red Lodge, are 
petroleum fields, where the crude petroleum 
oozes out of the sandstone. *The principal de¬ 
velopment work has been carried on by 
Thomas Cruse and associates of Helena. These 
gentlemen have sunk four wells, two of which 
have penetrated the first oil sand and show oil 
in the well in good quantity. Mr. Cruse has 
recently purchased the interests of his associ¬ 
ates and it is expected that in the near future 
another great industry will be added to Carbon 
county’s wealth. 

Along the base of the Beartooth mountains, 
in the southwest corner of the county, are im¬ 
mense reefs of the finest quality of limestone, 
from which a great deal of lime has been man¬ 
ufactured and is being used almost exclusively 
in the towns of southeastern Montana. 

Eight miles distant from Bridger a plaster 
of paris mill has been in operation for several 
years past, and the product shipped to all parts 


of the state. The puality of the cement is of 
the best, and the gypsum deposit, from which 
it is manufactured, is practically inexhaustable. 
Gypsum deposits are a valuable asset to the in¬ 
dustrial welfare of a county, and especially so 
where the original deposit will run 80 to 90 
per cent in purity as does this quarry. Con¬ 
tractors of wide experience in the use of plas¬ 
ter of paris and stucco have pronounced the 
product of this mill equal to any they have at¬ 
tempted to use and better than most. As an in¬ 
dustry it cannot be said to be more than barely 
started, but its future is undoubtedly of com¬ 
mercial importance as plaster of paris and its 
compounds are coming into greater popularity 
in the building trades. 

Immense sulphur deposits and mountains 
of purest marble are situated on some of the 
tributaries of the Clark’s Fork river, and iron 
ore also abounds in the mountains, and .will 
become valuable for smelting and maunfactur- 
ing purposes. 

Dairying is rapidly becoming a promi¬ 
nent industry in Carbon county and three large 
creameries have been established in the county. 
The creamery at Bridger has been in opera¬ 
tion for some time, but the creameries at Red 
Lodge and Fishtail have been established re¬ 
cently. They are all established on the co-op¬ 
erative plan and all are doing a thriving 
business. 

The annual production of thousands of 
pounds of honey is another of Carbon county’s 
resources and one that is rapidly growing. A 
large number of the farmers of this section 
have gone into the bee raising industry with 
profitable results. 

The importation of thoroughbred draft 
horses for breeding purposes into this county 
has added much to the wealth of the county, 
both in the increase of good horses and the 
value of them. 

The climatic conditions in Carbon county, 
taken the year round, are as healthy as any 
portion of the United States. The report of 





244 


HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY. 


the signal service observers show that this sec 
tion of Montana enjoys more sunshine than 
any section of country in the world. The win¬ 
ters are presumably cold but in recent years 
climatic conditions have changed and very cold 
weather is the exception, for example, during 
the winter just passed there was only one week 
at Red Lodge—altitude 5,548 feet—one of the 
highest points in the county, when the ther¬ 
mometer reached the zero point. In the lower 


valleys it sometimes gets extremely warm dur¬ 
ing the summer, but the heat is not of the 
debilitating character, and by reason of the alti¬ 
tude and close proximity to the mountains, the 
nights are always cool. The climate in the fall 
is delightful. The springs are short and not 
disagreeable, and, all things considered, a 
more pleasant place of residence cannot be 
found for a person enjoying ordinarily good 
health. 


CHAPTER IV 


EDUCATIONAL. 


The year 1889 marks the beginning of the 
educational history of the county of Carbon. 
The town of Red Lodge, which was at that 
time a part of Park county, had assumed an air 
of stability and the four hundred souls who 
then comprised the population of this growing 
town realized the necessity of educational facil¬ 
ities. Accordingly a school was organized and 
in September of that year, Miss Annie P. Mc- 
Anelly took up her duties of teaching the 
“young idea how to shoot” in a primitive one- 
roomed log building. 

This log building did good service for the 
next two years, but in 1891, the rapidly in¬ 
creasing population made necessary the build¬ 
ing of a larger school building and the employ¬ 
ment of additional teachers. A four room 
frame building was erected and a force of four 
teachers was then employed. 

In 1895 the county of Carbon was created 
and the county commissioners of the new coun¬ 
ty at once divided the county into eighteen 
school districts, which were as follows: 

District No. r.—Comprised all of sections 
1, 2. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 


16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 33, 34, 35 - 
36, in townships 7 and 8, range 20, east, and 
all of township 7, in range 21, east. 

District No. 2.—All of Carbon county east 
of Clark’s Fork river between Bluewater creek 
and township line between townships 7 an< i 8, 
west of the summit of the divide between 
Clark’s Fork river and Sage creek except the 
ranch of C. N. Norton. 

District No. 3.—All of Carbon county east 
of the divide between Sage creek and Clark’s 
Fork river. 

District No. ip—Township 6, range 22, 
east and all of township 7, range 22, east, lying 
on west side of Clark’s Fork river, and all of 
township 6, range 23 east, lying on west 
side of Clark’s Fork river, and all of 
sections 32, 31, 30, 29, 21, 20, 19, 16, 17, 18, 
township 5, range 23, east, lying on the west 
side of Clark’s Fork river, and also ranch of C. 
N. Norton situated on east side of Clark’s 
Fork river. 

District No. 5.—All of Carbon county east 
of Clark’s Fork river and north of Bluewater 
creek and townships 3 and 4, range 23, east, 












HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY. 


245 


and all of sections 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, town¬ 
ship 5, range 23, east, lying on the west side of 
Clark’s Fork river. 

District No. 6.—All of townships 8 and 9, 
ranges 21 and 22, east. 

District No. 7.—All of township 4, south 
range 22, east. 

District No. 8.—All of Carbon county be¬ 
tween west fork of Red Lodge creek and 
district number 1, lying south of the old Blake 
line. 

District No. 9.—Commencing in Under¬ 
wood Gulch where Blake’s line crosses said 
gulch, following down Underwood Gulch to 
Red Lodge creek, and down said creek to the 
mouth of Willow creek; from mouth of Wil¬ 
low creek running due east to the summit of 
the divide between Willow and Rock creeks, 
following summit of the divide between Wil¬ 
low and Rock creeks in a southerly direction 
to the Blake line, following Blake line west to 
the starting point. 

District No. 10.—Commencing at the 
northeast corner of David Lay’s ranch on Vol- 
ney creek, thence running west to Butcher 
creek, and up Butcher creek to north line of 
E. C. Russell’s ranch; thence following north 
line of said ranch east to east line of said 
ranch, running south along east line of said 
ranches owned by E. C. Russell and Michael 
Murray to the south line of Murray’s ranch; 
thence running along said south line of Mur¬ 
ray’s ranch west to Butcher creek, thence fol¬ 
lowing said creek south to mountains, follow¬ 
ing along the foot of the mountains east to 
head of Underwood Gulch; thence down Un¬ 
derwood Gulch to the house of Jacob Durst, 
and from Durst house went to starting point. 

District No. 11.—Commencing at the head 
of Butcher creek at foot of mountains; thence 
running west to the East Rosebud creek to cen¬ 
ter of township 5, range 18, east; thence east 
to Butcher creek, and up Butcher creek to 
starting point,including ranches of E. C. Rus¬ 
sell and Michael Murray. 


District No. 12—Commencing at the inter¬ 
section of the west line of Carbon county with 
Stillwater river, thence running east to the 
summit of the divide between Stillwater river 
and Fishtail creek; thence running north on 
said divide to the head of Midnight creek, and 
down Midnight creek to Stillwater river; 
thence up Stillwater river to starting point. 

District No. 13.—Beginning at the north¬ 
east corner of section 28, township 4, south 
range 18, east; thence west six miles; thence 
south to Fiddler creek; thence east six miles; 
thence north to starting point. 

District No. 14.—All of the country be¬ 
tween West Rosebud creek and Stillwater river 
below mouth of Fishtail creek. 

District No. 15.—All of townships 2 and 3 
in range 20, east, that are in Carbon county 
and all of township 3, range 19, east, lying in 
Carbon county. 

District No. 16.—All of Carbon county be¬ 
tween the East and West Rosebud rivers not 
included in district No. 13. 

District No. 17.—Township 4, south range 
19, east, and .all of township 4, south range 18, 
east, that lies east of Rosebud river. 

District No. 18.—All of the territory be¬ 
tween Stillwater river and West Rosebud 
river that is not included in districts 14, 13 and 
12. 

The reports and most of the records of 
the county superintendents of schools were de¬ 
stroyed in the fire of 1889 when the court 
house was burned to the ground. From the 
state superintendent’s report of 1898 the fol¬ 
lowing data was secured: 

Total amount of money received for school 
purposes, $13,734.94; amount on hand at end 
of fiscal year, $742.31; census, male 761, fe¬ 
male, 735; number of teachers employed, 38; 
average salary of teachers, male $52.66, fe¬ 
male $41.50; average attendance, 1,027; num¬ 
ber of school houses, 29; value of school houses 
and grounds, $14,160. 

Mrs. M. A. Kearns, County Supt. 




246 


HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY. 


The report of the county superintendent 
for the year 1900 is as follows: 

Census, male, 1,160,' female, 1,028; en¬ 
rollment, 1,509; average daily attendance, 812; 
number of teachers, 50; average salary of 
teachers, male, $60, female, $42.75; number of 
school houses, 39; new school houses, 10; value 
of school houses and grounds, $23,720; total 
amount apportioned for year, $31,103.13; 
amount on hand at end of year, $1,896.75. 

Miss Martha Dilworth, County Supt. 

Following is the report for the year 1902: 

Census, male, 1,255, female, 1,148: enroll¬ 
ment, 1,855; average daily attendance, 796; 
average salary of teachers, male, $76, female, 
$41.28; number of school houses, 44; value of 
schoolhouses and grounds, $26,842; total 
amount of money collected for school purposes, 
$32,479.32; amount on hand at end of year, 
$4,086.50. 

Miss Martha Dilworth, County Supt. 

The report of County Superintendent Miss 
Agnes B. Ross for the year 1903 is as follows: 

Census, male, 1,355, female, 1,208; enroll¬ 
ment, 1,685; average daily attendance, 902; 
number of school houses, 47; value of school 
houses and grounds, $36,548; amount collected 
■for school purposes, $33,140.83; amount on 
hand at end of year, $4,949.94. 

The report for the year 1905 shows a de¬ 
cided increase in nearly every item as fol¬ 
lows : 

Census, male, 1,371, female, 1,237; enroll¬ 
ment, 1,614; average daily attendance, 1,152; 
number of school houses, 49; value of school 
houses and grounds, $39,278; number of teach¬ 
ers employed, 64; total amount collected for 
school purposes, $44,725.53; amount on hand 
at end of year, $9,113.86. 

Miss Agnes B. Ross, County Supt. 

The school report for 1905 shows an in¬ 
crease in the census, but a decrease in the num- 
Ler enrolled and the average daily attendance. 
This year is notable in that it marks the pass¬ 
ing of the log school houses in all parts of the 


county, and now all buildings are frame or 
brick. The report is as follows: 

Census, male. 1,505, female, 1,307; enroll¬ 
ment, 1,418; average daily attendance, 883; 
number of school houses, 51; value of school 
houses and grounds, $70,147; amount of 
money collected for school purposes, $52,- 
988.46; amount on hand at end of year, $18,- 
970.16. 

Miss Agnes B. Ross, County Supt. 

There are 50 school districts in the county 
and 53 school houses where school is main- 
tamed during the school year. Districts 45"46 
have been consolidated and also districts 30 
and 31 at Fromberg where a central school 
will be held. At Joliet and Gebo nine 
grades have been taught for several years 
and at Bridger two years of the high school 
work has been taken up. At Red Lodge the 
' full three years high school course has been 
taught since the completion of the brick high 
school building in 1899. A new ward school 
house was built in Red Lodge last year at a 
cost of $7,500 and the present enrollment in 
the Red Lodge schools is 684. 

In April, 1905, an election was held for the 
purpose of deciding the question of a free 
county high school which carried by a vote of 
1,238 to 1,148, amajority of 90. The high 
school was' organized and the upper floors of 
the Red Lodge high school building were se¬ 
cured in which to hold school. The enroll¬ 
ment during the first year of the school’s ex¬ 
istence was 60 and a material increase is ex¬ 
pected during the coming year. A good corps of 
teachers, a superintendent and two assistants, 
were secured and already the school has been 
placed on the accredited list, that is, any grad¬ 
uate of Carbon county free high schools 
is entitled to enter the collegiate department 
of any of the state institutions of higher learn-, 
ing. 

The curriculum of the school contains three 
distinct courses, the classical, English and 






HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY. 


247 


commercial. The equipment of the school 
comprises a goodly supply of physical appar¬ 
atus and many useful reference books. 

The present county high school board 


consists of D. G. O’Shea, A. E. Flager, J. 
Mushbach, W. J. Crismas, and Miss Agnes B. 
Ross, county superintendent, ex-officio mem¬ 
ber of the board. 


CHAPTER V 


POLITICAL. 


The enabling act creating the county of 
Carbon provided for the officers of the new 
county. Those named in the bill to fill the 1 
different officers and who afterward qualified I 
were: Alvin A. Ellis, Orville E. Millis, and 1 
Robert C. Beattie, county commissioners; J 
Thomas Hogan, sheriff; Charles E. Bowlen, 
treasurer; Edward J. McLean, county clerk 
and recorder; Henry G. Province, assessor; I 
George W. Pierson, county attorney; Henry 
G. Newkirk, clerk district court; Lizzie Me- | 
Donald, county school superintendent; J. H. 
Johnson, coroner; Gilbert Patterson, public 
administrator; Charles Printz, county sur- j 
veyor. The above named officers were to hold 
office until their successors should be elected 
and qualified at the next general election to be 
held in November, 1896. 

About the middle of March, 1895, these 
officials took the oaths of office and on the first 
of April entered upon the discharge of their 
duties. The building formerly occupied by the 
firm of J. H. Conrad & Co., was secured and 
fitted up for a court house. The county was 
divided into twelve election precincts—Rock- 
vale, Joliet, Bridger Crossing, Reno, Merritt 
& Roberts, East Red Lodge, West Red Lodge, 
Jackson, Fishtail, Morris, Absarokee, and 
Bowler precincts. For the first general elec¬ 
tion in which Carbon county as a separate po¬ 


litical division participated, held November 3, 
1896, the election officials and their precincts 
were as follows: 

Rockvale precinct, Roy Nutting, R. H.Ter- 
rell and R. Dunn, judges; Joliet precinct, J. 
Jacoby, H. Scovel, and A. Black, judges; 
Bridger Crossing precinct, A. E. Parker, G. 
H. Premo, and F. Duffield, judges; Reno pre¬ 
cinct, A. Youst, C. Brewer and Nathan 
Chance, judges; Merritt & Roberts precinct, 
John Kerrigan, Henry Chapman and W. R. 
Crockett, judges; East Red Lodge precinct, 
R. L. Davis, John Rose and E. E. Esselstyn, 
judges; West Red Lodge precinct, J. A. Vir¬ 
tue, F. W. Draper, George Toff, judges; 
Jackson precinct, Anthony Thiel, T. E. Duell, 
Ed. Doty, judges; Fishtail precinct, Osmand 
Anderson, R. McDonald, Sam Webb, judges; 
Morris, Tim George, Wm. Dell, Thomas 
Jones, judges; Absarokee, B. W. Barlow, S. J. 
Westcott, S. T. Simonson, judges; Bowler pre¬ 
cinct, John Bowler, J. A. King, J. H. Graham, 
judges. 

The election returns of the election held 
November 3, 1896, show that 1167 votes were 
cast for the different candidates and the re¬ 
sult of the election was as follows: 

McKinley electors, rep., 363; Bryan elect¬ 
ors, dem., 740. 









248 


HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY'. 


For Congress—Charles S. Hartman, silver 
rep., 591; O. F. Goddard, rep., 315. 

For Governor—Alexander C. Botkin, rep., 
409; Robert B. Smith, dem. and pop., 667. 

For State Senator—C. C. Bowlen, dem., 
682; John G. Clark, rep., 244; H. J. Arm¬ 
strong, ind., 103. 

For Representative—James J. Hart, dem., 
623; E. E. Lightfoot, rep., 355. 

For Judge 6th. District—Frank Henry, 
rep., 657. 

For Clerk of District Court—J. E. Mush- 
bach, dem., 606; Charles W. Pratt, rep., 227; 

R. A. Martin, ind., 144. 

For County Commissioners—W. F. Tink- 
com, dem., 569; John Mulkerin, dem., 409; 
Harry Duffield, dem., 618; J. H. Johnson, rep., 
355; E. H. Bowen, rep., 292; L. P. Sickler, 
rep., 307; J. N. Tolman, ind., 106; R. O. 
Morris, ind., 149; Sam Young, ind., 113. 

For County Attorney—L. B. Reno, dem., 
473; George W. Pierson, rep., 278; George H. 
Bailey, ind., 284. 

Fbr County Clerk and Recorder—E. J. 
McLean, dem., 616; J. H. Burnside, rep., 415. 
For sheriff—John Dunn, dem., 441; R. 

S. Chappell, rep., 308; Thomas Hogan, ind., 

3 2 3 - 

For Treasurer—W. A. Talmage, dem., 
564; George J. Jackson, rep., 478. 

For Assessor—H. C. Jewett, dem., 485; 
George B. Stevenson, rep., 544. 

For Public Administrator—Gilbert Patter¬ 
son, dem., 498; W. H. Close, rep., 437. 

For Coroner—M. B. Dutton, dem., 502; 
Henry Williams, rep., 414. 

For Superintendent of Schools—Mrs. M. 
A. Kearns, dem., 707; Mrs. A. H. Davis, rep., 
33 6 - 

For County Surveyor—David Lay, dem., 
612; Fred W. Hine, rep., 268; Charles E. 
Prinz, ind., 122. 

The result of the vote to select a permanent 
county seat was as follows: 


Red 


No. 

Precinct. 

Joliet Lodge 

1 

Rockdale . 


2 

2 

Joliet . 


2 

3 

Bridger Crossing ... 

. 25 

10 

4 

Reno Ranch . 


18 

5 

Roberts . 

. 15 

3 1 

6 

East Red Lodge .... 

. 6 

350 

7 

West Red Lodge.. .. 

. 8 

191 

8 

Jackson . 


46 

9 

Fishtail . 

. 19 

1 

10 

Morris . 


26 

11 

Absarokee . 


10 

12 

Bowler . 


0 


Total. 

. 307 

687 


There were three tickets in the field in the 
general election of 1898. Following is the 
result of the vote: 

For Congress—A. J. Campbell, dem., 447; 

T. C. Marshall, rep., 432; Thomas Hogan, sil. 
rep., 198. 

For Representatives—J. H. Johnson, dem., 
675; E. C. Russell, rep., 471. 

For Sheriff—John Dunn, dem., 648; Wm. 
Larkin, rep., 384; Thomas Hogan, sil. rep., 
160. 

For Treasurer—R. L. Davis, dem., 613; 
M. W. Potter, rep., 384; C. B. Clark, sil. rep., 
35 - 

For Clerk and Recorder—E. J. McLean, 
dem., 629; John McCullough, rep., 521; T. C. 
Benbow, silver-rep., 112. 

For Assessor—Henry Rosetta, dem., 484; 
H. C. Province, rep., 471; F. S. Dunham, sil¬ 
ver-rep., 198. 

For County Attorney—L. B. Reno, dem., 
522; George H. Bailey, rep., 433; George W. 
Pierson, silver rep., 211. 

For Superintendent of Schools—-Catherine 
E. Feeley, dem., 712; E. C. McAdden, rep., 
417. 

For Coroner—M. B. Dutton, dem., 498; 
























HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY. 


249 


B. B. Kelley, rep., 508; Lewis Schank, silver- 
rep., 117. 

For Public Administrator-—E. B. Chat- 
field, dem., 495; Wm. N. Hunter, rep., 520; 
Joseph McAnelly, silver-rep., 96. 

For County Surveyor—D. F. Lay, dem., 
525; M. G. Swan, rep., 512; J. C. Blanding, 
silver-rep., 102. 

At the presidential election of November 6, 
1900, the Carbon county vote was divided as 
follows: 

For Republican electors, McKinley—900; 
Democratic electors, Bryan, 875; Socialist- 
Democrat, 24; Prohibition, 1. 

For Congress—C. F. Kelly, ind. dem., 257; 
S. G. Murray, rep., 828; Caldwell Edwards, 
fus., 677; M. J. Elliot, soc. dem., 17. 

For Governor—Thomas S. Hogan, ind. 
deni., 276; David Folsom, rep., 811; J. K. 
Toole, fus., 741; J. F. Fox, soc. dem., 18. 

For State Senator—Wm. A. Talmage, ind. 
dent., 325; W. F. Meyer, rep., 826; R. A. Em¬ 
mons, fus., 702. 

For Representatives—S. F. Simonson, ind. 
dem., 244; C. H. Gregory, rep., 830; T. F. 
Polland, fus., 729. 

For Sheriff—John Dunn, ind. dem., 447; 
M. W. Potter, rep., 784; James Dougherty, 
fus., 643. 

For Treasurer—George Pryde, ind. dem., 
243; C. E. Wright, rep., 916; W. J. Deegan, 
fus., 633. 

For Clerk and Recorder—V. H. Beentan, 
ind. dem., 263; Jesse Smith, rep., 814; David 
Spears, fus., 654. 

For Clerk of District Court—J. E. Mush- 
bach, ind. dem., 414; E. E. Esselstyn, rep., 
834; A. N. Whittington, fus., 575. 

For Assessor—John Ray, Sr., ind. dent., 
278; W. R. Crockett, rep., 865; Henry Ros¬ 
etta, fus., 655. 

For County Attorney—L. O. Casswell, 
rep., 969; L. B. Reno, dem., 723. 

For Superintendent of Schools—Miss 
Catherine A. Feeley, ind. dem., 339 ! Miss 


Martha Dilworth, rep., 761; Mrs. S. Francis 
Cochrane, fus., 687. 

For Coroner—M. B. Dutton, ind. dem., 
246; B. B. Kelly, rep., 852; Rees Davis, fus., 
621. 

For County Commissioners—W. F. Tink- 
com, ind. dem., 336; Boone K. Fisher, ind. 
dem., 272; Harry Duffield, ind. dem., 376; W. 
B. Nutting, rep., 848; H. J. Smith, rep., 775; 
J. J. Frank, rep., 701; C. C. Bolen, fus., 695; 
John Flannigan, fus., 616; C. B. Clark, fus., 
559 - 

For County Surveyor—George I. Lamport, 
ind. dem., 344; F. W. Hine, rep., 788; David 
Lay, fus., 631. 

For Public Administrator—John McKee- 
vor, ind. dem., 245; David Smithurst, rep., 
823; B. Rydberg, fus., 623. 

The result of the election held November 
7, 1902, in Carbon county was as follows: 

For Congress—Joseph M. Dixon, rep., 
756; John M. Evans, dem., 496; George B. 
Sproule, soc., 29; Martin Dee, lab., 196. 

For Representatives—J. N. Tolman, rep., 
623; W. J. Crisman, dem., 544; Alex Fair- 
grieve, lab., 395. 

For Sheriff—M. W. Potter, rep., 818; 
John Dunn, dem., 656; John Bergen, lab., 149. 

For Treasurer—Charles E. Wright, rep., 
753; R. L. Davis, dem., 646; John Penland, 
lab., 162. 

For Clerk and Recorder—Jesse L Smith, 
rep., 664; G. L. Finley, dem., 695; George M. 
Jones, lab., 205. 

For Assessor—W. R. Crocked, rep., 623; 
M. B. Dusinbere, dem., 603; Daniel McIntosh, 
lab., 314- 

For County Attorney—F. C. Woodward, 
rep., 640; L. B. Reno, dem., 640; J. H. Ruber- 
son, lab., 278. F. C. Woodward won on the 
recount but did not qualify and L. O. Casswell 
held over. 

For Superintendent of Schools—Martha 
Dilworth, rep., 570; Agnes B. Ross, dem., 
767; Francis Cochrane, lab., 228. 








250 


HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY. 


For Surveyor—F. W. Hine, rep., 803; M. 
W. Dickey, dem., 715. 

For Coroner—J. A. Underwood, rep., 703; 
E. H. Baldwin, dem., 563; B. Rydberg, lab., 
198. 

At the election of November 8, 1904, nearly 
two thousand votes were cast in Carbon 
county and were divided as follows: 

For Republican electors, Roosevelt, 1,100; 
Democratic electors, Parker, 464; Socialist 
electors, Debs, 304. 

For Congress—Austin Gormley, dem.. 
581; Joseph M. Dixon, rep., 1,048; John H. 
Walsh, soc., 323. 

For Governor—J. K. Toole, dem., 812; 
Wm. Lindsay, rep., 879; M. G. O’Malley, soc., 
299. 

For State Senator—S. H. Glidden, dem, 
867; W. F. Meyer, rep., 792; John L. Mar- 
gott, soc., 372. 

For Representative—E. Huntington, dem.. 
747; John McCullough, rep., 746; Alex Fair- 
grieve, soc., 470. 

For treasurer—Wm. Woods, dem., 906; J. 
W. Johnston, rep., 686; Thomas Northey. soc., 
402. 

For Clerk and Recorder—G. L. Finley, 
dem., 951; J. F. Rich, rep., 645; B. F. Woms- 
ley, soc., 358. 

For Clerk District Court—R. L. Davis, 
dem., 729; E. E. Esselstyn, rep., 973; Jay E. 
Smith, soc., 273. 


For Sheriff—F. S. Bacheldor, dem., 735; 
M. W. Potter, rep., 849; Joseph Spray, soc., 

465- 

For Assessor—John Normile, dem., 879; 
Swan Youngstrom, rep., 759; Guy D. Moore, 
soc., 332. 

For County Attorney—Sydney Fox, dem., 
1,111; George W. Burke, soc., 558. 

For Superintendent of Schools—Agnes B. 
Ross, dem., 859; Jessie Imboden, rep., 780; 
Belle Griffith, soc., 323. 

For Surveyor—F. W. Hine, rep., 1,049; 
David Lay, dem., 622. 

For Coroner—E. F. Lutz, dem., 644; J. A. 
Underwood, rep., 807; W. H. Allen, soc., 440. 

For Public Administrator, E. A. Baldwin, 
dem., 624; E. B. Ames, rep., 834; B. Ryde- 
berg, soc., 407. 

At the special election held on April 14, 
1906, held for the purpose of deciding whether 
or not Carbon county should adopt the pri¬ 
mary election law, the measure was lost by a 
vote of 284 for the measure to 483 against its 
adoption. 

From the foregoing record it will be seen 
that the people of Carbon county are not par¬ 
tisan and party lines are not closely drawn in 
the selection of officers to manage the affairs 
of the county. Good men have always been 
selected and the people of the county have been 
fortunate in that no one elected to office in 
this county has every betrayed his public 
trust. 





PART V 

YELLOWSTONE COUNTY 

CHAPTER I 


EARLY EXPLORATION—1743 TO 1863. 


When, early in the year 1883, the people 
of the western part of Custer county asked the 
legislature to divide the county and create a 
new political division with the new town of 
Billings as the county seat, the question of a 
name for the new county arose. Two names 
were suggested—Yellowstone and Billings. 
After a somewhat wordy debate between the 
adherents of the two names, the former was 
selected, and the word “Yellowstone” became 
perpetuated in the name of a county, as it had 
already been in the name of a river, a valley, 
a national park, a town*, a canyon, a falls, and 
numerous other things. 

The name was originally applied to the 
river, that great stream of water which rises 
in the high mountains way to the south of the 
national park, flows in a northerly direction 
though Yellowstone lake and on to the great 
bend at the city of Livingston, and then 
changes its course to the east and northeast 
and flows for several hundred miles to its junc¬ 
tion with the Missouri. The derivation of 
the name is an interesting study, and before 

♦Yellowstone City was the name of a mining camp 
in Emigrant Gulch (in the present Park County), 
founded in 1864, which had a few years’ existence. 


taking up the history of the county in the 
chronological order of events we shall tell how 
the word “Yellowstone,” as applied to the 
river, came into existence. 

When Lewis and Clark, early in the spring 
of 1805, set out on their westward journey 
after having spent the winter among the Man- 
dan Indians of North Dakota, they sent back 
a report to President Thomas Jefferson, to¬ 
gether with a map of the western country, 
based on information received from the In¬ 
dians. In that report and on that map the 
famous explorers used the words “Yellow 
Stone” as the name of the principal tributary 
of the Missouri, undoubtedly the first time 
the name ever appeared on an official docu¬ 
ment. 

But Lewis and Clark did not originate the 
name, nor were they the first to actually call 
the stream by that name. David Thompson, 
the celebrated explorer and geographer, who 
was identified with the British fur trade in the 
northwest for so many years, was among the 
Mandan Indians on the Missouri river from 
December 29, 1797, to January 10, 1798. 
While there he obtained data from the Indians, 
from which he estimated the latitude and Ion- 






252 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


gitude of the source of the Yellowstone. In 
his original manuscript and field notes are to 
be found the words “Yellow Stone,” in the 
same form as used by Lewis and Clark in 
1805. Concerning the evolution of the name 
as we now know it, H. C. Chittenden in his 
excellent history of the Yellowstone National 
Park, says: 

Neither Thompson nor Lewis and Clark were orig¬ 
inators of the name. They gave us only the English 
translation of a name already long in use. ‘‘This river,” 
say Lewis and Clark, in their journal for the day of 
their arrival at the mouth of the now noted stream, 
“had been known to the French as the Roche Faune, or. 
as we have called it, the Yellow Stone.” The French 
name was, in fact, already firmly established among the 
traders and trappers of the Northwest Fur company 
when Lewis and Clark met them among the Mandans. 
Even by the members of the expedition it seems to have 
been more generally used than the new English form; 
and the spellings, “Rejone,” Rejhone,” “Rochejone,” 
“Rochejolm,” and “Rochejhone,” are among their var¬ 
ious attempts to render orthographically the French 
pronunciation. 

Probably the name would have been adopted un¬ 
changed, as so many other French names in our geog¬ 
raphy have been, except for the recent cecession of 
Louisiana to the United States. The policy which led 
the government promptly to explore, and take formal 
possession of it, its extensive acquisition, led it also, 
as part of the process of rapid Americanization, to 
give English names to all of the prominent geographical 
features. In the case of the name here under consider¬ 
ation this was not an easy matter. The French form 
had already obtained wide currency, and it was re¬ 
luctantly set aside for its less familiar translation. 
As late as 1817, it still appeared in newly English 
printed books, while among the traders and trappers of 
the mountain, it survived to a much later period. 

By whom the name Roche Jaune, or its equivalent 
form, Pierre Jaune, was first used, it would be ex¬ 
tremely interesting to know': but it is impossible to 
determine at this late day. Like their successor “Yel¬ 
low-stone,” these names are not originals, but only 
translations. The Indian tribes along the Yellow¬ 
stone and upper Missouri rivers had names for the trib¬ 
utary stream signifying “Yellow rock,” and the French 
had doubtless adopted them long before any of their 
number saw the stream itself. 

It thus appears that the name, which now has be¬ 
came so celebrated, descends to us, through two trans¬ 
lations, from those native races whose immemorial 
dwelling place had been along the stream which it de¬ 
scribes. What it was that led them to use the name is 
easily discoverable. Seventy-five miles below' the ultimate 


source of the river lies the Grand Canyon of the Yel¬ 
lowstone, distinguished among the notable canyons of 
the globe by the marvelous coloring of its walls. Con¬ 
spicuous among its innumerable tints is yellow. Every 
shade, from a brilliant plumage of the yellow bird 
to the saffron of the orange, greets the eye in bewild¬ 
ering profusion. There is indeed other color, unparal¬ 
leled in variety and abundance, but the ever-present 
background of all is the beautiful fifth color of the 
spectrum. 

So prominent is this feature that it never fails to 
attract attention, and all descriptions of the Canyon 
abound in reference to it. Lieutenant Doane (1870) 
notes the “brilliant yellow color” of the rocks. Captain 
Barlow and Doctor Heyden (1871) refer, in almost the 
same words, to “the yellow, nearly vertical walls.” Ray¬ 
mond (1871) speaks of the “bright yellow of the clay. 
Captain Jones (1873) says that “about and in the Grand 
Canyon the rocks are nearly all tinged a bright yel¬ 
low.” These early impressions might be repeated from 
the writings of every subsequent visitor who has de¬ 
scribed the scenery of the Yellowstone. 

That a characteristic w'hich so deeply moves the 
modern beholder should have made a profound impres¬ 
sion on the Indian, need hardly be premised. This re¬ 
gion w T as by no means unknown to him; and the re¬ 
mote, although uncertain, period of his first acquaint¬ 
ance with it, the name of the river has undoubtedly 
descended. 

Going back, then, to this obscure fountain-head, the 
original designation is found to have been 

Mi tsi a da zi. Rock Yellow River. 

And this in the French tongue, became 

Rouche Jaune and Pierre Jaune; 
and in English, 

Yellow Rock and Yellow Stone. 

Established usages now writes it 
Yellowstone. 

So much for the name. 

That portion of the state of Montana which 
is now designated as Yellowstone county was 
at one time inhabited (if we are to believe 
those who have made a study of the Indian 
tribes) by the Bannacks, as was the whole 
Yellowstone valley. This was long before 
white men had any acquaintance with the 
country. Later the Bannacks were driven out 
by the Crows, or, as they called themselves in 
the early days, Absarokees.* 

Of much importance to us was the expedi¬ 
tion of the Lewis and Clark party, which, was 


*Which, translated, means crow. 










HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


253 


sent across the continent by President Jeffer¬ 
son. The story of this famous expedition has 
been told in a preceding part of this volume. 

In speaking of Pompey's Pillar, Clark says : 

It is nearly 200 paces in circumference, 200 feet high 
and accessible only from the northeast, the other sides 
consisting of perpendicular cliffs of a light colored 
gritty stone. The soil on the summit is five or six feet 
deep, of a good quality, and covered with short grass. 
The Indians have carved the figures of animals and 
other objects on the sides of the rock, and on the top 
are raised two pillars of stones. 

Captain Clark says in his journal: “1 

marked my name and the day of the month and 
year.” This inscription is still to be seen at the 
point where the ascent to the rock is made. 

When the Northern Pacific railway was 
being constructed, Col. J. B. Clough, the en¬ 
gineer of the Yellowstone division, saw that 
Clark’s name was being rapidly effaced, not 
alone by time, but by vandals. In behalf of 
the railway company and under Mr. Henry 
Villard’s instructions, Col. Clough had a heavy 
double iron screen, 30J4 by 24 inches in size, 
made and sunk firmly into the rock with lead 
anchorings, so as entirely to cover and protect 
the name, which is now hard to decipher, for 
the irrepressible fool has been there, and has 
scratched and cut his various names all aorund 
it, and even over some of the letters and be¬ 
tween the lines.— Wheeler’s “Trail of Lewis 
and Clark.” 

We have been able to find an account of 
only one white man visiting the future Yel¬ 
lowstone county, except the fur traders and 
trappers, during the first half of the century. 
That one man was P. J. De Smet, a missionary 
of the Society of Jesus. His expedition is 
mentioned in the general history of this book. 

It is doubtful if many residents of Yellow¬ 
stone county know that at one time the whole 
county was included in the Crow reservation, 
but such is the case. By a treaty between the 
Crow Indians and the United States govern¬ 
ment, made September 17, 1851, a reservation 


was set off with the following boundaries: 
“The territory of the Crow nation, commenc¬ 
ing at the mouth of the Powder river on the 
Yellowstone; thence up Powder river to its 
source; thence along the main range of the 
Black Hills and Wind river mountain to the 
headwaters of the Yellowstone river; thence 
down the Yellowstone river to the mouth of 
Twenty-five Yard creek [Shields river] ; thence 
to the headwaters of the Musselshell river; 
thence down the Musselshell river to its 
mouth; thence to the headwaters of Dry creek, 
and thence to its mouth.” 

It was forty-seven years after Captain 
William Clark passed through the Yellowstone 
valley before another government expedition 
visited this region. On the 24th day of May, 
1853, Col. Isaac I. Stevens, who became the 
first governor of Washington territory, started 
out from St. Paul, Minnesota, under orders 
from the United States government to ex¬ 
plore and make a preliminary survey for a rail¬ 
road to the Pacific coast. Stevens and his 
party arrived at Fort Union, at the mouth of 
the Yellowstone, on August 1st. A wide belt 
of country was explored by throwing out Small 
parties on either side of the‘main body, with 
instructions to rendezvous at a given point 
ahead. At Fort Union Lieutenant John Mul- 
lan, who later built the famous Mullan road 
in Montana, Idaho and Washington, and de¬ 
tailed with a party to survey the valley of the 
Yellowstone. He ascended the river to a point 
not far from the present town of Billings, and 
then, turning northward through the Mussel¬ 
shell country and Judith basin, rejoined the 
main party at Fort Benton, near the falls of the 
Missouri, which point it reached on September 
first. 

After the surveying party under Cap¬ 
tain John Mullan had come up the Yellowstone 
river as far as the present county of Yellow¬ 
stone in 1853. it was ten years before whites 
again visited that part of the Yellowstone val¬ 
ley which is now designated on the map as 





254 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


Yellowstone county, with the possible excep¬ 
tion of the few fur traders still in the country, 
This trip was made in the spring of 1863 by a 
party of fifteen men under Jas. Stuart, and 
was brought about by the discovery of gold 
at Bannack and a few other places in the 
mountains of Montana (then Idaho). 

The other party which was to have joined 
the Stuart party on the trip of exploration, 
composed of William Fairweather, Henry 
Edgar and others, was turned back by the 
Crows. This turned out to be a fortunate cir¬ 
cumstance, for the party on the way back to 
Bannack discovered the world-renowned Alder 
gulch mines, where Virginia City was built. 
This division having failed to arrive at the 
appointed time, the fifteen men under Stuart 
started out on the advance to the Y ellow- 
stone country, with the belief that the others 
would soon strike the trail and follow. Keep¬ 
ing a generally northeast course, this little 
band of explorers crossed the Madison river, 
finding plenty of burnt quartz, and frequently 
“raising the color” when prospecting; crossed 
the Gallatin valley where it was watered by 
two forks; crossed the divide between the Mis¬ 
souri and Yellowstone, reaching the latter 
river on the 25th; keeping down the river, on 
the north bank, two days beyond Boulder creek, 
where they fell in with a band of Crows, from 
which they narrowly escaped through the in¬ 
trepid behavior of Stuart. It was on the 28th 
day of April, 1863, that this trouble with the 
Indians arose. From the journal kept by Mr. 
Stuart it is impossible to locate exactly the 
spot, but it was, doubtless, within the boun¬ 
daries of the present county of Yellowstone. 

Mr. Stuart tells of the events of this day 
in his journal* under date of April 28th, as 
follows: 


♦Published, with notes by Samuel T. Hauser and 
Granville Stuart, in the Montana Historical Society’s 
contributions. 


About an hour before sundown, while lying around 
camp resting from the fatigues of the day, we were 
startled by hearing several guns fired in a clump of 
cottonwoods across the river, and immediately after¬ 
ward we saw about thirty Indians fording across. They 
came on a run, vociferating “How-dye-do ’ and “Up- 
sar-o-ka,” which means “Crow Indians” in their lan¬ 
guage. By the time they were fairly in camp we had 
our horses all tied up and every man prepared for 
emergencies. 

They first inquired who was our captain. I told 
them, and asked which was their captain. They showed 
me three, one big and two little ones. 1 he large chief 
told me to have all my men put all our things in the 
tent and keep a sharp lookout, or we would lose them. 

I gave him a small piece of tobacco to have a 
grand smoke, and I also found that one of them, a very 
small man with a big belly, could talk the Snake 
language, and he was at once installed as interperter. 
They (the interperter and chiefs) sat down in a circle 
and requested the pleasure of my company. I com¬ 
plied with the invitation, and our party stood guard 
over our horses and baggage, while I smoked and ex¬ 
changed lies with them. It would take me a week to 
write all that was said, so I forbear. Meanwhile, the 
other Indians began disputing with each other about 
who should have our best horses. I requested the chief 
to make them come out from among the horses and 
behave themselves, which he did. At eight p. m. I put 
on double guard, and at ten p. m. all but the guard re¬ 
tired to rest. 

The trials of the little band were by no 
means at an end. All night long the Indians 
wandered about the camp like evil spirits, 
stealing everything they could lay their hands 
on. Every few minutes somebody would have 
to rush out of his tent to rescue some piece of 
property that an Indian had stolen out of the 
tent, in spite of the watchfulness of the guards 
and the fact that it was bright moonlight all 
night. It was the incidents of this trip that 
gave the Crows the reputation of being the 
most accomplished thieves of all the Indian 
tribes of the Northwest.* 


♦One thing is certain; they can discount all the 
the thieves I ever saw or heard of; in fact, they have 
to be seen to realize their superiority over all other 
thieves, either white, red or black, in the world. They 
would steal the world-renowned Arabs poor in a single 
hour.— Jas. Stuart. 







255 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


This night of unrest was followed, in the 
early morning, by one of the most dramatic in¬ 
cidents ever occurring on Yellowstone county 
soil, in which Captain Stuart, by his masterful 
actions, doubtless saved the party from massa¬ 
cre. In his journal he thus modestly describes 
the vent: 

At daylight I aroused the party, and we proceeded' 
to ascertain our losses, which were too numerous to 
mention, everybody having lost something. In case we 
stood them off without a fight I thought it best to pack 
up and go about eight miles before breakfasting, for 
I knew that before we could get something to eat we 
would probably have half their village to watch, and 
judging from their last night’s haul, that would be too 
good a thing for the thieving scoundrels. 

As soon as we began to pack up, they at once pro¬ 


ceeded to forcibly trade horses (always taking much 
the best of the bargain), blankets, etc., and to appro¬ 
priate everything they wanted. I saw that the time had 
come to die or do; therefore I ordered my men to be 
ready to open fire on them when I gave the signal. 
With one hand full of cartridges and my rifle in the 
other, I told the Indians to mount their horses and go 
to their camp, telling them that they were thieves and 
liars; in fact, calling them everything mean that I could 
think of under pressure. I ordered them to leave im¬ 
mediately, or we would kill all of them. 

They weakened, got on their horses, and left. 
Pretty good for the chivalry of the Crow nation to be 
driven off by fifteen white men! 

Two of the chiefs, however, very politely requested 
to be allowed to go with us to where we would stop 
and take breakfast with us. I told them that was played 
out; that the whites were now mad and would not 
give them anything to eat. They took the chances on 
that and went along. 


CHAPTER II 


LATER EXPLORATION AND EARLY SETTLEMENT—1864 TO 1882. 


Facts applying the context of the preceding 
chapter led to the conclusion that the future 
Yellowstone county, and, in fact, the whole 
of the Yellowstone valley, was, up to the early 
sixties, a country as little known as are the 
Arctic regions today. It was a country given 
over entirely to the savage red men. True, a 
a few trappers and explorers had penetrated 
the country, but the extent of the general 
knowledge of this vast empire was simply that 
there was such a country as the Yellowstone 
valley, extending from the Missouri river in 
a generally southwesterly direction for a dis¬ 
tance of several hundred miles into an equally 
unknown country. So little was known of the 
country that such a body of frontiersmen as 
the James Stuart party had difficulty in deter¬ 
mining the exact location in 1863, Mr. Stuart 
declaring that had the party followed the 
directions of the government maps, they never 


would have found the Yellowstone river. 
Truly, it was a terra incognita! 

Had it not been for the discovery of gold 
in the mountain country to the west of this val¬ 
ley there is reason to believe that the future 
Yellowstone county and the whole of the Yel¬ 
lowstone valley would have remained in this 
unknown condition for a much longer period. 
Prior to the discovery of gold there was abso¬ 
lutely nothing in the country which is now 
Montana to attract anybody except trappers 
and fur traders. But with the unearthing of 
the precious metal at several points in the 
mountain country came a new order of things. 
Although these discoveries were far to the 
west of the county whose history we are writ¬ 
ing the settlement of the mountain country had 
an effect on the Yellowstone valley. With the 
rush to the points of discovery came the be¬ 
lief that gold existed in other parts of the coun- 









256 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


try and the determination to find out. From 
American Fork, Bannack, and later from Vir¬ 
ginia City and Helena, went out parties to all 
parts of Montana to prospect for gold. Such 
an one ‘was the Stuart party, who came to the 
Yellowstone and Big Horn valleys, as we have 
told in the first chapter. 

In order to get into the known gold fields, 
it was necessary to traverse vast stretches of 
unsettled and heretofore unknown country, 
and this fact alone led to knowledge of differ¬ 
ent parts of the present state of Montana which 
must, otherwise, have been left marked on the 
map as “unknown region” for years to come. 
Of more importance to the Yellowstone valley 
than any other event in the early history of 
Montana was the opening of the Bozeman 
route from the east to the mining camps, over 
which several trains passed in 1864 and later 
years. 

Beginning with the year 1865, and for 
several years thereafter, the Yellowstone river 
became quite well known and popular highway 
for people going from Montana back to the 
states. 

Between the date of the first arrival of emi¬ 
grants through the valley and the settlement 
of that part of the valley which is now Yellow¬ 
stone county, many stirring events took place. 

An event of the year 1868 should have its 
place in the history of Yellowstone county, al¬ 
though at the time its effect on the territory of 
the future county was nil. This was a treaty 
between the United States government and the 
Crow nation concluded at Fort Laramie, Dak¬ 
ota, on May 7, 1868. By the terms of the 
treaty fhe Crow reservation was cut down to 
that part of Montana south and east of the 
Yellowstone river river and west of the 107th 
degree of longitude (which is still the eastern 
boundary of the reservation). This removed 
from the Crow reservation (which had been 
created in 1851) all that part of the county 
which lies north of the Yellowstone river, but 
left in it that part which lies to the south of the 


river, which latter portion was opened by sub¬ 
sequent treaties, the last one only a short time 
ago. As there were no settlers in any part of 
the present county in 1868, or any prospects of 
any, the immediate effects of this treaty were 
not apparent, but when, a few years later, a 
few settlers took up homes in this part of the 
valley, the wisdom of the treaty was apparent; • 
those who sought to build themselves homes 
in the valley had a legal right to hold land on 
the north side of the stream. 

In the preceding chapter we told of the pre¬ 
liminary survey of a part of the Yellowstone 
valley by Captain John Mullan, of the Stevens 
party, in 1853, for a Pacific railroad. The next 
attempt to survey a line for this road in the 
valley was made in 1871. In the fall of that 
year Mr. Muhlenberg, a Northern Pacific en¬ 
gineer, accompanied by a force of cavalry from 
Fort Ellis, commanded by Captain Ball, 
started out from Bozeman, and ran his lines 
easterly to a point near the mouth of Pryor’s 
creek, a point known among the early visitors 
to the valley as the “Place of Skulls.” Here 
Mr. Muhlenberg was forced to abandon the 
work on account of a heavy fall of snow. Therfc 
are no records to the effect that this party en¬ 
countered any hostile Indians. In fact, there 
was little danger of this at the time of year in 
which the survey was made, as the Sioux and 
other war like tribes were generally out of the 
Yellowstone valley by the time cold weather 
set in. 

By the terms of the charter granted to the 
Northern Pacific railway company, the United 
States government bound itself to afford all 
necessary protection against hostile Indians to 
the parties engaged in making the survey of 
the route, as well as in the construction of the 
road. It was in carrying out these obligations 
that the troops under Captain Ball accom¬ 
panied these surveyors in 1871. 

The Northern Pacific company desired to 
carry on its surveys on an extensive scale dur¬ 
ing 1872, and in the spring of that year called 







HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


257 


upon the government to again furnish protec¬ 
tion for its surveyors. It was the intention to 
run lines over the vast region stretching from 
the base of the Rocky mountains to the Mis¬ 
souri river at Bismarck—a country which was 
in complete possession of the hostile Sioux. 
Two surveying parties were to take the field, 
one to begin at the Missouri river and extend 
its explorations westward, the other on the up¬ 
per Yellowstone and proceed down that stream, 
take up the work where it had been abandoned 
the fall before, near the mouth of Pryor’s Fork, 
and complete the survey of the valley to the 
mouth of Powder river, where it was expected 
to meet the eastern corps. 

For the protection of the surveying parties 
the government furnished troops.* For the 
party which started westward from the Mis¬ 
souri river an escort of nearly 1,000 men, com¬ 
manded by Col. David S. Stanley, 22nd infan¬ 
try, was furnished. As this division of the sur¬ 
veyors had nothing to do with the history of 
Yellowstone county we shall pass the story of 
its operations with this brief mention. 

But the other party played an important 
part in the early history of Yellowstone 
county. To Col. John Gibbon, 7th infantry, 
commanding the district of Montana, was as¬ 
signed the duty of providing from his troops 
a suitable force for the protection of the Yel¬ 
lowstone valley corps of engineers. For this 
purpose the colonel selected companies C, E, 
G, and I, 7th infantry, from Fort Shaw, and 
and troops F, G, H, and L, 2nd cavalry, from 
Fort Ellis. The command of this force which 


* In his report for 1872, General Hancock says: 
“On the 29th of June I received instructions from the 
lieutenant general to prepare two commands as es¬ 
corts for two surveying parties of the Northern Pacific 
railroad, one to proceed from Fort Rice on the Mis¬ 
souri river about 240 miles and return, the other to 
start from Fort Ellis. Montana, proceed to the mouth 
of Powder river, 310 miles, and return by way of the 
Mussellshell river.” 


numbered about 400 men, was given to Major 
Eugene M. Baker, of the 2nd cavalry. 

These soldiers marched from their respec- 
, t* ve forts, and on the 13th of July they assem¬ 
bled on Shields river (in the present Park 
county), where they were joined by Col. Hay¬ 
den with his corps of surveyors. The march 
down the valley was at once begun. By easy 
stages the forces continued down the valley, 
without encountering hostile Indians or seeing 
signs of any, and went into camp at the point 
where the survey of the year before had been 
left off, arriving at this place in the first part 
of August. The soldiers were taking life 
easy in camp while Col. Hayden was making 
his arrangements for taking up and continuing 
the survey. The location of the camp, which 
became the scene of a bloody battle, was on 
the north side of the river, not far from the 
point where Pryor’s Fork puts into the Yellow¬ 
stone from the south side, and not far from the 
present village of Huntley. There seems to 
have been little apprehension that there were 
Indians in the vicinity, and no special precau¬ 
tions were taken to guard against attack. The 
presence in the neighborhood of two or three 
Indian dogs, however, conveyed to some of the 
party the belief that redskins might not be far 
off; but the general feeling was one of con¬ 
fidence and security.* 

Now while the troops were slowly making 
their way down the valley a heavy force of 
Sioux warriors, variously estimated at from 
800 to 1,000 strong, was ascending the river 
upon a hostile incursion against the Crows, 
and about the 12th of August discovered 
through their scouts that they were in the pre- 


. n °t only were no especial precautions 

taken by the force to guard against an attack, but on 
the very night fixed for it he [Col. Baker] permitted 
himself to become unfitted for the proper performance 

of his duties by an over-indulgence in strong drink:_ 

Lieutenant Jas. H. Bradley. 


17 












258 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


sence of Baker’s command. This unexpected 
feature created a division in their councils, 
many being anxious to give over their former 
designs and measure powers with the troops, 
while the more prudent minority was disposed 
to avoid so hazardous an enterprise and con¬ 
tinue their advance on the less prepared and 
unsuspecting Crows. At length, however, 
tempted by the large spoils in horses which 
they hoped, by dexterous management, to se¬ 
cure at little cost to themselves, they declared 
in favor of an attack upon the troops, and 
fixed upon the morning of August 14th for ■ 
carrying the plan into effect. 

The camp of the soldiers was an ideal one 
and could have been guarded against surprise 
had proper precautions been taken, but this 
was not done, and that the result was not dis¬ 
astrous was due largely to the officer of the 
guard.* 

The designs of the savages were well 
planned. Several hundred warriors were 
posted close on the lower side of the camp, 
where they were wholly screened from view by 
the timber and willows growing in profusion 
at the lower extremity of the slough, while the 
remainder of their force was to seek, by an at¬ 
tack upon the landward side of the camp, to 
draw the troops in that direction, when the 


*Says Lieut. Jas. H. Bradley, who has written 
entertainingly of this battle, his information having 
been received from interviews with soldiers, citizens 
and Indians taking part, and who visited the site in 
1876: “The camp was pitched upon ground favorable 
for defense, being located on the margin of the stream, 
with a timbered slough sweeping in a semi-circular di¬ 
rection around it so as to form in connection with the 
river what may be termed an island of two or three 
acres area, the whole at long rifle range from the ad¬ 
jacent bluffs. To have rendered the position wholly 
secure, however, it would have been necessary to guard 
the slough that it could not be occupied by the enemy 
as a preliminary to their attack; but this was not done. 
Fortunately, it was rather the purpose of the Indians 
to get possession of the animals of the command with 
as little fighting as possible than to gain any decisive 
advantage over the troops, and their plans were laid 
accordingly.” 


ambushed swarms would burst from their con¬ 
cealment, sweep over the camp, cut loose the 
horses, throw the troops into confusion by at¬ 
tacking their rear, and at the worst escape with 
the herd. With such caution and success did 
they, under cover of the darkness on the night 
of the 13th, reconnoiter the camp previous to 
the attack that they were enabled to steal sev¬ 
eral saddles out of the tents of a party of pros¬ 
pectors, who had joined the command, while 
their owners lay within them asleep, cut from 
their lines and make off with six mules picketed 
near the tent of the commanding officer, and 
kill a dog that threatened to betray their pres¬ 
ence in the camp. 

Although Colonel Baker had not made 
special arrangements for a guard on the night 
of the 13th, Lieut. Wm. Logan, who had com¬ 
mand of the guard '(consisting Q f 2 £ m en), 

was one who suspected the presence of the In¬ 
dians, and he made all the preparations to 
guard against surprise that were possible un¬ 
der the circumstances. His guard was posted 
on the flank of the camp, away from the river 
and some 300 yards distant therefrom, his sen¬ 
tinels covering the camp as far as possible, 
while the herds of beef cattle and mules of 
the government and contractors’ trains, which 
had been left out to graze, w r ere held well un¬ 
der cover of the guard of the island-like loca¬ 
tion of the camp, with a squad of herders over 
them to prevent straggling or stampede. The 
horses of the cavalry were tied at the picket 
lines within the limits of the camp. 

About three o’clock in the morning of Au¬ 
gust 14, the officer of the guard made the 
round of his sentinels and found all quiet, the 
animals having ceased to graze and having 
lain down in the space between the guard tents 
and the timber growing along the slough. 
Only a little while after this tour of inspection 
the Indians made their attack. We give the 
account of the battle which followed in the 
words of Lieutenant Bradley. He wrote: 

“From the timber at different points along 









HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


259 


the landward side of the slough the Indians 
opened fire and advanced upon the Island to 
attempt the capture of the herd. In a moment 
the boldest of them were mingled with the 
animals, but the few men posted over the 
herd stood- their ground manfully, opening a 
rapid fire upon their assailants at close range, 
and at the same time endeavoring to put the 
herd in motion toward the corral. The guard 
was instantly under arms, and by judicious 
management the animals were driven gently 
to the rear, the Sioux who had sought to 
stampede them being forced by the fire of the 
guard to fall back. A few moments sufficed 
to enable Lieutenant Logan to throw the entire 
guard between the Sioux and the herd, where, 
deployed as skirmishers and lying down in the 
long grass, the men opened fire upon the mov¬ 
ing forms dimly seen before them through 
the gloom. After the first volley the Sioux 
maintained a scattering fire, but the unexpect¬ 
edly hot reception given them by the guard 
soon caused them to retire from the timber 
to the open ground beyond, and, within a few 
moments after the attack began, the ground 
was cleared of them and their fire had sub¬ 
sided into a few straggling shots. 

“Meantime the herders conducted the ani¬ 
mals to the rear, where without confusion they 
were driven into the corral and rendered secure 
none having been lost except fifteen head of 
beef cattle which stubbornly refused to move 
with the herd and fell into the hands of the 
Sioux. When the firing began the citizen 
prospectors, some twenty in number, seized 
their guns and took an advanced position on 
the left of the guard, where, with Lieutenant 
Jacobs at their head, they took cover and 
opened battle on their individual account. The 
Sioux speedily recovered from their first re¬ 
pulse and returned to the attack reoccupying 
the timber and appearing in considerable num¬ 
bers on the open ground in front of the guard. 
But the citizens with Lieutenant Jacobs poured 


in a rapid fire upon their flank while the guard 
received them firmly in front, handling their 
breech loaders with such effect that again the 
Indians speedily withdrew. 

“At the first alarm the troops had promptly 
formed in their qompany streets, and awaited 
the orders of the officer in command. As soon 
as the infantry batallion was under arms Cap¬ 
tain Rawn, its commander, reported to Major 
Baker for orders and found him still in bed, 
stupified with drink, skeptical as to the pres¬ 
ence of an enemy, and inclined to treat the 
whole alarm as a groundless fright upon the 
part of the guard. It was difficult to get any 
order from him, but at last he directed Captain 
Rawn to hold his men in camp; and, disgusted 
and angry, that officer returned to his com¬ 
mand and upon his own responsibility deployed 
companies E (Lieutenant Reed) and G (Cap¬ 
tain Browning) in line on the lower side of the 
camp, facing the thicket in which the ambus¬ 
cade had been formed. Lieutenant Reed oc¬ 
cupied the right, with his right flank resting 
on the stream, and thus posted the men of both. 

■ companies lay down in the tall grass. As bul¬ 
lets were flying freely through the camp, the 
remainder of the command was ordered to 
lie down in their company streets. 

“Captain Thompson, officer of the day, had 
gone to the front to ascertain the cause of 
alarm, and nearly lost his life by advancing 
recklessly too far beyond the guard. Finding 
the attack real, he so reported to the command¬ 
ing officer, and a reinforcement of about thirty 
cavalrymen under Lieutenant Hamilton was 
sent forward to Logan's support. Captain 
Rawn at last received tardy orders to deploy 
his command, and Thompson placed company 
C (Lieutenant Quinton) in position on the left 
of the line already formed and his own com¬ 
pany, I, on the left of C, and then by extending 
intervals to the left caused the four infantry 
companies to cover about one-half the front, 
the citizens and cavalry continuing the line to 








26 o 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


the left till it enveloped the camp. This deploy¬ 
ment was affected within on-half an hour 
after the beginning of the attack. 

“As yet the Indians ambushed on the lower 
side of the camp had not betrayed their pres¬ 
ence by a sound. It was now growing light, 
and seeing the movements of the troops to¬ 
wards the point of attack, but ignorant that 
while it was yet dark two whole companies had 
taken position directly in their front, they im¬ 
agined that their stratagem had succeeded, 
and that the way was open to the picket lines 
where the horses were tied. They began, 
therefore, to make their way cautiously for¬ 
ward, but ere they emerged into view Lieuten¬ 
ant Reed discovered the movement in the sud¬ 
den rustling and swaying of the willows in his 
front, and promptly swept the covert with his 
fire, pouring three volleys by company into the 
timber with the regularity and precision of 
the drill ground. This sudden and unlooked- 
for storm of bullets full in their faces filled 
the Indians with astonishment and dismay, 
Without waiting to return a shot, they 
swarmed from the timber like bees and spurred 
their horses away from the bluffs in headlong 
flight. As they passed the remainder of the 
line, Companies C, G, and I also opened fire 
and completed .their utter discomfiture. True 
to their Indian custom, they carried with them 
their killed and wounded slung across their 
horses in their front, and Lieutenant Quinton, 
who occupied a favorable position for observ¬ 
ing their movements, counted eighteen thus 
borne from the field. 

“The slough with its timber belt was now 
in possession of the troops and afforded them 
excellent cover from the desultory fire which 
the Indians maintained for the next three or 
four hours from the bluffs. After the repulse 
of the latter from the ambuscade, they at¬ 
tempted no movement of consequence, but re¬ 
mained for the most part gathered in crowds 
upon the distant bluffs. Occasionally some of 
the bolder warriors careened on horseback at 


full speed along the line, a few of whom were 
wounded for their pains.* About 8 o’clock 
a. m. they suddenly disappeared, and a recon- 
noisance by Captain Ball’s company of cavalry 
showed them in full retreat.” 

The soldiers were eager to pursue the 
Sioux, and it seems probable that a decisive 
victory could have been secured over the In¬ 
dians, had the advantage been followed up. 
The savages were generally demoralized, and 
afterwards admitted to having lost over forty 
killed and a large number wounded, all but 
three of the dead warriors being carried from 
the field. They fled in great precipitation and 
marked their line of retreat with abandoned 
effects that would have impeded their flight. 
Major Baker’s first intention seems to 
have been to pursue the Indians, as he 
ordered two companies of infantry and 
two of cavalry to be put in readiness for 
the chase; but he later forgot the order or 
changed his mind, as nothing of the kind was 
attempted. In the engagement only one man 
was killed, Sergeant McLaren, of Company C, 
7th infantry. One of the citizens, Francis, was 
severely wounded and died three days after the 
engagement. There were three soldiers se¬ 
verely wounded—Privates O’Mally, Company 
E, 7th infantry; W-ard, Company L; and Cox, 
Company F, 2nd cavalry. 

After the battle the troops and surveyors 
continued on their course slowly down the 
north bank of the Yellowstone. On August 
20, just four days after the battle, when at a 
point about six miles above Pompey’s Pillar 
the whole command turned off toward the 


*Oruce in a while a young warrior would make a 
brave ride from one point to another. These were tar¬ 
gets for many rifles, and during the morning two of 
them were killed while indulging in this pastime. But 
one young warrior rode slowly back and forth for 
probably twenty times, all the time taunting the soldiers 
with language and gesture. A thousand shots must 
have been fired at him, but he went through un¬ 
scratched.— Topping’s “Chronicles of the Yellowstone." 









HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY 


261 


Musselshell. The survey was carried across 
the future Yellowstone county to the Mussel¬ 
shell and up its south fork. The expedition 
was disbanded on September 25, the troops 
returning to the posts from which they were 
taken. Why the original plans were aban¬ 
doned will probably never be satisfactorily set¬ 
tled. The soldiers laid the responsibility on the 
surveyors and vice versa. 

When the survey of the Yellowstone valley 
was taken up about the middle of July, 1873, 
Red Cloud, chief of the Sioux, who had said 
that the railroad should not be laid across his 
country, was on hand to oppose the progress 
of the surveyors. With the surveyors was a 
force of 1,500 men and an abundance of am¬ 
munition and supplies, with Gen. D. S. Stan¬ 
ley in command. The troops of the 7th cav¬ 
alry, which formed a part of the force, were 
in command of General Custer, and to this 
brave commander was assigned the duty of 
preceding the main body on its march up the 
Yellowstone, looking out a practical road for 
for the supply trains and artillery. Near the 
mouth of Tongue river on the 4th of August 
Custer was attacked and an attempt made to 
draw him into an ambuscade, which failed, he 
being rescued from a perilous position by the 
main body. The Sioux then moved on up the 
Yellowstone, Custer, with 450 cavalrymen, 
following. On the night of August 9, his 
command was attacked by 800 warriors. After 
a fight lasting some time the redskins were 
defeated and driven back, with a loss of forty 
killed and wounded. The troops lost one man 
killed and one severely wounded. 

After this second attempt to arrest the ad¬ 
vance of the expedition, the Indians did no 
more than hang upon the trail of the troops 
to annoy them. The survey was carried to 
the point near Pompey’s Pillar where it had 
been left off the year before, and on September 
15 the expedition turned north and went to 
Fort Peck, and from thence returned home. 

There was another expedition made 


through the Yellowstone valley in the year 
1873, which should be recorded in the history 
of Yellowstone county. The party which 
made this trip was composed of 149 mountain¬ 
eers, under command of Col.' Brown. A com¬ 
plete outfit was carried, including seventeen 
wagons, and the object of the expedition seems 
to have been to prospect for mineral and fight 
Sioux. The expedition started from Bozeman, 
and has been labeled “the best managed expe¬ 
dition of the west.” It descended the Yellow¬ 
stone as far as the Big Horn river, having a 
skirmish with the Sioux a short distance be¬ 
low, and crossing the country to the Rosebud 
river, had several days’ and nights’ terrific 
fighting with many Sioux and Cheyennes, and 
thoroughly defeated them. A gun accompan¬ 
ied the expedition which had been used on a 
march from the Platte to Bozeman in 1870. It 
was loaded with horse-shoes cut in fragments 
for the purpose, and performed deadly work 
among the Indians, who followed and fought 
the expedition from the Little Horn (later 
called Custer River) back by Fort Smith and 
the Bozeman road to the Yellowstone. This 
piece of ordnance was known as the “Big 
Horn Gun,” and was held in reverence by all 
the early explorers of the Yellowstone valley. 
Only one man was killed on this trip. 

The year 1873 was also a memorable one 
because of the first efforts to navigate the Yel¬ 
lowstone. When the surveying party and es¬ 
cort, above referred to, made the trip up the 
river, the supplies were brought up the Yel¬ 
lowstone as far as the mouth of Glendive 
Creek. One boat, the Key West, ascended the 
stream as high as Wolf rapids, some distance 
below the present site of Miles City. A move¬ 
ment was made by the people of Bozeman to 
open a wagon road from that frontier village 
to the head of navigation and to build a 
steamer to run to the mouth of the Yellow¬ 
stone from that point. It was also determined 
to make an effort to get aid from the govern¬ 
ment in improving the river. The movement 








262 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


that year resulted in nothing but plans, and no 
expedition was sent out to bring about the 
accomplishment of the project. 

But the scheme of the Bozeman people was 
not abandoned, and again, early in 1874, the 
opening of a road through the Yellowstone 
valley became a “live issue.” The fact that 
steamers had ascended the Yellowstone to a 
considerable distance in 1873 determined them 
to make a strenuous effort to bring about the 
accomplishment of their designs. 

It was about the first of January, 1874, 
that active preparations were begun. It was 
determined to send a large expedition down 
the river for the purpose of opening a wagon 
road to the head of navigation (and the expe¬ 
dition was to determine where that point was), 
where connection would be made with a line 
of steamers which would navigate the Yellow¬ 
stone and Missouri rivers to the then terminus 
of the Northern Pacific railroad; the expedi¬ 
tion was also to build a stockade and form a 
settlement for the purpose of holding the coun¬ 
try and proposed road against the hostile In¬ 
dians. 

The expedition was well armed and pro¬ 
visioned, there being over two hundred horses 
and mules, twenty-eight yoke of oxen and 
twenty-two wagons, with supplies of provi¬ 
sions for four months. Two pieces of artillery ! 
were carried, with about 150 pounds of shell j 
and canister. All the men were armed with ! 
the best breech-loading rifles, and were sup¬ 
plied with over forty thousand rounds of 
metallic cartridges. 

The objective point was the mouth of , 
Tongue river, near which place was supposed | 
to be rich mines of gold; here also was sup- I 
posed to be the head of navigation of the Yel- j 
lowstone. 

The expedition was absent from Bozeman j 
three months, and had traveled 600 miles. It | 
had taken part in four battles with the Indians j 
none of which was in the present county of Yel- | 
lowstone—but had escaped with only one man I 


killed and two men wounded, owing to their su¬ 
periority as fighters. Besides the loss in men, the 
party lost 17 horses- killed and 20 Wounded. 
The Indians fared much worse, according to 
the account of those who took part in the ex¬ 
pedition, about fifty being killed and nearly 100 
wounded. 

The expedition failed of its purpose, 
though its reports were of some use to the 
country. 

It seems scarcely possible that anyone would 
attempt to build a permanent home in that part 
of the Yellowstone valley which later became 
Yellowstone county during this time when 
hostile Indians held the country in full control. 
But such is the case, and we find that in the 
year 1875 several men had taken up a perman¬ 
ent residence here. 

The first of these came as a result of the 
removal of the Crow agency. It was in Feb¬ 
ruary, 1875,that orders came from the Interior 
department to remove the agency from its lo¬ 
cation on Mission creek, in the present Park 
county, to a point some eighteen or twenty 
| miles up the Stillwater, near the present town 
of Absarokee, in Carbon county. Agent Clapp 
at once set about the removal, and by April the 
old quarters on Mission creek were deserted, 
and the agency buildings on the Stillwater 
were built. 

Horace Countryman, who since 1873 had 
kept a trading post for the Crows on the north 
bank of the Yellowstone, opposite the mouth 
of Mission creek, found that his trade would 
be lost with the removal of the agency, so he 
packed his stock of goods and moved down the 
river to a point on the north bank, about three 
miles west of the present town of Columbus and 
a little above the mouth of Stillwater. Here 
Mr. Countryman built a spacious log house, put 
in quite a stock of goods, and was soon enjoy¬ 
ing a flourishing trade with both the Crow 
Indians and the trappers and hunters. This 
was the first house built between the old Crow 
agency on Mission creek and Fort Buford, 








HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


263 


near the mouth of the Yellowstone, a stretch 
of nearly 500 miles. 

With Horace Countryman came his son, 
C. H. Countryman, and William H. Norton, 
who were interested in a trading post, either 
in partnership with Horace Countryman or 
in a separate venture. In 1877 C. H. Country¬ 
man located the ranch where the town of Co¬ 
lumbus is now situated. 

Scarcely had the Countrymans and Norton 
settled at this point than Hugo Hoppe, who 
had been engaged in the saloon and hotel busi¬ 
ness at Benson’s Landing (near the present 
city of Livingston), removed his stock and fix¬ 
tures to the new settlement opposite the mouth 
of the Stillwater, and there reopened his busi¬ 
ness. 

While these traders were establishing them¬ 
selves as the first permanent residents of the 
future county, a government expedition was 
on the way up the river for the purpose of 
making a complete exploration of the Yellow¬ 
stone river with reference to its navigability, 
and also for the selection of sites for forts in 
eastern Montana. Th^ expedition was started 
under orders from General Phil Sheridan, and 
General Forsyth was the commander. 

The start was made from Bismarck. Dakota, 
in the steamer Josephine on May 23, 1875, anc ^ 
the mouth of the Yellowstone was reached two 
days later. Up to this point the command had 
consisted of one company of infantry, but at 
Fort Buford two additional companies were 
taken on. The mouth of the Big Horn was 
reached June 2 without difficulty, and then be¬ 
gan the more difficult task of navigating the 
river above that point, the steamer going to a 
point ten miles from the present site of Bil¬ 
lings, reaching there June 17. 

The trip proved the feasibility of steam¬ 
boat navigation for a distance of 400 miles up 
the Yellowstone. No Indians were encount¬ 
ered except a large party of Crows, which was 
going on its summer hunt. The Crows had 
a three days’ fight with the Sioux in the Big 


Horn country in July. Sites for military posts 
were selected at the mouth of Tongue river, 
where a little later Fort Keogh was estab¬ 
lished, and at the mouth of the Big Horn, 
which, however, never became the site of a 
government post. 

The Josephine, in charge of that veteran 
of northern river navigation, Captain Grant 
Marsh, passed to a point just opposite the pres¬ 
ent city of Billings, and tied up to a large cot¬ 
tonwood tree on which was carved the steam¬ 
er s name and date of arrival. This landmark 
remained several years and then was swept 
away by high water. 

The year 1875 was a prolific one in the 
matters of historical interest for the Yellow¬ 
stone valley and the future county of the same 
name. The most interesting event of the , 
whole year was the expedition under F. D. 
Pease, which came down the' Yellowstone 
river, founded a fort and colony at the mouth 
of the Big Horn, and then abandoned it. The 
scheme of leading a party of settlers down the 
river and establishing a permanent settlement 
at the Big Horn was conceived by F. D. Pease, 
until a short time before agent of the Crow 
Indians. 

The account of the resources of the Big 
Horn country brought back to Bozeman bv the 
members of the expedition of the preceding 
year determined Mr. Pease and others to es¬ 
tablish themselves in that country and to lend 
their aid to all persons following their example. 

It was believed that steam-boating would soon 
become a regular feature of the Yellowstone 
and that the mouth of the Big Horn would be¬ 
come an important point, as it was near the, 
if not the, head of navigation. 

In the spring of the year a party of nearly 
fifty men from Bozeman and other points in 
the vicinity, under the command of Mr. Pease, 
gathered at Benson’s Landing, which at that 
time was an important point on the upper 
river. Four mackinaw boats were built and 
loaded with artillery, arms, tools, and supplies 







264 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


for the founding and maintaining of a settle¬ 
ment in the new country. Misfortunes at¬ 
tended the expedition. Two boats were 
swamped by overloading in the rapid stream, 
and a large portion of the supplies, tools and 
ammunition was lost. 

But the spirit of the promoter was not 
daunted by these misfortunes, and the party 
finally landed at the mouth of the Big Horn. 
On the east side of the river, where in 1863 
the Jas. Stuart party had laid out the town of 
Big Horn City, Fort Pease was erected, a rude 
but strong fort. It was built close to the 
bank of the Yellowstone on a high bottom 
about ten to fifteen feet above the water of the 
river. It was constructed like the majority of 
frontier posts of the time, being a combina¬ 
tion of log buildings and palisades, enclosing 
a space about 200 feet square. The log cabins 
formed three sides of the enclosure, while the 
fourth was guarded by poles set in the ground. 
Loop-holes were made in both the buildings 
and palisades, commanding the interior as well 
as the exterior of the port. The famous Big 
Horn gun, which had done such valiant duty 
in former campaigns, was mounted at Fort 
Pease, and the place was put in as good a con¬ 
dition of defense as^was possible. The goods 
which had been brought down the river to 
meet the demands of the expected trade were 
stored within the stockade; there were no buy¬ 
ers. It has been said that several of the more 
enthusiastic located farms and laid out a town- 
site, in anticipation of the coming greatness of 
the place. 

For a short time the affairs progressed 
favorably for the little band of frontiersmen. 
But the times were not propitious for such an 
enterprise, and Fort Pease was doomed to a 
troubled life and, finally, abandonment. The 
contemplated establishment of a military post 
here did not materialize; no steamers came to 
ply the waters of the Yellowstone, bringing 
new recruits for the settlement; the Sioux 
war broke out, and swarms of hostile redskins 


came to make life miserable for the little band. 
On the night of the 10th of July Fort Pease 
was attacked by the Sioux, and thereafter for 
several months those Indians declared unre¬ 
lenting war upon the fort and its little band of 
40 men, and night and day beleagured the 
place, seeking occasion to ply their murderous 
work. The life of the garrison became a series 
of skirmishes, the crack of rifles handled with 
deadly intent became a familiar sound, and 
now and then the heavy boom of the Big Horn 
gun roared over the valley, startling the echoes 
in the neighboring cliffs. 

This life of incessant warfare told severely 
on the little garrison. Many an Indian was 
made to bite the dust, but six of their own 
number laid down their lives in the defense, 
while nine more were suffering from wounds; 
and as the Indians hung about them in accumu 
lating swarms, the dread apprehension fell on 
the survivors that they might all perish. Their 
numbers were now reduced to twenty-eight 
men, and it was resolved to appeal to the com¬ 
manding officer of Fort Ellis to send down a 
force to relieve them and enable them to get 
out of the country. 

Soon after the founding of the fort Mr. 
Pease, with a few companions, had gone east 
to interest capital in the venture. The com¬ 
mand was then invested in Captain Paul Mc¬ 
Cormick. When it was decided to send to 
Bozeman for relief Captain McCormick asked 
for volunteers to carry a mail through to that 
town, apprising their friends of their danger, 
and asking for relief from Fort Ellis. Sam 
Shively, Nelson Weaver and Pat Hyde vol¬ 
unteered their services and set out on the peril¬ 
ous journey, but did not succeed in getting 
the message through. 

Soon after this failure to get word to Boze¬ 
man Elias Carter offered to go to Bozeman 
and get assistance, if furnished with two 
horses. They were given him, together with 
a letter from Captain McCormick, who de¬ 
tailed the alarming situation. Carter was bid- 








HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


265 


den farewell by his comrades, who never ex¬ 
pected to see him again, but he, nothing 
daunted by the dangers which threatened, rode 
up the river on his lonely route, with a deter¬ 
mination to reach Bozeman or die in the at¬ 
tempt. Adopting the plan that had been put 
in force by Major Pease’s party, he traveled 
by night and rested by day. After six days 
and nights that were doubtless fraught with 
dread and apprehension, he reached Bozeman 
and acquainted its citizens with the situation 
at Fort Pease. 

The necessary orders for the relief of Fort 
Pease were issued by General Terry, and, on 
the 22nd of February, 1876, Major Brisbin, 
at the head of four companies of the 2nd cav¬ 
alry, left Fort Ellis for their release. Prior 
to his arrival at the fort the Indians, tiring at 
the stubborn defense, retired from the vicin¬ 
ity, applauding the courage of the garrison 
and asserting that they were done with them 
and that they might stay as long as they 
pleased. But the few men left in the fort were 
glad to accept the opportunity to take safe 
leave of the scene of so much strife and anxie¬ 
ty, and the fort was abandoned on March 4. 
The colors of the fort were left flying where 
they had so often waved defiance to encircling 
Sioux, and it was also the design to leave the 
walls and buildings entire, but a discontented 
member of the party secretly set one of them 
on fire, which was burned without injury to 
the rest. 

Of the forty-six men who were in Fort 
Pease at the time of the first attack by the In¬ 
dians, six were killed, eight wounded, and thir¬ 
teen had left to try and make their way to the 
settlement, so that only nineteen were left 
when General Brisbin’s aid arrived. 

Lieutenant Jas. H. Bradley, who was a 
member of a force going down the river to take 
part in the Sioux war, was at the fort on April 
21, 1876,—a short time after its abandonment. 
On that date he wrote in his journal: “We 
found the fort in the condition it had been left. 


and it is evident that the Sioux have not since 
been in the vicinity and are ignorant of its 
abandonment.” The next month the Sioux ' 
discovered that the fort had been abandoned 
and destroyed the buildings by fire. 

In telling the story of Fort Pease we have 
advanced into the year 1876. Now let us re¬ 
turn to the closing days of the preceding year 
and tell of some of the incidents that took 
place in the territory of the present day Yel¬ 
lowstone county. We have already told of the 
arrival of the few settlers opposite the mouth 
of Stillwater during the year 1875. These 
were the only permanent settlers in what i« 
now Yellowstone county that year. But there 
were a few others whom we may, for the want 
of a better word, term temporary settlers. 
These were trappers and wolfers, who estab¬ 
lished camps (in one or two instances, log 
cabins), from which they operated. These 
were all in the eastern part of the county, in 
the vicinity of Fort Pease, and their presence 
here was due largely to supposed protection 
that the fort would give them against hostile 
Indians. One of these camps was Geo. Her- 
endeen’s place, at Baker's battle ground, which 
became a sort of headquarters for the wolfers. 
Another was a log cabin built by David Ken¬ 
nedy and John Williamson, and known as 
Topping’s camp, on the west side of the Big 
Horn and about three miles above the mouth 
of that stream. The adventures of some of 
these pioneers make interesting reading. 

In November, 1875, E. S. Topping, author 
of “Chronicles of the Yellowstone,” built a 
mackinaw at Bottler’s ranch, on the upper 
river in the present county of Park, and with 
a load of specimens from the National park, 
started down the river on his way to the Phil¬ 
adelphia Centennial. David Kennedy, an ex¬ 
soldier from Fort Ellis, accompanied him on 
the trip. A day’s run brought them to Ben¬ 
son’s Landing, and finding there Jack McKen¬ 
zie and Billy Smith preparing to take a stock 
of goods down the river, they waited there 







266 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


until the third day, when the fleet of four 
boats started down together. 

McKenzie’s boats were not well handled 
and were turned over several times on the trip. 
At least one-half of his merchandise was lost 
and nearly all the remainder was carried in the 
large boat. When near Fort Pease the 
weather turned cold, and Topping, seeing that 
the river was going to freeze up, concluded to 
stop near the fort for the winter and wolf, so 
just above the mouth of the Big Horn he left 
some provisions, ammunition and bedding and 
ran the boat down to Pease. Here David 
Kennedy and John Williamson, who had 
joined at Baker’s battle ground, walked back 
and packed their things about three miles up 
the Big Horn, and built there a small log 
house, then went to hunting and putting out 
wolf baits. 

On the morning of the 15th of December, 
Orin Mason, Jeff Thompson and Billy Castro 
left Baker’s battle ground for the Big Horn 
river, to take a part in the winter’s wolfing. 
They had their riding horses and five pack ani¬ 
mals loaded with provisions, ammunition, etc. 
Their intention was to go to Topping’s camp, 
but, not knowing its exact location, they went 
too high up and came in sight of the river 
about ten miles above its mouth. As they 
came to the edge of its bottom, about 100 
Indians came dashing from coulees on each 
side and in front. They saw at once that all 
they had to hope for w r as to save themselves 
so they left their horses and ran to a little 
washout nearby, and from it fired at every 
Indian that showed his head. About fifteen 
minutes after the fight commenced, Orin Ma¬ 
son, while raising his head to take aim at an 
Indian, was hit in the forehead by a bullet and 
instantly killed. The others escaped without 
injury. 

Among the trappers in the vicinity during 
the winter of 1875-76 were James Parker, 
William Smith and a man named Squires, who 
was stopping during December with George 


Herendeen, at Baker’s battle ground. On the 
26th of the month they concluded to go up 
Pryor’s creek on a wolfing expedition; so 
packing their three horses—themselves being 
afoot—they started. During the afternoon of 
the 28th they arrived at and camped orj Pryor’s 
creek, and, picketing their horses on a bluff 
near by, prepared supper. An hour after¬ 
wards, while they were smoking their after 
supper pipe, they heard on the bluff the sound 
of animals running. Thinking it to be buffalo, 
they picked up their guns and ran toward the. 
hill. They were not more than fifty yards on 
their way when a large party of mounted In¬ 
dians came dashing over the hill shooting and 
yelling. Each of the three fired a shot and 
then ran to the brush, which was quite thick 
at this point, the Indians followed them 
very closely, and for an hour were scouring the 
brush, several times passing near to the place 
in which the three lay concealed. Just at dark 
Parker tried to get into camp to secure some 
ammunition that had been put in the edge of the 
brush when they first unpacked. When near 
the place he was fired on by several concealed 
savages, who were so near him that he was 
powder-burned, though untouched by bullets. 
He ran back, and the three worked carefully 
toward the creek, and about ten o’clock they 
crossed the stream, and, choosing a time when 
the moon went under a cloud, they made a 
run across the flat and found refuge in a 
coulee, several miles from their camp, where 
they remained until the next night. 

They saw the Indians several times during 
the next day, who did not succeed in finding 
them. At night they resumed their journey 
toward Herendeen’s, but in the darkness did 
not take the right course, and came to the Yel¬ 
lowstone about six miles above the present lo¬ 
cation of Billings. Finding a cave, they built 
a fire and stopped there until sunrise in the 
morning, when they again struck out. When 
four miles down the river, some Indians came 
in sight and made signs that they wished to 






HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


267 


talk. The boys refused to have anything to 
'do with them, and waved them back. Three 
of the reds persevered and came on. When 
they were about three hundred yards distant 
Smith took careful aim and fired. The center 
Indian was supported and carried off by his 
two companions, either killed or wounded. The 
Indians now commenced firing at long range 
on the three whites, who lay down in a buffalo 
wallow and returned the fire. In about thirty 
minutes the firing ceased and the Indians left. 
The worn out and hungry wolfers continued 
their course, and soon came opposite Heren- 
deen’s cabin. 

The same day on which these men had 
started on their trip, “Skunkum Joe,” Ed 
Forest and Ben Walker came to Herendeen’s 
place to spend New Year’s day. Latein the 
afternoon of the 29th, a party of fifteen Crow 
Indians came to the same place and concluded 
to spend the night. They made a little wicky- 
up between the two dugouts, and were given 
flour and coffee and dishes to cook them in. 
Early the next morning, as they were prepar¬ 
ing to leave, Herendeen found that they had 
stolen some choice wolf skins from a number 
that were hanging to a scaffold near by, and, 
leveling his rifle at the leader of the party, he 
forced him to have them hunted up. When 
the missing articles were found the transgres¬ 
sors were allowed to depart. 

In about half an hour after their departure 
heavy firing was heard up the river, and two of 
the boys at the dugouts went up and brought 
the horses to camp. By the time this precau¬ 
tion had been taken Squires and companions 
had come to the opposite side of the river, 
which was open at this place, but was frozen 
across about one and a half miles below. The 
three desired to have the horses brought over, 
but the running ice rendered the exploit haz¬ 
ardous, and they were told to go down the 
river to the ice bridge and the party at the 
cabin would walk down on the opposite side 
and protect them from the Indians who might 


be in the bluffs. This program was carried 
out, and without being attacked they came 
into safety and rest. 

All the trappers in this section believed that 
the attacking party in this case was Crows, 
who did not wish to see their reservation in¬ 
vaded. The three horses captured by them 
on Pryor’s creek were killed, which would not 
have happened had they been Sioux. And it 
is known, also, that a Crow warrior (brother 
of Good Heart) was killed near here during 
the winter, and it was supposed that he re¬ 
ceived his death wound from this party. The 
second attack was probably made by the Crows 
that had stayed at the dugout the night before, 
as they were generally incensed at the humili¬ 
ation of being forced to surrender the stolen 
wolf skins, and had left muttering vengeance. 

So far as Yellowstone county is concerned, 
there were very few incidents of importance 
during the year 1876; but only a short dis¬ 
tance to the southeast, within the boundaries of 
the present Rosebud county, occurred, on June 
25th, the most noted Indian battle of the west, 
in which the gallant Custer and his command 
met death at the hands of the hostile Sioux. 
The continued hostility of that nation during 
the early part of the year had the effect of driv¬ 
ing out of the country about the mouth of the 
Big Horn those trappers and wolfers who the 
winter before had made their headquarters in 
the neighborhood of Fort Pease. 

Under such conditions, it was only natural 
that there should be no further settlement of 
the future Yellowstone county. The trading 
post opposite the mouth of the Stillwater still 
continued to hold its place on the map, how¬ 
ever. A force of soldiers who traversed the 
upper Yellowstone valley in the spring on the 
way to take part in the Sioux war report hav¬ 
ing passed the Countryman ranch, “the last 
occupied house on the Yellowstone.” 

The command above referred to was a 
force of 27 officers and 42 men, besides a de¬ 
tachment of Crow scouts, under command of 








268 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


General Gibbon, which was proceeding down 
the Yellowstone from Fort Ellis. The route 
was on the north side of the river, and the 
whole length of the country was traversed in 
the journey to find the Sioux and take part 
in the battles against them. 

Following the tragic annihilation of Gen¬ 
eral Custer and his command on the 20th of 
June, 1876, came a relentless war against the 
Sioux nation. 

The members of that tribe were chased 
from pillar to post; they were defeated in de¬ 
tail; their power was broken; no more were 
they to strike terror to the whites who wished 
to make settlement in the Yellowstone valley 
and other parts of the northwest. 

The effect of the chastening of the Sioux 
on the territory of the present Yellowstone 
county was good. Before, the settlement in 
the county had been confined to the few men 
in the extreme western end of the county. In 
1877, after the power of the Sioux was 
broken, we find that settlers to the number of 
a score or more had built homes all along the 
river, on the north side, within the present 
county from the mouth of the Stillwater to 
the mouth of the Big Horn. Not only was this 
the case in the future Yellowstone county, but 
the whole length of the Yellowstone river. 

These settlers began arriving immediately 
after the Custer massacre of 1876. One of 
the first was H. A. Frith, who took up a ranch 
on the Yellowstone near Baker’s battle ground. 
Another settler of 1876 was Henry Kiser, who 
built a cabin on the creek in the western part 
of the county, which creek has since borne his 
name. Early in the winter 1876-77 the Mc- 
Adow brothers, of Bozeman, realizing that 
with the cessation of Indian hostilities the rich 
and fertile valley known as Clark’s Fork bot¬ 
tom would soon be settled, located a large 
amount of land in that part of the valley near 
the present city of Billings. Here they estab¬ 
lished a store, which was run by P. W. Mc- 
Adow, who became one of the leading citizens 


of Billings when that flourishing town was 
built. 

On of the most civilizing events of the year 
1877 was the establishment of a mail and stage 
line along the north bank of the river from 
Bozeman to Miles City, a distance of 340 
miles, which was put on in the summer. Gen¬ 
eral W. T. Shedman, who made the trip up the 
valley in July, wrote to the secretary of war: 
“We found ranches established all along down 
the Yellowstone, and the mail contractors have 
already put on a line of two horse spring 
wagons, so that soon the route we passed over 
will fill up with passes.” This line connected 
with another at Miles City, which continued to 
Bismarck, Dakota territory, the terminus of the 
Northern Pacific railroad. The dream of the 
people at Bozeman was finally realized, and 
the Yellowstone valley became the thorough¬ 
fare to the east. We find that in 1877 no less 
than fourteen steamboats ascended the river 
above the mouth of the Big Horn. These 
brought freight and passengers destined for 
Bozeman and points further west, and from 
the head of navigation the freight was hauled 
by wagons up the river to its destination. It 
was expected that the boats would be able to 
ascend the river to within 150 miles of Boze¬ 
man the next year, but this was not accom¬ 
plished. 

Of the operations of this stage line Dr. 
Wm. A. Allen in “Twenty-five Years in the 
Rockies” wrote: 

I soon tired of life in Bozeman and found employ¬ 
ment on the stage line running from Bozeman to Miles 
City, a distance of 340 miles. We had no regular time 
for making trips, for it was impossible to forsee what 
might happen to detain us upon the road. At every 
station we would stop to get a fresh team, but often 
found that the horses had been stolen, the man in 
charge frightened away, or, worse still, that the station 
house was in ashes. 

This was the case only during the Nez 
Perce attack in September. 

With the establishment of a stage line 
came the bulk of the settlers of the year 1877. 





HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


269 


These settlers were for the most part keep¬ 
ers of the stage stations, those who had charge 
of the handling of freight, and men who en¬ 
gaged in the store and saloon business for the 
accommodation of the passengers, freighters 
and hunters, who made the station their head¬ 
quarters. We shall now tell of some of the 
settlers of this year. 

Alonzo J. Young was the first settler on 
the upper Clark’s Fork bottom, coming in the 
spring of the year. He kept one of the stage 
stations. Isaac M. Hensley took up a ranch 
where Rapids station is now located. Near 
Canyon creek H. H. Stone and Elliot Rouse 
took up a ranch and established the Canyon 
Creek stage station. Two miles down the 
river from this point Bill Brockaway had a 
ranch. 

Down the river a short distance from this 
settlement was one of the best known points 
in the early days. This was Baker’s battle 
ground, opposite the location of the present 
day village of Huntly. Here in 1877 Black 
and Daniels kept a supply depot for their trains 
going up and down the river. The same year 
Omar Hoskins and Thos. McGirl established 
a stage station, which became one of the most 
noted on the whole route. Says Dr. William 
A. Allen of this place in his “Twenty-five 
Years in the Rockies 

This was the best stopping place along the line, and 
was a favorite resort for the hundreds of hunters and 
trappers in the territory, owing to the genial qualities 
of the proprietors and the plentiful supply of well 
cooked food always on hand. Hunting and trapping 
were lucrative employment. Meat, skins and furs found 
ready sale, and outfits were made up daily for a so¬ 
journ in different parts in quest of game. 

Being the headquarters for the trappers of 
this vicinity, qnite a little settlement grew up 
at Hoskins and McGirks place, which was 
christened Huntley by the many hunters gath¬ 
ered there. There were many scenes of vio¬ 
lence enacted in that frontier village. 

Further down the river than Hoskins and 


McGirks place, on the north side of the river 
and just west of the mouth of the Big- Horn, 
was established in June of this year a little 
trading post by a man named William Taylor. 
Soon afterward Paul McCormick located there 
and quite a little village sprang up. This was 
first known as Terry’s Landing, but the name 
was soon changed to Junction City. The trade 
was with the river men, soldiers and miners 
of the Maginnis district. T. C. Graham and 
J. H. Graham located here in 1877 and en¬ 
gaged in the freighting business from this 
point to Maginnis and other places. 

The establishing of the trading post at Ter¬ 
ry's Landing was brought about by the estab¬ 
lishment of the Cantonment Terry, a depot of 
supplies, just across the river, by the army 
then operating in this field. We can tell of the 
establishment of the supply depot no Ijetter 
than by quoting extracts from two letters writ¬ 
ten by General William T. Sherman to Sec¬ 
retary of War McCrary in July and August, 
1877. He wrote: 

On the Steamer Rosebud, Big Horn River, 
July 25, 1877. 

* * * The location of this post [at the mouth 

of the Little Big Horn] is in the very heart of the 
Sioux country. With this one and the one at the mouth 
of the Tongue river, occupied by strong, enterprising 
garrisons, these Sioux can never regain this country, 
and they will be forced to remain at their agencies or 
take refuge in the British possessions. At present there 
are no Indians here or hereabouts. I have neither seen 
nor heard of any. General Sheridan saw none nor any 
trace of any, so that the principle end aimed at by the 
construction of these posts is already reached, and it 
is only to make this end permanent that we should per¬ 
sist in their completion. The one at Tongue river 
can be supplied by steamboats. This one at the mouth 
of the Little Big Horn, cannot depend on this river, 
the current being too strong to be navigated by ordin¬ 
ary boats with a fair cargo. General Terry and his 
quartermaster, General Card, are at this moment re- 
connoitering to select some point near the mouth of the 
Big Horn whereat to establish a supply depot, at which 
all freight destined for this port can be landed and 
hauled up there. 

We have on board a company of infantry to guard 
this depot and we are nearly agreed that the best place 
will be a point on the Yellowstone proper, three miles 
above the mouth of the Big Horn, where the hauling 







2/0 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


will be about thirty miles by ox teams. These can be 
hired here, and will do the work more surely and bet¬ 
ter than the steamboats, for they have been sometimes 
two weeks in working up the Big Horn and have left 
their loads strung along the banks at points hard to 
reach by wagons. I am convinced that this is the wisest 
course, and thus we can maintain a strong military 
post in the very heart of the hostile Sioux Country, 
with only a haul of twenty miles, which is insignificant 
as compared with most of our posts south of this. The 
country west of this is a good country and will rapidly 
fill up with emigrants, who will, within the next few 
years, build up a community as strong and as capable 
of self defense as Colorado. 

I have company L, of the second cavalry, Captain 
Norwood, which belongs at Fort Ellis, Montana Ter¬ 
ritory, now camped on the west bank of the Yellowstone 
opposite the mouth of the Big Horn, to escort me up 
to Ellis. As soon as we have decided on the merits 
of the point mentioned as a supply depot for this post, 
I will land and start for Ellis, leaving General Terry 
with this boat to report in full all the matters to the 
adjutant general, so that this letter is only preliminary. 
********** 

W. T. Sherman, General. 


Fort Ellis, M. T., August 3, 1877. 

Dear Sir: I wrote you last from the steamer Rose¬ 
bud, coming down the Big Horn in company with Gen. 
Terry and others on the 25th of July. We had con¬ 
cluded that the current of the Big Horn was too swift 
to be managed economically, and that the garrison at 
Post No 2, at the mouth of the Big Horn, could best 
be supplied by establishing a depot on the Yellowstone, 
just above the mouth of the Big Horn, where stores 
could be hauled thirty miles to the new post. A com¬ 
pany of the nth infantry was left there to establish and 
guard the depot, when the steamer Rosebud dropped 
dowm to the point just below the mouth of the Big 
Horn, where company L, second cavalry, Captain Nor¬ 
wood, was camped with an outfit. This consisted of 
six Indian horses, two light spring wagons, and one 
light baggage wagon. The Rosebud landed us at 2 
p. m., when she started down the river, leaving us to 
begin our real journey. In a few minutes the escort 
saddled up, and we started on horseback up the Yel¬ 
lowstone. 

The valley is strongly marked, about three miles 
wide, flat, with good grass, the banks of the river and 
the streams well wooded with cottonwood trees. In 
this valley, the Yellowstone, a broad, strong stream, 
meanders back and forth, forming on both sides strong, 
perpendicular bluffs of rock and clay, forcing the road 
constantly out of the flat valley over the points, and 
causing wide deflections in the road to head the ravines 
or “coolies,” which flow to the river. There is a 
strongly marked wagon trail, but no bridge or cuts, a 
purely natural road, with steep ascents and descents, 


and frequent gullies, about as much as wagons could 
pass. We sometimes shifted into our light wagons, to 
save the fatigue of travel. 

********** 

We found ranches established all along down the 
Yellowstone, and the mail contractors have already put 
on a line of two-horse spring wagons, so that soon the 
route we passed over will fill up with passes. The 
land is susceptible to cultivation on a small scale, but 
admirably adapted to cattle raising. 

* ' * * * * * * * * * 

W. T. Sherman, General. 

Another settler of the year 1877 was Major 
Pease, who in the fall of that year built a trad¬ 
ing store opposite the mouth of the Stillwater, 
the first cabin erected on the present townsite 
of Columbus. Here he traded sugar, flour and 
a few other staple articles to the redskins for 
hides and furs. 

Thus we find that during 1877 the “pale 
faces” for the first time in history had posses¬ 
sion of the future Yellowstone county. Where 
before no man’s life was safe for a moment, 
now were ranches and little settlements, the in¬ 
habitants of which lived in comparative safety. 
No longer did the Sioux warwhoop resound 
along the Yellowstone valley. 

But we have one more Indian outrage to 
record before we leave the people of the future 
county of Yellowstone in peace and security. 
This was perpetrated by a band of bad Indians 
foreign to the Yellowstone valley—the Nez 
Perces, whose homes were far away, in Idaho 
and Oregon. It is not necessary to go into de¬ 
tail of the breaking out of the Nez Perce war. 
Suffice it to say that that tribe, under the lead¬ 
ership of Chief Joseph, went on the war path 
in Idaho in the summer of 1877, were attacked 
by the United States troops and volunteers, 
made their escape, and were followed by the 
soldiers for hundreds of miles, making the 
most famous retreat in the history of Indian 
warfare. 

The few years following the events of the 
year 1877, were fraught with fewer incidents 
of a hair-raising nature than those that had 
preceded, but they were interesting times. 







HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


271 


nevertheless. The future Yellowstone county 
was being reclaimed from the savage state in 
which it had been since the beginning of time. 
Settlers did not pour in as they did a few years 
later when the railroad was built up the Yel¬ 
lowstone valley, but a number came, took up 
stock ranches and became permanent settlers; 
others found employment in the freighting and 
staging businesses, and other occupations. The 
stage line did a prosperous business. With 
its establishment came the opening of postof¬ 
fices, and around these points sprang up little 
trading points and villages. These places were 
Coulson, two miles down the river from the 
present site of Billings; Stillwater (now 
Columbus), opposite the mouth of Stillwater 
river; Huntley, headquarters for the trappers 
and hunters in the vicinity, located on Baker’s 
battle ground, across the river from the pres¬ 
ent village of Huntley; and Terry’s Landing, 
or Junction City, a short distance above the 
mouth of the Big Horn, on the north bank of 
the river. 

In 1878 nine steamers plyed the waters 
of the Yellowstone in a total of fifteen trips, 
as high up as Sherman, and some of these 
went up as high as Terry’s Landing, and one 
to Camp Bertie, near Pompey’s Pillar. The 
arrival of these boats made business for the 
freighters, hauling up the valley to Bozeman, 
and for the stage lines. 

Among the settlers of 1878 was a party 
from the Gallatin valley, who came in the 
spring and builded homes in the new country. 
This party consisted of R. W. Clark, Q. N. 
Newman, A. T. Ford and a Mr. Kinney. The 
last named settled near Young’s Point; the 
others came farther down the river and settled 
upon land extending from the Josephine in¬ 
scription to the Coulson stage station. An¬ 
other settler that year was John R. King, who 
in the fall settled near Coulson. Mr. King had 
been in the Yellowstone valley on different 
missions as early as 1873. During 1875 and 


1876 he had been engaged in helping build the 
Crow agency on the Stillwater; had run mack¬ 
inaw fleets down the Yellowstone; and had 
carried dispatches through the valley. Chas. 
Deal was another settler of the future Yellow¬ 
stone county in the spring of 1878. W. H. 
Claussen also came and settled in what is now 
the extreme western part of Yellowstone coun¬ 
ty ; Olof Lafverson was a settler near 
Stillwater. 

In 1879 came Charles R. Rugg, who lo¬ 
cated a ranch near what is now Park City; 
Sidney H. Erwin, who engaged in business on 
Canyon creek and several others. 

Several more came the next year, and that 
part of the county lying along the north side 
of the Yellowstone became dotted with cabins. 
According to a census taken in 1880 by Lieu¬ 
tenant O. F. Long, of the 5th United States 
Infantry, the population of the Yellowstone 
valley from Benson’s Landing (near the pres¬ 
ent city of Livingston) and Fort Keogh (Miles 
City) was 588. Of this number 215 were men 
en & a g ed in farming or other business, 158 
were hired laborers, 73 were women, and 142 
were children. The same authority gave the 
number of buildings in this stretch of country 
as 4 2 9l stated that there were 1,713 acres un¬ 
der cultivation; and there were 23,435 head 
of cattle on pasture ranges, 645 horses and 
8,201 sheep. In the lower valley, between 
Miles City and the mouth' of the Yellowstone 
there were 54 settlers. 

Another census taken in 1880, published in 
Warner, Beers & Co.’s “History of Montana,” 
but the authority for which is not given, placed 
the population of the upper valley (not stat¬ 
ing how far down the upper valley was sup¬ 
posed to extend) at 199, and that of the lower 
valley at 427. This census (probably an esti¬ 
mated one) gives the population of the valley 
by localities. From it we learn that Baker’s 
battle ground and Huntley had a population of 
37; Clarks Fork bottom, 150; Coulson, 50; 







272 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


Junction City, and Sage Brush, 41. No figures 
are given if or the settlement at Stillwater. 
These figures show that there was quite a set¬ 
tlement in that part of the valley, which three 
years later became Yellowstone county, but 
probably not so large as a first glance at the 
figures would indicate. Separate figures are 
given for Clark’s Fork bottom, Coulson, and 
Baker’s battle ground and Huntley, while it 
is probable that the populations of the last two 
named places are included in that of the first 
named. 

An idea of the change that took place in 
this part of the valley during the next two 
years may be gained from the number of votes 
cast at the November election of 1882. The 
census of 1880 disclosed the fact that there 
were in the neighborhood of 200 men, women 
and children in that part of the valley which 
later became Yellowstone county; at the elec¬ 
tion in 1882 nearly 1,000 votes were cast in 
the precincts of Custer county which were set 
off the next year into Yellowstone county. 
This marvelous growth was the result of one 
agency—the building of the Northern Pacific 
railroad up the Yellowstone valley. 

When the construction of the road began 
from its western terminus at Bismarck, people 
flocked into the country through which the 
road was to build by the thousands. These 
would come by rail as far as the road was 
constructed, and would then travel overland in 
all sorts of conveyances to get to the land of 
promise. The effect on the future county of 
Yellowstone was magical; land claims were 
taken at all points along the river; the little 
trading posts became centers of population and 
took on the airs of cities; new towns sprang 
up on the prairie; Billings, the “Magic City,” 
arose from the alkali plains to a city of 1,500 
or 2,000 people almost in a day; people made 
fortunes in the traffic of town lots, on sites 
which a few years before no white man had 
ever trod; the chimes of church bells replaced 


the war whoops of the savages. Such was the 
effect of the approach of the railroad. 

Let us now consider for a moment this 
most wonderful agency in the reclamation of 
the all but uninhabited portion of the terri¬ 
tory of Montana—the building of the North¬ 
ern Pacific railroad through the Yellowstone 
valley. In early portions of this history 
we have told of the early surveys for this road 
through the valley, so now we shall take up the 
story of the actual construction. 

Under the charter granted to the Northern 
Pacific company by the United States govern¬ 
ment, the railroad company had legal rights to 
build through the Crow reservation, and the 
Interior department recognized this right. But 
the officials of the road thought it would be 
wise to satisfy the Indians, so terms were 
made with the Crows, by which their consent 
was gained to traverse certain portions of the 
reservation by the payment of $25,000. This 
was done in 1881, under the brief reign of A. 
H 'Barney as president of the company. 

By the spring of 1881 the road had been 
pushed on to Glendive. That spring work 
was begun there on the Yellowstone division, 
and in December the track had been, completed 
to Miles City, a distance of 78 miles. The grade 
had been completed a few miles beyond that 
point during the winter, but no track laying 
was done. Work was actively prosecuted dur¬ 
ing the spring and summer of 1882, and late 
in the summer the track reached Billings. The 
Billings Herald of August 10, 1883, thus mod¬ 
estly announced the arrival of the track to the 
railroad bridge just east of the city: “It is 
with infinite gratification that we chronicle this 
week the most important event that has thus 
far occurred in relation to this community. At 
4:17 o’clock on the afternoon of Thursday, 
August 10, the Northern Pacific track reached 
the bank of the Yellowstone river opposite the 
town of Billings.” Again, on August 17, the 
Herald said: “This afternoon at 5 -.30 the first 






HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


273 


passenger train will reach the bridge, and each 
day thereafter the trains will run regularly to 
Billings.” 

It was August 22, however, before trains 
were running into the town. The work was 
pushed forward all that fall and winter. The 


track reached Livingston in December, and 
Bozeman on March 14, following. The whis¬ 
tle of the locomotive through the Yellowstone 
valley closed an important epoch in the history 
of the future Yellowstone county and began 
another one. 


CHAPTER 111 


SINCE COUNTY ORGANIZATION—1883 TO 1907. 


So far this history has had to deal with the 
events that took place in the territory of Yel¬ 
lowstone county before the county was formed. 
Now we are to tell of the creation of the 
county and the events that have taken place 
since that time. 

Yellowstone county was carved out of a 
region which only a few short years before 
had been wrested from the possession of hostile 
Indian bands. The country that was taken to 
form the county may be said to have been ir¬ 
rigated with human blood. Before the time 
of the arrival of white men to this territory, 
even before the coming of the Crows and 
Sioux Indians, we are told that predatory 
' bands of western savages came to these plains 
and fought one with another; later the Sioux, 
Crows and other nearby tribes repeated the 
dreadful drama among themselves; then when 
white men came to the country the bloody 
• scenes were continued; the savages turned their 
weapons upon the whites, and the whites re¬ 
taliated. 

But these dreadful days were brought to 
a close. The race of civilization won the coun¬ 
try. The hostile savages were whipped into 
submission. The railroad built into the coun¬ 
try, bringing with it thousands of settlers to 
18 


build homes in this land that had been drenched 
in blood—the land that now became the won¬ 
der of all who saw it. To one unaccustomed 
to the ways of the west conditions can hardly 
be realized-. Here was a country, which in 
1873 had not a white soul in its boundaries, 
asking in 1883 f° r the formation of a county 
—and getting it—claiming to have a popula¬ 
tion of several thousand people and an assessed 
valuation of nearly $2,000,000. 

Unattended by the scenes of strife which 
marked the birth of so many of Montana’s 
counties, Yellowstone county came into being 
without a fight-to-a-finish campaign. Custer, 
the parent county, was the largest in the United 
States at that time. It was far too large for 
the comfort and convenience of the people of 
the fast settling Yellowstone valley. The long 
distances of travel to and from the county seat 
made a heavy expenditure for mileage of wit¬ 
nesses, jurors and others who were obliged to 
make the trip to Miles City on official business. 
In a speech in the house of representatives, 
when the bill was being considered, Repre¬ 
sentative P. W. McAdow stated that when 
Custer county was attached to Gallatin county 
for judicial purposes it had been often neces¬ 
sary to travel from 700 to 900 miles in going 
to and returning from the county seat of Boze- 








274 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


man; that even now, with Miles City as the seat 
of government, the trip was a long and tedi¬ 
ous one of 200 to 400 miles; that this made 
court proceedings very expensive and was the 
principal source of the debt that then burdened 
the county; that many of the witnesses drew 
from $60 to $80 for mileage alone. 

These facts made the formation of a new 
county a positive necessity, according to the 
people of the west end of Custer county. Hap¬ 
pily the people of Miles City and the eastern 
part of the county to a great extent agreed. 
The plans for the erection of the new county 
were laid in the summer and fall of 1882. The 
matter was discussed fully at both the Demo¬ 
cratic and Republican conventions, which were 
held at Miles City before the November elec¬ 
tion. Both conventions decided that it would 
be best for all concerned to have the county 
divided. Therefore this agreement was 
reached: The west end of the county should 
have the naming of the members of the legis¬ 
lature on both tickets, while the east end should 
supply the candidates for all the county offi¬ 
cers, so that when the new county was formed 
it would not be necessary for Custer county 
to supply the vacancies that would be caused 
by the division of territory. 

This was done, so far as members of the 
lower house was concerned, Messrs. P. W. 
McAdow and J. J. Alderson, Democrats, and 
S. H. Erwin and F. H. Foster, Republicans, 
being nominated. Messrs. McAdow and 
Erwin were elected. For council, C. G. 
Cox, Democrat, defeated Walter Burleigh, Re¬ 
publican. Although Mr. Cox hailed from the 
east end, he did not oppose the division. 

Thus the friends of the proposed county 
were given the reins. There were not hard 
feelings and jealousies manifested as there 
have been in more recent division agitations; 
in fact, the press of Billings took no more than 
common interest in the proceedings—which 
is an unusual proceeding in a movement of 
this nature. 


One of the principal matters of discussion 
while the bill was being drafted was the ques¬ 
tion of a name for the new county, and more 
enthusiasm was worked up over the selection 
of a name than any other feature of the bill. 
The name first proposed, and by C. A. Wus- 
trurn, was “Yellowstone,” and that gained a 
pretty general advocacy. But there were some 
who favored the name “Billings,” and early in 
January a petition was circulated in Billings, 
directed to the Montana legislature, asking that 
“Billings” be the name of the new county. 
The petition was extensively signed by the 
prominent citizens of the proposed county 
seat town, which made it appear the more pop¬ 
ular one. However, the friends of Yellow¬ 
stone” won the day, and that was the name in 
the bill when the act passed and became a law. 

A message announcing the passage of the 
bill by the council was received in Billings 
about half past two on the afternoon of the 
23 rd. Immediately flags were hung out, bon¬ 
fires lighted, and anvils fired. An impromptu 
mass meeting was held at the opera house, in 
which speeches were made by Messrs. Mathe- 
son, Quivvy, Bates and others. Arrangements 
were made for a formal'ratification meeting 
to be held at the court house on the following 
day. 

Billings was named the county seat. John 
H. Gerrish, Fred H. Foster and Paul Mc¬ 
Cormick were named a board of county com¬ 
missioners, who should have charge of affairs 
until after county officials should be elected on 
the second Monday in April, and this board 
was empowered to create election precincts for 
the election. The boundaries of Custer and 
Gallatin were changed to conform with this 
act. The new county was prohibited from 
contracting apy indebtedness exceeding two 
and one-half per cent of the assessed valuation 
and the salaries of the county officials were 
specified. The manner of bringing about a 
settlement with Custer county was provided; 







HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


and provisions was made for transcribing rec¬ 
ords from the Custer county books. 

Yellowstone county’s birthday is March 3, 
for on that day in the year 1883, Messrs. John 
H. Gerrish and Fred H. Foster (Paul McCor¬ 
mick being absent) met for the first time as 
a board of county commissioners in Billings. 
The first official action was the selection of Mr. 
Gerrish as chairman of the board. Election 
precincts were created, polling places named, 
and judges of election selected for the election 
of April 9, in accordance with one provision 
of the enabling act. 

One of the first things to be considered was 
the settlement with Custer county, and at this 
initial meeting of the board a resolution was 
passed to the efifect that the board should meet 
with the Custer county board at Miles City 
on March 5 for this purpose. John McGinnis 
was employed as legal adviser to the Yellow¬ 
stone county commissioners. The Northern 
Pacific railroad furnished passes for this trip, 
for which the board was extremely grateful. 
The Yellowstone board met at Miles City on 
March 5, 6 and 7, there being no quorum of 
the Custer county board until the last named 
date. The two boards could not agree on a set¬ 
tlement, and it was decided to postpone action 
until a later date. Now the act creating Yel¬ 
lowstone county stated that the settlement 
should be made on a certain date, but pro¬ 
vided for no further action in case a settlement 
could not be made on the date specified, and 
therefore the act, in that particular instance, 
was defective. The matter hung fire for a long 
time. Custer county finally brought suit for 
the collection of $57,547, alleged to be the 
amount due from Yellowstone county. The 
case was tried before Judge Coburn in Decem¬ 
ber 1885. The court held that it was not a 
matter for the courts to decide, but rather a 
case for legislative action. Judge Coburn left 
the case exactly as he found it, and it was years 
before a settlement between the two counties 
was brought about. 


Soon after the new officers went into pow¬ 
er, succeeding the election of April 9, 1883, 
the question of a court house was considered. 
At a meeting on May 7 Wm. B. Webb, one of 
the commissioners, was instructed to contract 
with the Minnesota & Montana Land & Im¬ 
provement company for the “building formerly 
occupied by H. Clark & Co.” for a rental not 
exceeding fifty dollars per month for a term 
of six months, and longer if desired, to be used 
for county offices. The next day, however, 
these instructions were rescinded, and Mr. 
Webb was instructed to lease of Geo. B. Hulme 
the “lot on which the court house now stands” 
for a rental not exceeding $150 per year. The 
same official was also instructed to purchase 
the building known as the court house building 
at a price not to exceed $200 in county war¬ 
rants. He was also authorized to purchase 
furniture for county offices not to exceed $250 
in value . In this modest manner Yellowstone 
county began its existence; now it is housed 
in a $100,000 court house, the finest in the 
Yellowstone valley. 

A more pretentious structure was the jail 
erected later in the year. The contract for this 
was let on August 20, 1883, to Nelson, Crowe 
& Gagnon for $5,845. The total cost includ¬ 
ing cells, was about twice the contract price of 
the building. 

The tax levy for the year 1883 was 18 
mills, divided-as follows: Territory, 1 mill; 
county, 12 mills; poor, 1 mill; school, 3 mills; 
road, 1 mill. The assessed valuation was $1,- 
663,553, which was the smallest of any county 
in the territory. The indebtedness was also 
the smallest, being $7,728.66, which, however, 
did not include the findetermined amount due 
Custer county. 

The year 1884 was a noteworthy one in the 
history of Yellowstone county from a histor¬ 
ical standpoint. There was a slight reaction 
at this time from the prosperous years of 1882 
and 1883, during which the county settled down 
toa normal standard. The prevailing hard times 









276 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


of the year, however, were felt but slightly in 
this new country. The assessed valuation of the 
county showed an increase over the first as¬ 
sessment, amounting to $1,930,470. The 
county’s indebtedness March 1 was $ 4 > 354 - 5 °- 

Very few Indian troubles are to be recorded 
in the history of the Yellowstone valley after 
the building of the railroad, but there was one 
incident occurring in February, 1885, that re¬ 
called the early times. 

Five Piegan Indians made a raid, from 
their reservation, crossed the ’Yellowstone at 
Clark’s Fork river, to the Crow reservation, 
and stole fifty-three ponies from Plenty Coves, 
a Crow chief. They ran off these ponies, and 
picked up a small number more belonging, to 
white men near Park City. Plenty Coves and 
three other Crows, accompanied by Joseph 
Tate, Chauncey Ames, Philip Sidle, Lee M. 
Owens, and three other white men, pursued. 
and overhauled them at Hailstone basin, near 
Painted Robe creek, forty miles northwest of 
Billings. A fight ensued, in which Chauncey 
Ames and Joseph Tate were killed, and Owens 
and Sidle wounded. Four of the Piegans were 
sent to the happy hunting grounds. The fifth 
was wounded, but managed to escape. The 
horses were recaptured. 

The county’s assessed valuation in 1885 
had risen to over $2,000,000. Its indebtedness, 
according to the April statement of that year, 
was $12,151.82, which did not include the still 
undetermined amount due Custer county. 
Some idea of the condition of the county may 
be gained from the fact that 53,084 head of 
cattle were listed with the assessors. 

For many years the assessed valuations of 
the county showed a yearly increase. The fig¬ 
ures for the first nine years of the county’s 
history are as follows: 


1883 . $1,663,553 

1884 . 1,930,470 

1885 •••••• (estimated) 2,000,000 

1886 . 2,295,697 

1887 . 2,025,248 


1888 . $2,316,072 

1889 . 2,802,080 

1890 . 3,046,160 

1891 . 3> 8 3 L 732 


These figures tell the story of advancement 
made during these years. During the late 
eighties and the first few years of the nineties 
the prosperous times that prevailed throughout 
the country at large also prevailed in Yellow¬ 
stone county. The citizens turned their atten¬ 
tion to securing trade from outside points, and 
for this purpose interested themselves in rail¬ 
road building. A pet scheme was the build¬ 
ing of a railroad from Billings to the Clark’s' 
Fork mines. The Billings, Clark’s Fork & 
Cooke City Railroad company was organized 
to construct the road, but failed to connect the 
metropolis of the county with the mining coun¬ 
try. In February, 1889, a railroad was com¬ 
pleted from Laurel to Red Lodge, which was 
an event of some importance. 

Yellowstone county was continually on the 
lookout for more territory, and the building 
of the railroad to Red Lodge offered an excuse 
to try for the “pan-handle” of Park county, 
in which was the coal mining country of which 
Red Lodge was the center. The railroad put 
the new mining town in closer touch with Bil¬ 
lings than it was with its county seat, Living¬ 
ston. So at the 1889 session of the legislature 
a bill asking for that part of Park county east 
of East Rosebud creek was introduced by 
Councilman W. Ashby Conrad,' representing 
Yellowstone and Dawson counties. Park 
county, of course, fought the bill, putting forth 
as argument the fact that the Park county as¬ 
sessment levy was only 15 1-10 mills, while 
that of Yellowstone was 26 6-10 mills; also 
that a strip of the Crow reserve intervened be¬ 
tween this “pan-handle” and Yellowstone 
county. The people of the Red Lodge country 
were not unanimous in their desire for annex¬ 
ation, and the bill was defeated. 

Despite the fact that the people residing in 
1 Yellowstone county were enjoying prosperous 

















HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


277 


times, a poor showing was made at the 1890 
census. There were at the time residing in the 
county only 2,065 people, of which 1,242 were 
males and 823 females; 1,670 were native 
born and 395 foreign born; 2,036 were whites, 
14 negroes, and the other 15 Indians and 
other colored people. 

Again in 1891 was there an attempt to 
change boundary lines and extend the limits 
of Yellowstone county. The people of Red 
Lodge decided to ask the legislature for the 
creation of a new county. Failing to secure 
encouragement in this, they again asked for 
annexation to Yellowstone county. A bill to 
that end was introduced, but before action 
could be taken another event occurred which 
upset all calculations. 

This was the approval by congress on 
March 3, 1891, of a treaty with the Crow In¬ 
dians, made December 8, 1890, throwing open 
to settlement that part of the reservation lying 
west of the divide between Pryor's creek and 
Clark’s Fork, which included all that part of 
the present counties of Sweet Grass and Car¬ 
bon not already open to settlement. When 
this treaty was ratified by congress, only two 
days remained before it would be necessary 
for the Montana legislature to adjourn by limi¬ 
tation, and a struggle was precipitated for the 
possession of these lands between Park and 
Yellowstone counties. 

A bill was introduced in the senate divid¬ 
ing the lands between the two counties, giving 
almost all the land to Yellowstone county, and 
March 3—the same day that congress ratified 
the treaty—it was passed by a vote of 10 to 4. 
It was taken immediately to the house and 
there referred to the committee on federal re¬ 
lations. This committee promptly amended 
the bill by giving a greater portion to Park 
county, making the dividing line run due south 
from the junction of the Yellowstone river 
with the west boundary line of Park county to 
the Wyoming line. The amended bill was re¬ 
ported on Mar.ch 4th and a motion that the 


report be not adopted called forth a lively dis¬ 
cussion. The motion was lost and the bill 
placed on general orders. Later in the day 
the bill was passed. On the same day it went 
back to the senate with the house amendment 
favorable to Park county. The senate would 
not concur and the house was asked to recede. 
The lower house would not recede, and the 
bill was lost. 

Now, it will be remembered, the legislature 
of 1885 had passed an act providing that that 
part of the Crow lands lying west of the Big 
Horn river should become a part of Yellow¬ 
stone county when it was thrown open to set¬ 
tlement and attaching that country to Yellow¬ 
stone county for judicial purposes while yet it 
was Indian land, so the failure of the 1891 
legislature to provide for the disposition of the 
ceded lands was a victory for Yellowstone 
county. 

By proclamation of President Harrison in 
1892 these lands were thrown open to settle¬ 
ment, which gave 1,800,000 acres of territory 
to Yellowstone county, making the total area 
3,988,800 acres. It threw nearly one-half of 
the county on the south side of the Yellow¬ 
stone river, the ceded portion extending from 
the divide between Pryor’s creek and Clark’s 
Fork to the Boulder river and south to the 
“pan-handle” of Park county. At the next 
session of the legislature an attempt was made 
to take some of these lands in forming a new 
county to be known as Sweet Grass, but the at¬ 
tempt failed, and Yellowstone county con¬ 
tinued to enjoy the possession of this big tract 
until 1895, when it lost nearly all of the land 
it had gained in 1891. 

What was colloquially known as the 
“hard times” period, beginning with the panic 
of 1893 an d continuing for several years, fell 
upon Yellowstone county as it did all other 
parts of the state, and country at large. Busi¬ 
ness suffered from the general stagnation inci¬ 
dent to the financial crisis. Prices for farm 
products were extremely low, as well as for 







278 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


wool, sheep, cattle and other products of an 
agricultural and stockraising country. Fortu¬ 
nately, the banks of the county remained firm 
and thus prevented the disasters that follow 
the failure of the financial institutions. But it 
was not long before it became evident that the 
intervening body which was obscuring the light 
was slowly passing from the disc of the finan¬ 
cial sun. 

An event that assisted largely in the pass¬ 
ing of the “hard times” period was the exten¬ 
sion of the Burlington & Missouri River rail¬ 
road from Sheridan, Wyoming, to Huntley 
(Billings was the actual terminus), a distance 
t>i 145 miles. The welcome news that the road 
was to be extended was received in Billings 
in April, 1894, and at 4:30 p. m. on Thursday, 
October 4th, of the same year, the first train 
was run into Billings over that road. 

At almost every session of the legislature 
since the county’s organization Yellowstone 
county had been interested in legislation effect¬ 
ing the boundaries of the county—either on a 
hunt for more territory or defending its own. 
By the creation of Carbon and Sweet Grass 
counties in 1895 Yellowstone county lost prac¬ 
tically all the Crow lands it had secured by the 
failure of the legislature of 1891 to divide the 
lands between Park and Yellowstone counties, 
as well as a small piece of its original territory 
north of the river. Carbon county took $478,- 
318 of the assessed valuation of Yellowstone 
county and assumed $11,986.28 of its indebt¬ 
edness; Sweet Grass county took $290,800 in 
assessed value, and assumed $7,760 of indebt¬ 
edness. Through their representatives Yel¬ 
lowstone county fought the formation of these 
counties, but the representatives at Helena did 
not have much aggressive assistance from 
home, and they were powerless to prevent the 
legislation. 

The forming of Sweet Grass county, which 
was taken from Yellowstone, Park and Mea¬ 
gher counties, left a small section of Meagher 
county territory on its southeast corner at¬ 


tached by only a narrow strip of land, and by 
an act approved March 5, 1895, the land in 
question was given to Yellowstone county. 

The legislation of this year left Yellow¬ 
stone county with territory as follows: North 
of the Yellowstone river the boundaries were 
the same as they are today; south of the river 
a small triangular piece of territory—repre¬ 
senting what was left of the ceded Crow lands 
—was retained for Yellowstone county. This 
piece of land extended from the divide between 
Pryor’s creek and Clark’s Fork river and the 
Carbon county line. 

By an act approved March 5, 1897, all that 
portion of the Crow Indian reservation in the 
state of Montana, lying between the 
south boundary line of the reservation and 
the Yellowstone river, and west of the mid¬ 
channel of the Big Horn river, was bestowed 
upon and made a part of Yellowstone county. 
This legislation was of very little importance 
at the time, as Indian reservations within the 
boundaries of a county are considered rather 
in the light of burdens than assets. But when 
a portion of these lands were thrown open a 
few years later, the boundaries of Yellowstone 
county were considerably extended. 

With practically the same boundaries in 
1900 as it had in 1890 Yellowstone county 
showed a big increase, according to the federal 
census—a gain of over 200 per cent. In 1890 
the population was 2,065 5 ’ n I 9°° it was 6,212. 

The matter of building a courthouse 
suitable to the needs of the county was decided 
at a special election June 6, 1903, when,-by a 
vote of 447 to 190, the people authorized a loan 
of $75,060 for a courthouse and jail. The 
handsome building was completed in 1905 at a 
cost of about $100,000—the finest court house 
in eastern Montana. 

An item of great importance to Yellow¬ 
stone county was the approval of an act of 
congress on April 27, 1904, providing for the 
purchase of 1,053,000 acres of the Crow reser¬ 
vation. The territory thus bought back into 





•HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


279 


the possession of the United States is described 
as follows: 

Beginning at the northeast corner of the said Crow 
reservation, thence running due south to a point lying 
due east of the northeast corner of the Fort Custer 
Military reservation; thence running due west to the 
northwest corner of said Fort Custer Military reser¬ 
vation; thence due south to the southwest corner of the 
said Fort Custer Military reservation; thence due west 
to the intersection of the line between sections 10 and 
11, township 2 south, range 28 east of the principal 
meridian of Montana; thence due north to the inter¬ 
section of the Montana base line; thence due west to 
the intersection of the western boundary of the Crow 
reservation; thence in a northeast direction following 
the present boundary of the reservation to the point of 
beginning. 

Now, by the provisions of the legislative 
act of March 5, 1897, that part of these lands 
lying west of the Big Horn river became a part 
of Yellowstone county, so, when, in the sum¬ 
mer of 1906, these lands were formally thrown 
open to settlement Yellowstone county made a 
valuable addition to its territory. 

At the 1907 session of the Montana legis¬ 
lature Yellowstone county was again called 
upon to defend some of its territory. A bill 
was introduced by Senator Annin for the cre¬ 


ation of Roosevelt county from portions of 
Yellowstone, Sweet Grass and Carbon coun¬ 
ties, with Columbus as the county seat. That 
portion which it was proposed to take from 
Yellowstone county was to the west of a north 
and south line drawn one mile west of Park 
City, the assessed valuation of which terri¬ 
tory was $1,365,000. Protests were made 
from Yellowstone county, as well as from the 
other counties interested, and the - bill did not 
become a law. 

Perhaps no other county in the west has 
made the rapid strides forward that Yellow¬ 
stone county has in the last few years. Its 
growth has been marvelous. People have 
poured into the county as they never did in the 
boom days of 1882 and 1883. Its population 
has doubled and doubled again. Billings, the 
county seat, has grown from a town of 3,221 
people to a city of 12,000 or 13,000 in the last 
seven years; the other towns of the county 
have increased in population at a correspond¬ 
ing rate of increase. Irrigation has been the 
secret of its advancement, the story of which 
will be told in later chapters. The county’s 
assessed valuation for 1906 was $11,550,125, 
an increase of about 25 per cent, over 1905. 


CHAPTER IV 


POLITICAL. 


Although. Yellowstone county did not come 
into existence until the year 1883, we 
may go back of that date some little time for 
the beginning of the county’s political history. 
There are no records to the effect that the few 
people living in the territory which later be¬ 
came Yellowstone county took any part in the 
selection of officers of the territory or Custer 
county prior to the campaign of 1882. Before 


that time, as we have shown in previous chap¬ 
ters, the permanent settlers of that part of the 
Yellowstone valley lying in the present Yel¬ 
lowstone county numbered only a few—for the 
most part traders. If there were elections held 
in this part of Custer county, the records do 
not tell of it. 

But when the campaign of 1882 came theie 
had been a big change in conditions. Settlers 









28 o 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY: 


had poured into the future Yellowstone county, 
and the result was that about a thousand votes 
were polled in those precincts of Custer county 
which, a few months later, were set off into the 
new county of Yellowstone. For- the accom¬ 
modation of these voters the county commis¬ 
sioners of Custer county, at a meeting held in 
September, 1882, created the following elec¬ 
tion precincts, named the polling places and the 
judges who should preside: 

No. 8. Junction City—McCormick & Car. 
lisle’s store. C. D. Brown, Burns Smith, 
Henry Kiser. 

No. 9. Huntley—Smith & Hagey’s store. 
George Smith, Thomas McGirl, Wm. Hamil¬ 
ton. 

No. 10. Coulson—Peasley’s store. George 
B. Silverberg, Samuel Alexander, Alexander 
Pratt. 

No. 11. Billings—Star & Bullock’s store. 
James Muldowney, George Town, Henry 
Cahn. 

No. 12. Canyon Creek—Erwin’s store. 
Sidney Erwin, Edward Fauks, B. B. Brockney. 

No. 13. Young’s Point—^School House. 
J. W. Cole, A. J. Young, William Mitchell. 

The record of the vote cast at the election 
in November, 1882, does not sho.w that there 
was any election held in Young's Point pre¬ 
cinct; but there are recorded the votes cast in 
Woodliff’s Ranch and Park City precincts. 
As before stated, nearly 1,000 votes were cast 
in these seven precincts. The Democratic 
nominee for delegate to Congress received a 
fair sized majority over his Republican rival. 
On the other hand, the Republican candidate 
for the council and those for the lower house 
of the territorial legislature received larger 
votes than did the Democratic nominees. So, 
it was hard to tell just what the political com¬ 
plexion of the new county would be. Following 
is the vote of those seven precincts on. delegate 
to Congress, members of the territorial council 
and members of the lower house: 


PRECINCT 

Delegate 

to 

Congress 

Council¬ 

man 

Representatives 

Martin Maginnis 

(Democrat) 

A. C. Botkin 

(Republican) 

C. G. Cox 

< Democrat) 

Walter Burleigh 

(Republican ) 

P. W. McAdow 

(Democrat) 

John J. Alderson 

(Democrat) 

| S. H. Erwin 

| (Republican) 

F. H. Foster 
(Republican) 

Junction City. 

31 

46 

3 

67 

17 

7 

68 

17 

Huntley. 

55 

11 

12 

51 

30 

16 

49 

66 

Coulson. 

39 

19 

30 

27 

34 

27 

25 

28 

Billings... 

303 

262 

166 

367 

276 

115 

377 

317 

Canyon Creek. 

11 

37 

2 

45 

23 


46 

25 

Woodliff’s Ranch.. 

35 

8 

5 

38 

6 

6 

37 

37 

Park City. 

68 

52 

30 

90 

66 

49 

68 

58 

Total. 

542 

435 

248 

685 

452 

220 

660 

498 


The result of this election had much to do 
with the future history, political and otherwise, 
of the county whose history we are writing. 
The two members elected to the lower house 
of the legislature, Messrs. P. W. McAdow 
and S. H. Erwin, were favorable to the crea¬ 
tion of a new county with .'Billings as the 
county seat, and it was largely through their 
efforts that Yellowstone county was formed 
at the 1883 session. 

The act creating Yellowstone county 
became a law on the 26th day of February, 
1883, when the Governor attached his signa¬ 
ture to the bill. Under the provisions of the 
act three citizens of the new county were named 
as a board of county commissioners, who 
should attend to the affairs of the new county 
until after the first election, which was to be 
held on April 9. These commissioners were 
John H. Gerrish, Fred H. Foster and Paul Mc¬ 
Cormick. They met for the first time on 
March 3, when Mr. Gerrish was selected chair¬ 
man. No other officers were named on the bill, 
the legislature believing that none would be 
necessary until after the election in April. But 
the commissioners found that it would be 
necessary to have a county treasurer before the 
election, and at their meeting on -March 12, 
they appointed Herman H. Mund to that posi¬ 
tion, giving him authority to act until his sue- 









































HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


cessor, elected on April 9, should qualify. Mr. 
Mund’s bonds were placed at $2,000 and his 
sureties were John Tully, H. W. Carter and 
Janies Ferguson. 

One of the first acts of the commissioners 
was to provide for the election of April 9. 
For this purpose the board at its first meeting, 
March 3, divided the new county into twelve 
election precincts, designated the voting places 
and appointed the judges of election as fol¬ 
lows : 

1. Junction City—Paul McCormick’s 
store. C. D. Brawn, H. C. Williams, John 
Roberts. 

2. Huntley—Smith & Hagey’s store. 
Thomas McGirl, Wm. Coad, William Hamil¬ 
ton. 

3. Coulson—National Hotel. James T. 
Westbrook, T. S. Ash, S. Vanwagoner. 

4. Billings—Court House. George D. 
Rice, H. W. Carter, George W. Reed, Sr. 

5. Canyon Creek—Erwin’s store. W. D. 
Brockway, J. J. Walke, Samuel Saulsbury. 

6. Pai*k City—Lee’s store. J. W. Cole, 

Perry Whitsett, - Lee. 

7. Rapids—Hensley’s house. Isaac Hen¬ 
sley, - Tucker, John Ailing. 

8. Stillwater—Countryman’s hotel. Hor¬ 
ace Countryman, William Judd, E. C. Culver. 

9. Merrill—Porter’s house. S. W. Porter, 

Edward Cardwell, - Summers. 

10. Musselshell River—Olden's ranch. 
W. A. Olden, William Linton, T. J. Brew- 
ington. 

11. Musselshell River—Ramsey’s ranch. 

John Ramsey, - Shannon, E. J. Golden. 

12. Musselshell River—Reed’s ranch. 
Lawrence Reed, Chas. Ohlson, John Falig. 

Preparations were at once made for the 
approaching campaign, and both parties be¬ 
came active in an endeavor to secure control 
of the political machinery of the new county. 
The time was short, and a short, active cam¬ 
paign was made necessary. The Democrats 
met in convention at Billings on Tuesday, 


281 


March 15, and placed a complete set of candi¬ 
dates in nomination. Alexander Devine, pro¬ 
prietor of the Billings Herald, was chairman 
of the convention and Warren Stilson was sec¬ 
retary. The following delegates participated 
in the deliberations of the convention: 

Junction City, Jas. Reed; Huntley, Wm. 
Hamilton, E.W. Dunn; Coulson,‘Wm. Schultz; 
Billings, Warren Stilson, J. Breuchaud, J. 
Hopkins, Wm. Eiler, Alex. Devine, Wm. 
Lutz, Thomas Wheeler; Canyon Creek, Frank 
Bell; Park City, T. O. Taylor, Chas: Moore; 
Stillwater, W. C. McFarland; Rapids, Isaac 
Hensley; Merrill, C. D. Fox; Musselshell 
(Olden’s ranch), S. F. Mitchell; Musselshell 
(Reed’s ranch), L. Reed. 

The Republicans met at Billings on March 
22 and selected a county ticket. Unfortun¬ 
ately, we are unable to secure details of this 
first convention of the Republican party of 
Yellowstone county. 

The highest vote cast for any one office' 
was 1,162. The result of the election was an 
overwhelming victory for the Democrats, that 
party electing every officer, with the exception 
of one commissioner, by majorities averaging 
300. Following is the official vote of Yellow¬ 
stone county’s initial election: 

Sheriff-—Jas. Ferguson, dem., 785; John 
Tinkler, rep., 369. 

Treasurer—J. Breuchaud, dem., 699; J. R. 
Marks, rep., 452. 

Clerk and Recorder—H. H. Bole, dem., 
710; E. B. Covely, rep., 452. 

Probate Judge—John McGinnis, dem, 
717; J. D. Matheson* rep., 431. 

Assessor—Robt. Peters, dem., 724; John 
Ramsey, rep., 434. 

Coroner—Dr. A. J. Hoag, dem., 701; L. 
Nutting, rep., 453. 

Surveyor—G. T. Lamport, dem., 726; W. 
J. Allason, rep., 433. 

Superintendent of Schools—J. S. Hendry, 
dem., 752; W. F. Mayer, rep., 402. 

Commissioners—Wm. B. Webb, dem., 







282 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


723; E. S. Tutt, dem., 670; O. E. Millis, dem., 
436; C. E. Barney, rep., 464; Paul McCor¬ 
mick, rep., 395; F. W. Lee, rep., 512. 

The successful candidates took their oaths 
of office on the 1st of May, and the organiza¬ 
tion of Yellowstone county was completed. 

There were a few changes in the personnel 
of the county officers before the next election. 
At a meeting of the board of commissioners on 
May 7, 1883, E. S. Tutt was elected chairman. 
That gentleman positively refused to act, but 
upon the urgent request of Messrs. Webb and 
Lee he consented to act only at the 
one meeting. The records state that Mr. 
Tutt formally resigned the chairmanship on 
June 4, and that Wm. B. Webb was on that 
date chosen by his associates. Superintendent 
of Schools J. E. Hendry departed for Livings¬ 
ton in the spring of 1883 to enter the newspa¬ 
per business there, and on June 5 his office was 
declared vacant, and Rev. B. F. Shuart was 
appointed to the vacancy. The office of cor¬ 
oner was also declared vacant on Dec. 5, 1883, 
and Walter Matheson was appointed by the 
board. 

The next election in which the voters of 
Yellowstone county took part was in Novem¬ 
ber, 1883, when delegates were.chosen to the 
constitutional convention of 1884. The county 
was entitled to two delegates. F. L. Greene 
and F. M. Proctor, Democrats, defeated H. H. 
Mund and J. R. Goss, Republicans. One dele¬ 
gate was also chosen from the first judicial 
district, of which Yellowstone county was a 
part. Walter Cooper, Democrat, carried the 
county against A. F. Burleigh, Republican. 

The election of 1884 brought about a com¬ 
plete reversal in the political conditions of the 
young county. Without a single exception, a 
complete set of Republican candidates was put 
into office, where the year before all except one 
had been Democrats. This change was brought 
about largely by the action of a set of men, 
who were termed by the regular Democrats 


“mugwumps,” but who labeled the tickets they 
put in the field “Tax Payers” and “Peoples.” 
The convention of these factions was held at 
Billings, October 6, 1884, and those who took 
part in the convention were E. W. Dunne, 
John McGinniss, J. J. Alderson, S. R. Miller, 
Thos. McGirl, Chas. O’Neal, Eugene Richard¬ 
son, R. W. Peters, J. Hopkins, Jas. Grady, 
Jas. Ferguson, Fred Sweetman, G. L. Lamport 
and A. Hansen. Most of the candidates put 
in nomination had already been put in nomina¬ 
tion by the Republicans, but a few others were 
named on the “Tax Payers” and “Peoples” 
ticket. 

There was a decided falling off from the 
vote of the preceding year, only 949 votes be¬ 
ing cast for the office of delegate to congress, 
the highest vote for any office. Following is 
the official vote: 

Delegates to Congress—Hiram Knowles, 
rep., 512; Joseph K. Toole, dem., 437. 

District Attorney—Henry N. Blake, rep., 
495; Robert P. Vivian, dem., 426. 

Councilmen (Yellowstone and Dawson)— 
Franklin L. Green, rep., 542; James G. Ram¬ 
sey, dem. and peoples, 288; P. W. McAdow, 
tax payers, 51; scattering, 7. 

Representative—Wm. H. Norton, rep., 
367; S. F. Mitchell, dem., 258; C. E. Warner, 
peoples and tax payers, 261. 

Commissioners—Omar Hoskins, rep. and 
tax payers, 5^1; Olney Taylor, dem., 209; 
Geo. Breckenridge, peoples, 140. 

Probate Judge—James R. Goss, rep., 
peo. and tax payers, 601; F. M. Proctor, dem., 
281. 

Treasurer—E. B. Camp, rep., 472; H. W. 
Rowley, dem., 230; Q. T. Lamport, peo. and 
tax payers, 176; scattering, 4. 

Sheriff—J. R. King, rep., 344; J. D. Finn, 
dem., 175; J. M. Ramsey, tax payer, 290; Jas. 
Ferguson, peoples, 69; scattering, 2. 

Clerk and Recorder—F. W. Lee, rep., 312; 
H. H. Bole, dem., 279; G. T. Lamport, 1; 




HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


283 


John McGinniss, peoples and tax payers, 289. 

Assessor—Joseph Reed, dem., 278; F. M. 
French, rep. and peo., 600; scattering, 3. 

Surveyor—S. R. Oldaker, rep, peoples and 
tax payers, 588; J. C. Isaaci, dem., 296. 

Superintendent of Schools—B. F. Shuart, 
rep., peoples and tax payers, 599; B. S. Scott, 
dem., 285. 

Coroner—Alex Countryman, 1; J. H. 
Rhinehart, rep., peoples and tax payers, 660; 
Joseph Lawler, dem., 2.2.1. 

( For the Constitution, 448; against the 
Constitution, 42. 

The election of November 2. 1886, brought 
out 968 votes for the head of the ticket—dele¬ 
gate to congress—while for the other offices 
balloted on less than 900 votes were cast, about 
the same as at the preceding election and some 
less than at the first county election. So far 
as the two political parties are concerned the 
election was a “stand-off.” The Republican 
nominee for delegate to congress, Wilbur F. 
Sanders, carried the county by nearly a hun¬ 
dred majority, while the vote of the county for 
joint councilman was a tie between Messrs. E. 
C. Waters and Alfred Myers. The Republicans 
elected their nominee for representative, both 
county commissioners, surveyor, superintend¬ 
ent of schools and coroner, while the Demo¬ 
crats put into office their candidates for coun¬ 
ty attorney, probate judge, treasurer, clerk and 
recorder, sheriff and assessor. Following is 
the vote: 

Delegate to Congress—Wilbur F. Sanders, 
rep., 531; Joseph K. Toole, dem., 437. 

Joint Councilman—E. C. Waters, rep.. 
441; Alfred Myers, dem., 441. 

Representative—E. N. Harwood, rep., 
481; N. C. Bachelor, dem., 384. 

County Attorney—W. F. Myers, rep., 403; 
Sam Wildy, dem., 411; O. F. Goddard, 12; 
scattering, 4. 

Commissioners—A. L. Babcock, rep., 488; 
Frank S. Whitney, rep., 425; Robert Lyons, 


dem., 384; John Westbrook, dem., 382; Thos. 
Hanlon, 25. 

Probate Judge—Jas. R. Goss, rep., 382; 
John McGinnis, dem., 487. 

Treasurer—S. R. Oldaker, rep., 393; A. 

S. Douglas, dem., 484. 

Clerk and Recorder^—F. W. Lee, rep., 324; 
Geo. M. Hays, dem., 549. 

Sheriff—S. H. Erwin, rep., 408; Jas. M. 
Harris, dem., 461. 

Assessor—Horace Countryman, rep., 309; 
Lewis Sweet, dem., 561. 

Surveyor—A. S. Shannon, rep., 450; Geo. 

T. Lamport, dem., 425. 

Superintendent of Schools—J. H. Rhine¬ 
hart, rep., 410; Alfred Brown, dem., 286; 
Anna S. Shuart, Ind., 173. 

Coroner—B. B. Kelley, rep., 459; J. Henry 
Bloom, dem., 409; J. Westbrook, 2. 

There was a slight falling off in the vote in 
1888, only 925 being polled for the head of 
the ticket, while for county offices the average 
vote was about 870. The Republicans secured 
the bulk of the offices, although the Democrats 
captured a few plums. The Republicans carried 
the county for delegate to congress by a large 
majority and elected representative, commis¬ 
sioner, attorney, sheriff, treasurer, assessor, 
public administrator, coroner and superintend¬ 
ent of schools. The Democrats carried the 
county for their nominee for joint councilman 
and elected clerk and recorder, probate judge 
and surveyor. The vote: 

Delegate to Congress—Thos. H. Carter, 
re P - 556; William A. Clark, dem., 369. 

Joint Councilman—E. C. Waters, rep., 
403; W. A. Conrad, dem., 462. 

Representative—F. S. Whitney, rep., 538; 
Andrew Campbell, dem., 324. 

Commissioner—J. H. Rosean, rep., 469; 
W. P. Whitsett, dem., 398. 

County Attorney—J. R. Goss, rep., 513; 
Gib A. Lane, dem., 354. 

Sheriff—James Spendiff, rep., 457; J. M. 
Cox, dem., 413. 









284 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


Treasurer—L. Whitney, rep., 491; A. S. 
Douglas, dem., 380. 

Clerk and Recorder—Fred H. Foster,, rep., 
407; Geo. M.. Hays,-dem., 466. 

Assessor— S. K. Deverell, rep., 503; Chas. 
D. Moore, dem., 368. 

Probate Judge—H. D. Arkwright, rep., 
389; John McGinnis, dem., 478. 

Public Administrator—C. E. Barney, rep., 
495; Leslie Bates, dem., 372. 

Coroner—B. B. Kelley, rep., 495; B. S. 
Scott, dem., 375. 

Superintendent of Schools—Martha Rod¬ 
gers, rep., 482; W. B. George, dem., 386. 

Surveyor—A. S. Shannon, rep., 415; F. L. 
Mann, dem., 455. 

The next election in which the electors of 
Yellowstone county participated was a special 
election held on May 14, 1889, for the selec¬ 
tion of three delegates (jointly with Dawson 
county) to the constitutional convention. Un¬ 
der the law providing for the convention not 
more than two delegates from any one district 
should belong to the same political party. So 
each of the parties named two candidates. 
Following was the vote of Yellowstone county: 

O. F. Goddard, rep., 337 ;,H. J. Haskell, 
rep., 293; Alfred Myers, dem., 183; D. O. 
Cowan, dem., 140. 

After the constitutional convention had 
concluded its labors a special election was 
called to be held oh October 1, 1889, to adopt 
or reject the constitution as framed and to 
choose the first state officers and a complete 
set of county officers under the state govern¬ 
ment. In Yellowstone county the constitution 
received 457 favorable votes, and 21 were cast 
against it. 

Ever since the formation of Yellowstone 
county there had been a falling off in the total 
vote cast, and this election was no exception to 
the rule. Only 681 votes were cast for gover¬ 
nor—the highest vote polled—and the vote for 
other offices was only a little smaller. The 


Republicans made almost a clean sweep in Yel¬ 
lowstone county, the only Democrat securing 
office being the nominee for the new office of 
clerk of the district court. Following is the 
vote: 

Governor—Thomas C. Power, rep., 400; 
J. K. Toole, dem., 281. 

Judge Seventh Judicial District—Walter 

A. Burleigh, rep., 377; Geo. R. Milburn, dem., 
299 - 

Congressman—Thomas H. Carter, rep., 
415; Martin McGinnis, dem., 265. 

Senator—A. L. Babcock, rep., 437; Wm.# 

B. Ten Eyck, dem., 242. 

Representative—Wm. H. Norton, rep., 
389; Lorenzo P. Williston, Jr., dem., 290. 

Clerk District Court—Geo. M. Hays, dem., 
392; John Tinkler, rep., 283. 

Sheriff—James A. Church, dem., 287; John 
M. Ramsey, rep., 391. 

Commissioners—Wm. A. Boots, rep., 400; 
Allen B. La Mott, dem., 325; Lucius Nutting, 
rep., 372; Seth W. Porter, dem., 237; Henry 
W. Rowley, dem., 297; Charles Spear, rep., 
337 - 

Treasurer—Henry Oldam, dem., 285; Lu¬ 
cius Whitney, rep., 391. 

Clerk and Recorder—Fred H'. Foster, rep., 
381; John H. Wilson, dem., 292. 

County Attorney—James R. Goss, rep., 
430; Gilbert A. Lane, dem., 239. 

Assessor—Samuel K. Deverell, rep., 402; 
John J. Walk, dem., 274. 

Superintendent of Schools—Mattie J. 
Crampton, rep., 618. 

Surveyor—Frank L. Mann, dem., 313; 
John A. L. Snyder, rep., 356. 

Coroner—Jas. H. Rinehart, rep., 451; 
George L. Yaeger, dem., 219. 

Public Administrator—Charles E. Barney, 
rep., 375; Joseph M. V. Cochran, dem., 285. 

At the November election in 1890 the only 
candidates voted for in Yellowstone county 
were those for congressman, state senator and 







HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


285 


public administrator. As a result only a small 
vote was cast, 568 being the highest recorded 
for any office. The vote: 

Congressman—Thos. H. Carter, rep., 310; 
Andrew L. Corbly, pro., 7; Wm. M. Dixon, 
dem., 230; Wm. T. Field, lab., 5. 

, Senator—O. F. Goddard, rep., 332; Edwin 
Stanley Tutt, dem., 236. 

Public Administrator—Ernest H. Gagnon, 
dem., 232; Eugene S. Holmes, rep., 314. 

In 1892 the voting strength of the county 
^recovered to nearly its old time figures, 907 
votes being polled for representative, the can¬ 
didates for which office polled more votes than 
any other. This was the first time in its his¬ 
tory that Yellowstone county had the privilege 
of participating in a presidential election, and 
the result showed the county to be Republican 
by no. The Harrison electors received 479 
votes, and the Cleveland electors 369. The 
Peoples party entered the field in this cam¬ 
paign, but developed very little strength. It 
placed a county ticket in the field, most of the 
candidates having been taken from the Dem¬ 
ocratic ticket; a few from the Republican. The 
result of the election was a complete victory 
for neither party, although the Republicans se¬ 
cured a majority of the offices. The Demo¬ 
crats carried the county for district judge and 
elected the nominees for clerk of the district 
court, one commissioner, treasurer, superinten¬ 
dent of schools and county attorney. The 
Republicans secured the other offices. The 
official vote: 

President—Republican electors, 479; 
Democratic electors, 369; Peoples party elec¬ 
tors, 23; Prohibition electors, 18. 

Governor—Timothy E. Collins, dem., 383; 
Wm. Kennedy, pp., 24; John E. Rickards, 
rep., 459; J. M. Waters, pro., 16. 

Judge Seventh Judicial District—Geo. R. 
Milburn, dem., 482; Jason W. Strevell, rep., 
397 - 

Representative—A. L. Babcock, rep., 480; 
I. D. O’Donnell, dem. and pp., 427. 


Congressman—Benj. R. Atkins, pro., 
22,; Wm. W. Dixon, dem., 382; Caldwell 
Edwards, pp., 26; Charles S. Hartman, rep., 
444 - 

Clerk District Court—F. L. Mann, dem. 
and pp., 451; Fred B. Mitchell, rep., 431. 

Commissioners—John C. Bond, rep., 417; 
Edward Cardwell, rep., 489; C. O. Gru- 
well, dem. and pp., 468; Geo. Herbert, dem. 
and pp., 401; Robt. J. Martin, rep., 351; 
Benj. W. Toole, dem. and pp., 395. 

Treasurer—Sidney F. Morse, dem. and 
pp., 461; Lucius Whitney, rep., 409. 

Clerk and Recorder—Uri E. Frizelle, 
rep., 432; E. L. Peck, pp., 36; Wm. M. 
Tompkins, dem., 427. 

Sheriff—H. A. Frith, pp., 32; John M. 
Ramsey, rep., 492; Samuel R. Salisbury, dem., 
382. 

Surveyor—Geo. T. Lambert, rep., 525; 
Chas. S. McFarlin, dem. and pp., 354. 

Superintendent of Schools—Mattie J. 
Crampton, dem. and pp., 461; Julia Soule, 
rep., 413. 

Assessor—Samuel K. Deverell, rep., 526; 
Charles H. Smith, dem. and pp., 364. 

Coroner — Henry Chappie, rep., 523; 
James E. Free, dem. and pp., 357. 

Public Administrator—Peter H. Smith, 
dem., 401; Andrew J. Wilkinson, rep. and pp., 

465. 

Attorney—Hallowed F. Clement, rep. 
and pp., 415; John B. Herford, dem., 471. 

There was a wonderful increase in the 
1894 vote, 1,478 votes being polled in the coun¬ 
ty on the question of location of the state capi¬ 
tal, which was several hundred more than had 
ever before been polled in the county. The 
peoples party was again in the field and made 
a much better showing than it had two years 
before. The Republicans elected every candi¬ 
date with the exception of county treasurer, 
which office went to the Democrats. The vote: 

State Capital—Anaconda, 647; Helena, 
831. 






286 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


Congressman—Hal S. Corbett, deni., 307; 
Chas. S. Hartman, rep., 861; Benj. F. Maiden, 
pro., 18; Robert B. Smith, pp., 226. 

Senator—Albert L. Babcock, rep., 926; 
Ernest H. Gagnon, pp., 89; I. D. O’Donnell, 
dem., 445. 

Representative — Henry A. Frith, pp., 
82; Pat Lavelle, dem., 368; Christian Yegen, 
rep., 960. 

Clerk and Recorder—Thos. C. Armitage, 
dem., 351; Uri E. Frizelle, rep., 884; Frank 
M. Lambert, pp., 175. 

Sheriff—Geo. A. Berkey, rep., 661; John 
B. Herford, dem., 552; Fred Sweetman, tax 
payer, 187; John J. Walk, pp., 60. 

Treasurer—John B. Barnish, pp., 108; 
Sidney F. Morse, dem., 709; Wm. H. Nor¬ 
ton, rep., 602. 

Superintendent of Schools—W. E. Burr, 
pp., 121; Lucy S. Railsback, dem., 358; 
Martha E. Shoemaker, rep., 901; Florence 
Snyder, ind. rep., 55. 

Surveyor—Albert A. Morris, rep., 1129. 

Assessor—Leslie Bunnell, dem., 215; 
Elmer E. Summers, pp., 575; Frank S. Whit¬ 
ney, rep., 640. 

Coroner—Henry Chappie, rep., 1022; Jas. 
E. Free, dem., 349. 

Public Administrator—Eugene S. Holmes, 
rep., 1167. 

Attorney—Robt. T. Allen, rep., 736; Gib. 
A. Lane, dem., 637. 

One of the most exciting elections ever held 
in Yellowstone county was that of 1896, when 
the free silver forces, combining the Demo¬ 
cratic and Peoples parties, swept the Western 
states. William Jennings Bryan carried the 
county for President over William McKinley 
by a vote of 575 to 429. The free 
silver issue also had its effect on coun¬ 
ty politics and swept into power the ma-^ 
jority of the Democratic and Peoples party 
candidates. The Republicans, however, car¬ 
ried the county for their candidate for district 
judge and elected one of the commissioners, 


sheriff, public administrator and coroner. 
There was a falling off from the vote of 1894, 
the highest number of votes polled for any of¬ 
fice being 1024, for sheriff. The vote: 

President'— Republican electors, 429; 
Democratic electors, 575;. Prohibition elect¬ 
ors, 5. 

Congressman—O. F. Goddard, rep., 420; 
Chas. S. Hartman, dem., 503. 

Governor—Alexander C. Botkin, rep. k 
444; Robert B. Smith, dem., 542. 

R.epresentative—Joseph H. Rinehart, rep./ 
453; Thomas C. Armitage, dem., 537. 

Judge Seventh Judicial District—Charles 
PI. Loud, rep., 506; C. D. Middleton, dem,^ 
462. 

Commissioners—Charles Spear, rep., 481; 
E. A. Baldwin, rep., 424; J. B.. Annin, rep., 
488; Orson N. Newman, pp., 511; Patrick 
Lavelle, dem., 487; Charles M. Jacobs, dem., 

485- 

Clerk District Court—Thos. B. Hill, rep., 
467; Thos. A. Williams, dem., 508. 

Attorney—Fred H. Hathhorn, rep., 454; 
Wm. M. Johnston, dem., 556. 

Clerk and Recorder—U. E. Frizelle, rep., 
441; Sidney F. Morse, dem., 557. 

Sheriff—Geo. A. Berkey, rep., 536; Geo. , 
W. Hubbard, dem., 488. 

Treasurer—Maxwell G. Mains, rep., 455; 
Wm. B. George, dem., 536. 

Assessor—Wm. O. Parker, rep., 449; E. 
E. Summers, pp., 548. 

Public Administrator—E. S. Holmes, rep., 
507; C. F. Burton, dem., 468. 

Coroner—E. P. Townsend, rep., 554; 
scattering, 9. 

Superintendent of Schools—Martha E. 
Shoemaker, rep., 409; Gwen F. Burla, dem., 
57 1 - 

Surveyor—Charles A. Dewar, rep., 453; 
Geo. F. Lamport, dem., 516. 

Again in 1898 did the fusion forces sweep 
the county, leaving to the Republicans only 
two officers on the county ticket by small ma- 




HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


287 


jorities, those for treasurer and public admin¬ 
istrator* Fusion not being brought about 
on the congressional ticket, the Republicans 
carried the county by a plurality. There was a 
gain of 115 votes over the election of 1896, for 
the office of sheriff, 1,139 votes being polled. 
The vote: 

Congressman—A. J. Campbell, dem., 431; 
Thomas S. Hogan, pp. and sil. rep., 133; 
Thomas C. Marshall, rep., 517. 

Senator—C. O. Gruwell, dem. and pp., 
670; John E. Edwards, rep., 440. 

Representative—J. D. Losekamp, dem. and 
pp., 647; Wm. H. Norton, rep., 471. 

Treasurer—Wm. B. George, dem. and pp., 
527; W. L. Ramsey, rep., 592. 

Clerk and Recorder—Nat G. Carwile, dem. 
and pp., 728; W. J. Stratton, rep., 368. 

Sheriff—Geo. W. Hubbard, dem. and pp., 
626; J. C. Bond, rep., 513. 

Attorney—Wm. M. Johnston, dem. and 
pp., 644; James R. Goss, rep., 464. 

Surveyor—Geo. T. Lamport, dem. and pp., 
577; A. A. Morris, rep., 523. 

Coroner—V. Lieberg, dem. and pp., 538; 

E. P. Townsend, rep., 527. 

Public Administrator — Henry Terrell, 
dem. and pp., 528; Chas. Spear, rep., 542. 
Assessor—R. C. Wells, dem. and pp., 647; 

F. D. McCormick, rep., 421. 

Superintendent of Schools—Gwen F. 

Burla, dem. and pp., 740; W. D. White, rep., 

339 - 

Fifteen hundred and seventy-three votes were 
cast for governor in 1900, the largest vote 
polled in the county up to that time. William 
McKinley carried the county over W. J. Bryan 
by a vote of 827 to 654, the other national po¬ 
litical parties receiving 27 votes in the county. 
Conditions were complicated in state politics, 
there being many tickets in the field, and 
the Republicans carried Yellowstone county for 
congressman and governor. In county poli¬ 
tics there were five tickets, or parts of tickets, 


in the field, and a combination was brought 
about against the Republican ticket. The lat¬ 
ter elected representative, two commissioners, 
treasurer, assessor,' attorney, superintendent of 
schools and surveyor, while the fusion forces 
elected the other officers. The vote: 

Congressman—C. E. Edwards, dem., pp. 
and pp., 687; Geo. C. Stull, rep., 768; Pat 
C. F. Kelley, ind. dem., 48; M. J. Elliott, soc. 
dem., 10. 

Governor—J. K. Toole, dem., pp. and lab., 
657; D. E. Folsom, rep., 774; Thomas S. 
Hogan, ind. dem., 63; J. F. Fox, soc. dem., 
16. 

Judge Seventh Judicial District—-Charles 
H. Loud, dem., rep. and pp., 1,434. 

Representative—J. D. Losekamp, dem. 
and pp., 687; Geo. C. Stull, rep., 768; Pat 
Lavelle, ind. dem., 59. 

Commissioners—P. H. Smith, dem., pp., 
and lab., 700; C. M. Jacobs, dem., pp. and lab., 
710; L. A. Nutting, dem., pp. and lab., 658; 
S. K. Deverell, rep., 783; W. O. Parker, rep., 
732; H. B. Drum, rep., 702. 

Sheriff—G. W. Hubbard, dem., pp. and 
ind. dem., 915; Thomas S. Linton, rep., 626. 

Treasurer—Clayton Warner, dem., pp. and 
ind. dem., 654; Eugene S. Holmes, rep., 844. 

Clerk and Recorder—Nat. G. Carwile, 
dem., pp. and ind. dem., 897. 

Clerk District Court—Thomas A. Wil¬ 
liams, dem., pp.. and ind. dem., 892. 

Assessor—Chas. S. McFarlin, dem., pp. 
and ind. dem., 661; A. P. Smith, rep., 842. 

Attorney—H. A. Frith, dem., pp. and ind. 
dem., 515; F. H. Hathhorn, rep., 970. 

Superintendent of Schools—N. McCrary, 
dem., pp. and ind. dem., 549; Marguerite M. 
Strong, rep., 929. 

Coroner—Andrew Clark, dem., pp. and 
ind. dem., 622; James Chappie, rep., 852. 

Public Administrator—Henry Terrell, 
dem., pp. and ind. dem., 785; Geo. F. Benning- 
hoff, rep., 672. 





288 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


Surveyor-—A. A. Morris, rep., 941. 

The highest vote polled in 1902 was 1,5.40 
—for the office of sheriff—which was a slight 
decrease from the vote of two years before. 
The Democrats succeeded in electing only two 
officers, the candidates for sheriff and treas¬ 
urer, and the vote for representative was a tie. 
The Republicans carried the county for the 
other officials by majorities ranging from a 
very few up to several hundred. The official 
vote: 

Congressman—John M. Evans, dem., 572; 
Joseph M. Dixon, rep., 809; Geo. B. Sproule, 
soc., 59; Martin Dee, lab., 17. 

Senator—C. O. Gruwell, dem., 756; Chris. 
Yegen, rep., 774 - 

Representative—S. F. Morse, dem., 735; 
Chauncy C. Bever, rep., 735. 

Sheriff—Geo. W. Hubbard, dem., 859; 
Wm. B. Calhoun, rep., 681. 

Treasurer—Gwen F. Burla, dem., 829; S- 
K. Deverell, rep., 693. 

Clerk and Recorder—Nat. G. Carwile, 
dem., 709; John W. Fish, rep., 785. 

Attorney—J. D. Matheson, dem., 681; 
Charles L. Harris, rep., 791. 

Assessor—A. B. LaMott, dem., 624; War¬ 
ren A. Evans, rep., 864. 

Superintendent of Schools—Lucy A. Rails- 
back, dem., 490; Marguerite M. Strong, rep., 
984. 

Coroner—Andrew Clark, dem., 497; J. H. 
Rinehart, rep., 966. 

Surveyor—A. A. Morris, rep., 1,034. 

Public Administrator—H. G. Williams, 
dem., 690; O. D. Hogue, rep., 723. 

A special election was held December 20, 
1902, to elect a representative, the vote at the 
general election having been a tie between 
Messrs. S. F. Morse and Chauncy C. Bever, 
each receiving 735 votes. The vote at the 
special election was nearly as close as at the 
general election, the canvassing board declar¬ 
ing that 580 votes had been cast for Bever, 


the Republican nominee, to 579 for Morse, the 
Democratic nominee. 

Mr. Morse protested against counting the 
vote of Junction precinct upon the grounds of 
a vote being cast and counted when the elector 
was not registered in that precinct. Bever’s 
counsel claimed that the board of canvassers 
had no authority to throw out the precinct but 
to count the vote as they found it. The ma¬ 
jority of the board concurred in this opinion 
and a certificate of election was given to Mr. 
Bever. The vote in Junction stood eight for 
Bever to four for Morse, so that if the pre¬ 
cinct had been thrown out Morse would have 
had three majority. 

The largest vote ever polled in Yellowstone 
county was cast at the general election on No¬ 
vember 8, 1904, when 1,833 ballots were cast 
for the office of county treasurer. Theodore 
Roosevelt carried the county over Alton B. 
Parker for president by the decided vote of 
1,249 to 449 - The Democrats elected three 
officials, W. M. Johnston, representative; Gwen 
F. Burla, county treasurer; and Fred H. Fos¬ 
ter, clerk district court. The Socialists had a 
part of a ticket in the field and polled a small 
vote. Following is the official vote: 

President—Republican electors, 1,249; 
Democratic electors, 449; Peoples party elec¬ 
tors, 14, Socialist Labor electors, 4; Socialist 
electors, 66; Prohibition electors, 6. 

Congressman—J. M. Dixon, rep., 1,160; 
A. C. Gormley, dem., pp. and lab., 554; J. H. 
Walsh, soc., 56. 

Governor—Wm. Lindsay, rep., 1,009; J. 
K. Toole, dem., pp. and lab., 759; M. G. 
O’Malley, soc., 52. 

Judge Seventh Judicial District—Chas. H. 
Loud, rep., 864; J. B. Herford, dem., 859. 

Representative—C. C. Bever, rep., 850; 
W. M. Johnston, dem., 919; A. F. Scirving, 
soc., 43. 

Sheriff—W. P. Adams, rep., 1,096; G. W. 
Hubbard, dem., 677; Chas. Trott, Soc., 56. 

Treasurer—Henry White, rep., 792; Gwen 









HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


289 


F. Burla, dem., 1,001; Milo C. Roberts, soc., 
40. 

Clerk and Recorder—John W. Fish, rep., 
1,275; Geo. Boyde, soc., 68. 

Attorney—Harry L. Wilson, rep., 964; 
Harry A. Groves, dem., 791. 

Assessor—Warren A. Evans, rep., 1,146; 
Henry Klenck, dem., 559; John Horn, soc., 
44 - 

Clerk District Court—Cass Prudhomme, 
rep., 799; Fred H. Foster, dem., 949. 

Superintendent of Schools—Marguerite 
M. Strong, rep., 1,206; Eliza D. Matheson, 
dem., 536. 

Surveyor—P. M. Gallaher, rep., 905; 
Henry Gerharz, dem., 808. 

Coroner—J. H. Rinehart, rep., 936; John 
P. Murphy, dem., 799. 

Public Administrator—W. F. Sylvester, 
rep., 990; J. M. V. Cochrah, dem., 684. 

The vote in 1906 fell off to 1,641, which 
number was cast for sheriff. The Republicans 
were again generally successful, but as usual 
the Democrats succeeded in electing a few' 
officials. Their candidates elected were sheriff, 
surveyor and one commissioner. The Social¬ 
ists had a full ticket in the field and polled a 
larger vote than at the previous election. The 
vote: 

Congressman—Chas. N. Pray, rep., 901; 
Thos. J. Walsh, dem., 578; John Hudson, soc., 
76 - 

Senator—J. B. Annin, rep., 765; C. O. 
Gruwell, dem., 715; Adam F. Skirving, soc., 
19 - 


Representative—Albert A. Morris, rep., 
736; J. B. Herford, dem., 698; Alford R. 
Jensen, soc., 103. 

Sheriff—Wm. P. Adams, rep., 674; Jas. 
T. Webb, dem., 916; Nils C. Roberts, soc., 
51 - 

Treasurer—John W. Fish, rep., 759; Nat. 
G. Carwile, dem., 752; Jesse F. Gilchrist, soc., 
68 . 

Clerk and Recorder—Ira L. Whitney, rep., 
! 1,150; Geo. Boyd, soc., 104. 

Assessor—A. P. Smith, rep,, 1,083; E. W. 
Keene, dem., 380; John Horne, soc., 58. 

Attorney—Harry L. Nilson, rep., 895; L 
S. Hogan, dem., 658. 

Superintendent of Schools—Mrs. M. M. 
Strong, rep., 842; Ella L. Hayden, dem., 661. 
Coroner—G. Herman Smith, rep., 934; J. 

! J. Mahoney, dem., 436; E. A. Cobb, soc., 80. 

Public Administrator—W. F. Sylvester, 
j rep., 742; S. R. Salsbury, dem., 591; L. H. 

1 Cardwell, soc., 98. 

Surveyor—B. C. Lillis, rep., 669; Henry 
Gerharz, dem., 762. 

Commissioner (six year term)—Geo. F. 
Benninghoff, rep., 489; G. F. Burla, dem., 965; 
A. J. Lundborg, soc., 78. 

Commissioner (four year term)—M. W. 
Cramer, rep., 752; J. D. Losekamp, dem., 
658; Ben Ogley, soc., 76. 

Commissioner (two year term)—Chas. H. 
Newman, rep., 791: C. M. Jacobs, dem., 581; 
John Powers, soc., 82. 


19 









CHAPTER V 


BILLINGS, THE “MAGIC CITY.” 


When Billings came: into existence in the 
summer of 1882 and had, within a few months, 
gained a population of between one thousand 
and two thousand people, housed principally 
in shanties and tents, had reared itself on an 
alkali flat which a few years before had not 
been trod by white man, it was styled the 
“Magic City.” The sobriquet was appropri¬ 
ate ; the rapid building and populating of Bil¬ 
lings was magical. The name still clings to 
Billings, and is as appropriate now as it was 
in the first few months of its history. Now 
the population of the city increases by thou¬ 
sands every year; now, instead of the shacks 
and shanties of the 1882 period, are erected 
brick, stone and marble structures, three, four 
and five stories high. The improvements of 
the “magic” city of 1882 would not compare 
very favorably with those of the year 1907, 
when one million dollars is being expended to 
make the city a Greater Billings. 

In an earlier chapter of this history we 
quoted from the writings of Mr. Addison M. 
Quivey, who passed through the Yellowstone 
valley in 1874, as follows: “The country is 
valuable for neither agriculture, grazing nor 
minerals, but may be interesting to the geolo¬ 
gist or naturalist. The country is undoubtedly 
a marine formation, and from its present ap¬ 
pearance I should think it admirably formed 
for the last home and burial place of the horri¬ 
ble monsters of the earliest animal creation.” 
The country so described in 1874 is the one in 
which is now located the city of Billings, the 
metropolis of eastern Montana. 

Billings is the county seat of Yellowstone 
county. It is located on the north side of the 
Yellowstone river on a gently sloping plain 
near the eastern extremity of what is known as 


Clark’s Fork bottom, a valley sixty-five miles 
long and from four to ten miles wide. The 
plain, or second bottom, as it may be called, 
is high enough to be out of reach of the occa¬ 
sional freshets to which the low lands border¬ 
ing the river are sometimes liable. On the 
north and south rise precipitous bluffs and 
rugged cliffs of a yellowish sandstone forma¬ 
tion, possibly once the banks of a greater Yel¬ 
lowstone river. Westward the valley is framed 
by the perpetual snow-capped peaks of the 
Rocky mountains, apparently not more than 
twenty or thirty miles distant, but in reality 
many times that distance. The elevation of 
the city, according to the Northern Pacific sur¬ 
vey, is 3,119 feet above sea level; according to 
the authority of the weather bureau, it is two 
feet less than this. Billings is 892 miles west 
of St. Paul, via the Northern Pacific railroad; 
by the same route it is 238 miles east of 
Helena, the capital of the state; by the Bur¬ 
lington route the city is about 900 miles north¬ 
west of Omaha, Nebraska. 

Billings occupies a strategic position in 
Northwestern commerce. The four zones of 
commercial influence are centered in St. 
Paul, Billings, Spokane and Seattle. The 
capital of Yellowstone county is on 
the main line of the Northern Pa¬ 
cific railroad, and is the terminus of the 
Burlington & Missouri River railroad; it is 
also the terminus of the roads that run to Red 
Lodge and Bridger, in Carbon county. Four¬ 
teen passenger trains leave Billings daily, and 
the city is both freight and passenger division 
point for all roads. The freight yards of the 
Northern Pacific and Burlington roads have 
the largest trackage here of any city between 
‘St. Paul, and Portland. Being the junction 





HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


291 


point of the two great systems, Billings is the 
natural gateway to the entire northwest. 

The “Magic City” is- today a city of between 
12,000 and 13,000 people, and the population 
is increasing at a rate that promises well for 
its future greatness. Its citizens are wont to 
announce it as the second city of Montana in 
point of population and commercial import¬ 
ance. If it has not yet quite reached that stage; 
it is fast approaching it, and such cities as 
Helena, Great Falls and Missoula must look 
well to their laurels, or they will be distanced. 
Billings’ supremacy is due to its admirable 
location, its ideal climate, its splendid railway 
service, the broad slope and natural wealth of 
its tributary territory, drawing trade 150 miles 
from the north and south and 75 miles from 
east and west; its cheap fuel and power, and, 
above all, to the enterprise and public spirit 
of its business men. This latter resource is a 
valuable asset to the city. 

Agriculture, jobbing, manufactures and 
railways are the four factors that are the back¬ 
bone of Billings’ commercial life. A few years 
ago, a typical frontier village. Now a city of 
beautiful homes, wide shaded streets, splendid 
schools, palatial public buildings, hospitals, 
libraries, churches, clubs, substantial business 
and office buildings, and everything that goes 
to make up an ideal home and business- city. 

The history of Billings dates from the 
spring of 1882, there never having been a 
building erected on the townsite prior to the 
month of May of that year. But two miles 
down the Yellowstone from the present busi¬ 
ness portion of Billings, about where the 
Northern Pacific railroad bridge spans the 
river, there had been a little village for sev¬ 
eral years previous to the founding of the 
“Magic City.” This was Coulson, and, as its 
history is inseparably linked with that of the 
newer town, we shall tell its story before tak¬ 
ing up the history of Billings proper. 

Early in the winter of 1876-77 P. W. Mc- 
Adow came to this location, took up a land 


claim, and a little later opened a store, he be¬ 
ing the first settler in the vicinity. Also in 
1877 came J. J. Alderson, Joseph Cochran, 
Henry Colwell, Clinton Dills, Milton Summer 
and Johnny Hoor, who settled in the vicinity. 
The stage line through the Yellowstone valley 
was established that year, and one of the sta¬ 
tions was at the point where Mr. McAdow had 
his store. The station was kept by Mr. Aider- 
son, who operated a hotel in connection. A 
postoffice was established, and Mr. Alderson 
was made postmaster, a position he held for 
three years. The place became known as 
Coulson, and consisted of a little cluster of 
buildings about Mr. McAdow’s store. Its 
growth during the late seventies was slow, 
but it became a well known stopping place 
among those who passed over the stage line 
and others who took up residence in the vi¬ 
cinity. The importance of the place was 
added to in 1878 by the construction of a 
sawmill by Mr. McAdow. 

A number of capitalists, believing that 
Clark’s Fork bottom was destined to become 
a place of great importance, associated them¬ 
selves under the name of the Minnesota & 
Montana Land & Improvement company, 
bought a large tract of land on the bottom from 
the railroad company in March, and made prep¬ 
arations for the building of a town. Negotia¬ 
tions were begun with the proprietors of the 
Coulson townsite for the purchase of the lands 
there, but satisfactory arrangements could not 
be made. The owners concluded that they 
could make more money by holding than by 
disposing of the property at the figures of¬ 
fered. So the deal fell through; the company 
laid out the Billings townsite a short distance 
up the river; and it was not long before Coul¬ 
son was distanced completely in the race for 
supremacy. 

It must not be imagined that Coulson went 
out of existence immediately upon the found¬ 
ing of the “Magic City.” In fact, it contin¬ 
ued to be a village of some importance even 




292 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


after Billings had reached the height of its 
boom. Being the older town, it had some ad¬ 
vantages over the new one. For several 
months, owing to the proverbial slowness of 
the national government in acting, it held the 
postoffice, while Billings, a town of 1,000 or 
1,500 people, had none, and the residents of 
the latter city-were obliged to make the trip 
down to the old town for their mail; even the 
Billings newspapers were entered at the Coul- 
son postoffice. An idea of the size and im¬ 
portance of Coulson in the fall of 1882, after 
Billings had taken its place as the principal 
town in the vicinity, is gained from an article 
in the Billings Herald of October 22, 1882. 
On that date it stated that there were in Coul¬ 
son a brewery, hotel, three general stores, five 
saloons and about thirty other buildings. 

Now let us go back and consider the early 
history of the town of Billings proper. Bil¬ 
lings might be said to be a fiat town. The 
Northern Pacific railroad company issued its 
fiat that a town should be builded in this vi¬ 
cinity, and Billings was the most remarkable 
instance on the whole Northern Pacific line of 
a considerable town coming into immediate 
life and vigor on the strength of orders issued 
from the railway headquarters in New York 
City. 

The company which founded the town and 
which for many years played an important part 
in its history was the Minnesota & Montana 
Land & Improvement company, organized un¬ 
der the laws of Minnesota in 1881. The com¬ 
pany was made up largely of officials of the 
railroad company, Heman Clark being pres¬ 
ident and Hon. Frederick Billings being in¬ 
terested. 

It appeared to these men that a town 
builded on Clark’s- Fork bottom would 
command the trade from an immense 
surrounding territory—and their beliefs 
have been verified. So the company 
purchased from the railroad company all 
of the latter’s holdings on Clark’s Fork 


bottom from Young’s Point to the old 
town of Coulson, embracing upwards of 60,- 
000 acres, the most fertile tract of land in the 
Yellowstone valley. After the decision was 
reached to build the town on Clark’s Fork bot¬ 
tom the question of the exact location arose, 
and the little insignificant Alkali creek, which 
puts into the Yellowstone at Billings deter¬ 
mined the corporation to build near the lower 
end of the valley. Of this selection Mayor 
Fred H. Foster has written: “The fact that 
Alkali creek commands the only practicable 
northern outlet from the Yellowstone valley 
caused Heman Clark and Frederick Billings 
to locate Billings on its present site rather than 
at Canyon Creek or Laurel. This insignifi¬ 
cant rivulet, daily seen by our people, has built 
Billings.” . 

The original townsite was platted in 
March, 1882, lots placed on sale early in April, 
but the filing of' the plat was not made in the 
Custer county records until June 1. The towu 
was named in honor of Frederick Billings, 
who was the president of the Northern Pacific 
Railway company from May 24, 1879, until 
June, 1881. 

At the time of the platting, in March, 
1882, there was not a building on the townsite, 
and it remained in this condition until late in 
April. The first structure was a building of 
considerable size, built by the Northern Pa¬ 
cific Railway company for the accommodation 
of the locating engineers, which was completed 
on the first day of May, and located on Mon¬ 
tana avenue, between Twenty-eighth and 
Twenty-ninth streets. Only a few days later 
was completed a store building for the town- 
site company, and a store was opened by H. 
Clark, president of the company, at the corner 
of Minnesota avenue and Twenty-ninth street. 
The third structure erected at about the same 
time, was the residence of F. B. Kennard. 
These three buildings constituted the town of 
Billings in the early days of May, 1882. 

Then began the boom. The events of the 






HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 




293 


next thirty days have probably never been 
equalled in western town building. By the 
first of June there were five hundred people in 
Billings; there were scores of business houses 
in operation; there had been over a hundred 
buildings erected, and many more were in 
course of construction. People were coming 
in afoot, horseback and in wagons, bringing 
merchandise, lumber and supplies. They came 
from all points of the compass, and had this 
rapid growth continued to the present time 
Billings would be the metropolis of the north¬ 
west. It was during this first thirty days of 
its history that Billings became known as the 
“Magic City.” 

As soon as the town was platted, Mr. Geo. 
B. Hulme, the agent of the company, started 
from New York City to take charge of the 
sale of the lots. Before he reached Billings 
many of the lots had been bought up by cap¬ 
italists in St. Paul, Minneapolis and other 
points, who recognized the advantages of the 
location of the coming city. Inside of four 
weeks nearly 5,000 lots were sold, and in every 
instance the order for the land was followed 
by the required cash payment. The only diffi¬ 
culty seemed to be to satisfy the eager haste of 
the' applicants. 

The pace set during the month of May was 
continued during the whole summer. All was 
rush and hustle and excitement in this magic 
city of cheap buildings and tents, and traffic- 
ing in town lots constituted a large share of 
the business and amusement of the population, 
in which enterprise many small fortunes were 
made. People continued to pour in from the 
end of the railroad to such an extent that the 
Herald complained that it took “a very likely 
reporter nowadays to ‘keep track of all the 
arrivals in Billings.” Not a day passed that 
did not witness the arrival of men of means | 
and business experience, who came to cast 
their lot with the people of the new town, j 
These generally expressed themselves as satis- ■ 
fied with conditions as they found them, and 


would immediately go to work in the territory 
of their, adoption. The first act of the new 
arrival would be, invariably, to draw from his 
pocket a well-wrinkled and perhaps dirty plat 
of the town, and the second act would be to 
hunt for “his lot.” In another day or two lum¬ 
ber would be on the ground, and in less than a 
week, on an average, a new building would 
make its appearance in Billings, would be oc¬ 
cupied, and the owner in happy possession of a 
lucrative business. Such was life in the early 
history of Billings. 

One of the serious drawbacks to the life 
in the boom town that summer was the lack of 
water, and the gravity of the situation was 
fully realized by the property owners. The 
condition of affairs as told by the following 
excerpt from the Herald of June 29 prevailed 
until the irrigating ditch was completed the 
next year: 

The question of most serious import that now 
agitates the people of Billings is that which concerns 
the water supply. The water carts that in a desultory 
manner make their daily rounds serve an excellent 
purpose, and as a substitute for a better water system 
are welcomed by every householder. While the users 
of water are, however, glad to open their purses and 
their water barrels to these Itinerant dispensers of the 
precious Yellowstone fluid, they also realize the fact 
that should a fire break out in our midst, the water 
barrel would be an indifferent source of protection. 

Early in June the citizens of the town 
united in a mammoth petition to the postoffice 
department, which set forth the disadvantages 
under which they were laboring, asked that a 
postoffice be granted to Billings, and that L. 
Whitney be commissioned postmaster. Fa¬ 
vorable action was taken by the department, 
and on July 8 Mr. Whitney received notifica¬ 
tion of the establishment of the postoffice and 
his appointment as postmaster, the commis¬ 
sion being dated June 13. It was some little 
time, however, before the red tape could be un¬ 
wrapped and the Billings postoffice became a 
fact. Then, when all the legal requirements 
had been met, the postoffice was opened under 






294 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


very unsatisfactory arrangements; but the best 
was made of the conditions, and soon every¬ 
thing was in “apple pie” order. 

On the 22nd day of- August the first rail¬ 
road train crossed the bridge at Coulson and 
entered the city of Billings. On that date the 
estimated population of the town was 800, but 
by the first of the year it had increased to 1600, 
according to one estimate. Immediately fol¬ 
lowing the advent of the road came a quick¬ 
ening of the business activity of the little city. 
Work was commenced on the construction of 
the company’s roundhouse, machine shops, 
turn table and other buildings of a division 
point, furnishing employment to quite a force 
of workmen. 

The matter of incorporating the town was 
taken up in the fall of 1882, but was dropped, 
and incorporation was not brought about un¬ 
til 1885. 

On May 20, 1882, there was organized the 
Billings Street Railway company, with a capi¬ 
tal of $40,000. The line of the proposed road 
tvas to be two miles in length. Every¬ 
body was enthusiastic over the building 
of the line, and nine hundred shares of 
the stock were subscribed at once. The road 
was completed in the summer of 1883—the 
first street railway in the territory of Montana. 
The cars were, of course, drawn by horses, 
the trip to Coulson being made in twelve min¬ 
utes. 

The venture was not a success from a 
financial standpoint. The line continued in 
operation a few years, and then the operation 
of the railway was discontinued. 

The Minnesota & Montana Land & Im¬ 
provement company was heartily denounced 
for its many shortcomings, and much of the 
censure was doubtless deserved. But if the 
company did nothing else that was good, the 
building of the irrigating ditch must stand as a 
monument of its worth. 

The water was taken from the Yellowstone 
at the head of Clark’s Fork bottom, at Young’s 


Point, carried for a distance of thirty-nine miles 
along the rim-rock bluff at the north, and then 
discharged into the Yellowstone again. The 
beginning of the ditch at the west was two feet 
below the Yellowstone. When the river was 
let into the ditch there was at once a canal 
twenty-two feet wide, about two feet deep, car¬ 
rying nearly 10,000 inches of water, and irri¬ 
gating about 20,000 acres of land. From the 
completion of the “Big Ditch,” as it is com¬ 
monly called, dates the era of improvement and 
prosperity which has marked this favored sec¬ 
tion of Montana. 

Up to the first of November there had been 
shipped from Billings over 1,000 car loads of 
cattle, or about 20,000 head; besides this ship¬ 
ment about 7,000 head of sheep had been sent 
to market from the same point. The freight 
receipts from imports averaged $5,000 per day, 
or nearly $150,000 per month. Excepting 
Fargo, there was no other station on the line 
of the Northern Pacific that made a better 
showing. 

In its issue of October 22, 1882, the Bill¬ 
ings Herald gave some statistics of an interest¬ 
ing nature, showing the exact number of busi¬ 
ness houses, and containing other information. 
From that article we learn that there were 155 
business houses in existence, and ten in course 
of construction; ninety-nine residences, and 
thirteen in course of construction; six railroad 
buildings, one church, and one in course of 
construction; and twenty-five tents. 

The early population of Billings embraced 
all classes and conditions of men, but it seemed 
to include more of a far-seeing, enterprising 
and thrifty class of business men than usually 
fell to the lot of towns along the line. The 
pioneers of Billings reached out after the trade 
through an immense area of territory, and got 
it. Their example has been followed by the 
later comers, and Billings’ prosperous condi¬ 
tion today is due to a large extent to this trait 
of going after the things that help to make a 
better town. 







HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


295 


When the Minnesota & Montana Land & 
Improvement company purchased the railroad 
lands on Clark s Fork bottom it entered into a 
contract with the railroad company to do many 
things toward the improvement of Billings and 
the surrounding country, and the sale of lands 
on the bottom and of lots in the town was 
based on these promises. Among other things, 
the improvement company ‘ agreed to erect a 
passenger depot at a cost of $60,000. Appar¬ 
ently, the company paid very little attention 
to this promise, and it became a matter of opin¬ 
ion among the residents that it did not intend 
to fulfill this part of the contract. No steps 
toward the carrying out of the contract had 
been made at the close of the year 1882, but 
there were abundant promises. 

Finally, in the fall of 1883, the improve¬ 
ment company erected a depot building at a 
cost of about $10,000. This the Northern 
Pacific refused to accept in fulfillment of the 
contract. After its completion the building 
stood empty, being used “principally as a dance 
hall,” as one of the residents of the town ex¬ 
pressed it. When passenger trains came in 
“Billings” would be announced, the train 
halted before the deserted edifice and then 
pulled along to the Northern Pacific hotel, 
which was the actual passenger depot. The 
halt was made at the new depot, presumably, 
in fulfillment of the agreement on the part of 
the railroad company. So matters continued 
in this deplorable state for some time. The 
people generally lost confidence in the good 
intentions of the Minnesota & Montana Land 
& Improvement company, and that corporation 
earned the ill-will of a large portion of the pop¬ 
ulation. This feeling of the people of Bil¬ 
lings, as well as of the railroad company, is 
illustrated in a letter published in the local 
press in June, 1883. It was written by R. J. 
Anderson, of the Windsor hotel. Mr. Ander¬ 
son said: 

I have brought suit against the Montana & Minne¬ 
sota Land & Improvement company, of which H. 


Clark is president, for non-fulfilment of contract, said 
suit being for $20,000 damages. The company referred 
to have not fulfilled their agreement to build the pas¬ 
senger depot according to their plans in the original 
plat. They further agreed and guaranteed to me to 
have the depot built upon the originaly proposed loca¬ 
tion, and open for public use and occupation by the 
time the first train arrived—when the railroad was com¬ 
pleted to Billings. They also guaranteed to everyone 
else who bought lots from the company in the vicinity 
that the depot would be built as originally projected 
on the plat. * * * In my opinion and in'the opinion of 

numerous others who hold property here, it has brought 
financial ruin and disaster to numerous men of limited 
capital who have been induced to invest their all here 
upon promises of great improvements. 

Only a short time since Henry Villard, when pass¬ 
ing through Billings, remarked in the presence of a 
number of citizens that H. Clark had done nothing 
which he agreed to, and satirically inquired where the 
three thousand emigrants and Scandinavians were which 
Clark agreed to have at Billings this spring. Since 
his arrival in New York President Villard has com¬ 
menced suit against H. Clark for the forfeiture of 
60,000 acres of railroad land on Clark’s Fork bottom 
obtained by Clark on condition that he should sell them 
to actual settlers. Clark induced the Ripon colony to 
come to Billings to the number of 500, assuring them 
that they could have all of this land which they wanted 
at $2.60 per acre, and a free townsite thrown in. When 
they arrived they could not get the land for less than 
$5 to $10 per acre, according to location. This turn 
in affairs disgusted the greater number of the colon¬ 
ists, and they returned to their former homes without 
catching on. Since then the railroad lands on Clark’s 
Fork bottom are lying in primeval solitude, totally un¬ 
occupied and unimproved. 

The period of activity in the summer and 
fall of 1882 was followed by several compara¬ 
tive dull months. This was no more than was 
to be expected. When the railroad pushed its 
way westward many of the boomers and much 
of the floating population went with it; other 
towns sprang into existence and went through 
the same feverish excitement that had attended 
the founding of Billings. There were men, 
however, who had the foresight to realize that 
Billings, because of its location, was bound to 
be a city of permanency, and they remained to 
found permanent homes. To their wisdom, 
foresight and energy is due much of the pres¬ 
ent prosperity of the city. 







296 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


The dull winter months were followed by a 
continuation of the boom in the spring of 1883. 

From the time of the founding of the town 
the great drawback had been the poor water 
supply. Doubtless many prospective settlers 
abandoned the idea of locating here because of 
the poor showing made on this account. Here 
was to be seen nothing but alkali dust, with no 
seeming possibility of growing trees or grass, 
and the water, taken from the Yellowstone 
river and distributed in tanks, probably decided 
many that this was a poor place in which to 
locate. 

The citizens of Billings realized this de¬ 
fect, and at once set about remedying it. It 
was decided to bore an artesian well, and the 
Artesian Well company was incorporated in 
April, 1883. Before active operations were 
commenced by this company the stress was 
relieved somewhat by the completion of the 
irrigating ditch. On the morning of Septem¬ 
ber 15 the water was turned on, and a copious 
stream was flowing through the main ditch, 
which ran through the town. This was re¬ 
ceived gratefully by the citizens. Boring for 
the artesian well was begun early in 1884. 
Much money was expended and great perse¬ 
verance was shown, but with deep regret the 
promoters were forced to acknowledge defeat 
after sinking a hole to the depth of 900 feet: 
no water was found. 

Another event of interest in the spring of 
1883 was the organization, on Saturday even¬ 
ing, March 12, of the Billings Board of Trade, 
an organization devoting itself to the upbuild¬ 
ing of the city. 

The second attempt to secure incorpora¬ 
tion for Billings was made in 1883. The mat¬ 
ter was taken before the district court, which 
issued an order calling for an election to be 
held on November 14, when the people should 
decide by , ballot whether they wished incor¬ 
poration or not. The election was a quiet one. 
and incorporation was defeated. 

One of the early considerations was the 


matter of a suitable school building. Bonds to 
the amount of $8,000 were voted in July, and 
to this sum was added $4,000, donated by 
Hon. Frederick Billings. The building was 
completed that fall. 

The population of Billings increased in 
1883 to about 1,500, and the number of build¬ 
ings in the city that year was between 400 and 
500. Nearly $160,000 was expended during 
the year in public and private improvements. 
Twenty thousand head of cattle were shipped 
during the year, and Billings became quite a 
wool market, an industry which beq^me a 
mammoth one in a short time. 

The abnormal conditions that prevailed 
during the years 1882 and 1883 could not last 
forever, and we find a new era beginning in 
1884. Instead of the rip-roaring, everybody- 
get-rich-quick town of the first two years, we 
now find Billings settling down to a more solid 
and sane policy. 

The stock growing industry of the sur¬ 
rounding country was of vast benefit to Bil¬ 
lings. in 1884 Yellowstone county ranking 
fifth among the counties of Montana in number 
and value of cattle. Nearly 35,000 head were 
shipped from Billings that year. Freight busi¬ 
ness was large, also. During the year there 
were received at -Billings 42,653,768 pounds, 
the charges on which amounted to $161,747.- 
71 : there were shipped from this station 22,- 
817,166 pounds, on which the charges 
amounted to $114,015.59. This made a total 
of 65,470,934 pounds shipped to and from 
Billings with total charges of $275,763.30. 
The sale of tickets from the Billings office 
brought into the company’s coffers $22,513. 

One of the best remembered events of the 
year was the big fire of July 14, resulting in 
the destruction of block no with a property 
loss of nearly $50,000, with insurance of less 
than one-half the loss. This block was the 
portion of the town that was first.built, and 
most of the buildings were mere shells built 
of the roughest lumber. Some of these occu- 








HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY 


297 


pied only half a lot, and had been put up hur¬ 
riedly and cheaply to be occupied during the 
boom period at enormous rent. The fire broke 
out about daylight in McKee’s saloon, located 
near the middle of the block, and spread rapidly 
in both directions. Billings did not at the time 
have a fire company, and only a limited supply 
of water, so that the efforts of the citizens to 
check the spread of the flames were without 
avail. The block was a square of smouldering 
ruins within a few hours. 

Aithough the buildings destroyed were 
cheap frame buildings, it was thought that the 
fire, coming as it did during a dull season, 
would prove a serious blow to Billings. Such 
was not the case, however. Just as soon as the 
insurance was adjusted contracts were let for 
the erection of new buildings to replace those 
destroyed. 

Another result of this fire was the estab¬ 
lishment of a fire company, which was organ¬ 
ized on August 6. Although without fire fight¬ 
ing apparatus of any kind except buckets and 
axes, the company .undertook the duty of pro¬ 
viding protection from future fires. 

From a business directory of the city of 
Billings, compiled in 1884, we learn that there 
were over an hundred firms doing business in 
the little city. 

Early in 1885 the question of incorporation 
was again taken up and this time the territor¬ 
ial legislature was asked to grant municipal 
government to the town. Under the provisions I 
of the act-the charter was to he submitted to j 
the voters of the town in April for approval 
or rejection. The land to he incorporated was 
defined as follows: The south one-half of sec¬ 
tion 33, township one north, range 26 east, 
and the southeast one-fourth of the southeast 
one-fourth of section 32. township one north, 
range 26 east, and section three in township 
one south, range 26 east, containing an area 
of 1,000 acres. Peter Larson, Albert L. Bab¬ 
cock. Sidney H. Erwin, Louis A. Fenske and 
John \V. Ramsey were named, as commission¬ 


ers to act until the first board of aldermen 
should qualify. 

The election for the adoption or rejection 
cf the city charter was held on Thursday, April 
2. There was very little interest manifested 
over the result, and only 122 votes were cast, 
a majority being in favor of incorporation 
under the charter granted by the legislature. 
A few days later the election for the selection 
of the first officers of the city was held, and 
municipal government began April 10. Fol¬ 
lowing are the names of the officers who have 
served the city since its incorporation up to 
the present time: 

1885— Mayor, John Tully; aldermen, Lucius Whit¬ 
ney, L. H. Fenske, J. J. Walk, W. H. Rowley, S. H. 
Erwin, C. C. Westbrook; marshal, Henry Terrell; as¬ 
sessor, treasurer and collector, Fred Sweetman: clerk 
and city attorney. E. N. Harwood; policeman, W. F. 
Leroy; police judge, J. D. Matheson. 

1885*-—Mayor, Walter Matheson; aldermen, C. E. 
Foot Note. 

Westbrook, L. H. Fenske, W. H. Rowley, C. H. Wal¬ 
cott, Thomas Flanlon, C. H. Walcott. 

1886— Mayor Walter Matheson; aldermen, C. H. 
Walcott, J. J. Walk, L. T. Field, H. W. Rowley, L. 
H. Fenske. Thomas Hanlon; clerk and city attorney, 
E. N. Harwood; assessor, collector and treasurer, Geo. 
M. Hays; marshal, Henry Terrell. 

1887— Mayor, Jas. R. Goss; aldermen, J. C. Bond, 
Jos. Zimmerman, C. C. Brown, M. B. Rademaker, U. 

E. Frizelle, J. J. Walk; clerk and city attorney, E. N. 
Harwood; treasurer, Lesley Bates; marshal, Henry 
Terrell. 

1888— Mayor, E. B. Camp; aldermen, Joseph Zim¬ 
merman, C. E. Barney. A. P. Hart, M. B. Rademaker. 
J. C. Bond, C. C. Brown; clerk and city attorney, H. 
D. Arkwright; assessor and treasurer, Chas F. Burton; 
marshal, Harry Duffield. 

1889— Mayor, Fred H. Foster; aldermen. W. B. 
TenEyck, Robert Hannah. U. E. Frizelle, C. E. Bar¬ 
ney, A. P. Hart, William F. Eilers; clerk and city at¬ 
torney, Gib A. Lane : assessor and treasurer. Chas. F. 
Burton: marshal, Henry Terrell. 

1890— -Mayer, Joseph Rhinehart; aldermen, William 

F. Eilers, E. S. Holmes, Henry D. Chaflin, U. E. Friz- 
clle, Robert Hannah. W. B. TenEyck; clerk and city 
attorney, Robert T. Allen; assessor, Chas. F. Burton; 
marshal, Henry Terrell. 

1891— Mayor, Geo. A. Griggs: aldermen, Peter 
Smith, John D. Losekamp. E. S. Holmes, William F. 
Eilers. John Staffek, M. B. Rademaker: assessor, W. 


1 *Chosen at a special election July 20. 












298 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


B. George; clerk and city attorney, Andrew Campbell; 
marshal, Bernard Schneider. 

1892— Mayor, Harry K. Fish; aldermen, J. W. 
Vaughan, William A. Heffner, D. E. Boyken, M. B. 
Rademaker, Peter Smith, John D. Losekamp; clerk and 
city attorney, Gib A. Lane; assessor, W. B. George; 
marshal, Bernard Schneider. 

1893— Mayor, Fred H. Foster; aldermen. J. W. 
Vaughan, Chas. A. Dewar. George M. Hays, Silas B. 
Sawyer, Benjamin W. Toole, J. D. Losekamp: clerk and 
city attorney, Gib A. Lane; treasurer, W. B. George; 
marshal, Alexander Frazer. 

1894— Mayor, Fred H. Foster; aldermen, J. H. 
Rhinehart, Horace D. Williston, Christian Yegen, Chas. 

A. Dewar. J. D. Losekamp, Benjamin W. Toole; clerk 
and city attorney, Gib A. Lane; marshal, Henry Terrell- 

1895— Mayor, Geo. A. Griggs; aldermen. Chas. W. 
Forester, M. B. Rademaker, O. C. Finkelenberg, Chris¬ 
tian Yegen, J. H. Rhinehart, H. D. Williston; clerk and 
city attorney, John B. Herford: police magistrate, Alex¬ 
ander Frazer; treasurer, W. B. George. 

1896— Mayor, Geo. A. Griggs; aldermen, W. H. 
Donovan, Geo. A. Robinson. J. H. Rhinehart, M. B. 
Rademaker, O. C. Finkelenberg, C. W. Forester; clerk 
and city attorney, J. B. Herford; marshal, Henry 
Terrell; treasurer, W. B. George. 

1897— Mayor, Henry Chappie; aldermen, Chas. 
Racek, W. H. Donovan, G. W. Stoddard. H. G. Wil¬ 
liams, J. H. Rhinehart, Geo. Lamport: clerk and city 
attorney, J. B. Herford; police judge, Frank L. Mann; 
treasurer. Chas. F. Burton. 

1898— Mayor, Christian Yegen; aldermen, E. W. 
Syetnick, C. E. Witham, Chas. Spear, F. B. Connelly, 
H. G. Williams, Chas. Racek; clerk and city attorney, j 
J. B. Herford. 

1899— Mayor, Christian Yegen; aldermen, Geo. 
Benninghoff, H. F. Clement, U. E. Frizelle. E. W. 
Syetnick, F. R. St. John, Chas. Spear. C. E. Witham, 

F. B. Connelly; clerk and city attorney. J. B. Herford; 
police judge, Frank L. Mann; treasurer. H. S. Evans. 

1900— Mayor, Christian Yegen; aldermen, F. B. 
Connelly. S. G. Reynolds, C. L. Tubbs, Geo. A. Bcrky, 
Geo. Benninghoff, U. E. Frizelle, Chas. Spear, H. F. 
Clement; clerk and city attorney, J. B. Herford. 

1901— Mayor. W. B. George: aldermen, G. G. Coth- 
ron, Henry White, Henry Thorsen. G. W. Stoddard, 
Geo. A. Berky, F. B. Connelly, C. L. Tubbs, S. G. Rey¬ 
nolds; clerk, J. D. Matheson; attorney, William M. 
Johnston; treasurer, James Kelley; police judge, F. L. 
Mann. 

1902— Mayor, W. B. George: aldermen. Geo. Ben¬ 
ninghoff, S. G. Reynolds. O. D. Hogue, Geo. A. Berky, 

G. G. Cothron, Henry White, Henry Thorsen, G. W. 
Stoddard; clerk, J. D. Matheson: attorney. W. M. John¬ 
ston; treasurer, James Kelly; police judge, F. L. Mann. 

1903— Mayor, Fred H. Foster; aldermen, Philip 
Grein, H. G. Williams, G. W. Sturm, Jeff Z. Brewer, 
Geo. A. Berky, Thos. Bouton. August Schundlack. 


Geo. Benninghoff; clerk, Nat G. Carwile; attorney, J. 
D. Matheson; treasurer, O. C. Ovren; police judge, F. 
L. Mann; engineer, A. A. Morris. 

1904— Mayor, Fred H. Foster; aldermen, George 
Benninghoff, J. H. McElroy, August Schundlack, G. 
W. Stoddard, Jeff Z. Brewer, Philip Grein, G. W. 
Sturm, H. G. Williams; clerk, Nat G. Carwile; attor¬ 
ney, J. D. Matheson; treasurer, O. C. Ovren; police 
judge, F. L. Mann; engineer, A. A. Morris. 

1905— Mayor, Fred H. Foster; aldermen, G. -G. 
Cothron, F. X. N. Rademaker, Henry Thorsen, J. Z. 
Brewer, George Benninghoff, J. H. McElroy, G. W. 
Stoddard, August Schundlach; clerk, S. F. Morse; at¬ 
torney, H. A. Groves; treasurer, O. C. Ovren; 
police judge, Nat G. Carwile; engineer, Henry Gerharz. 

1906— Mayor, Fred H. Foster; aldermen, George 
Benninghoff, G. G. Cothron, J. Z. Brewer, Chas. Spear, 
F. X. N. Rademaker. Martin Gates, R. K. Terrell, 
Henry Thorsen; clerk, S. F. Morse; attorney, H. A. 
Groves; treasurer, O. C. Ovren; police judge, Nat G. 
Carwile. 

1907— Mayor. Fred H. Foster; aldermen, G. A. 
Weed, S. W. Soule, John Staffek, J. Z. Brewer, Chas. 
Spear, Martin Gates, George Benninghoff, R. K. Ter¬ 
rell; treasurer, Walte'r Watkins; police magistrate, 
Frank L. Mann. 

The worst fire in Billings’ history broke 
out about eleven o'clock on the night of May 
2, 1885, and before the flames had been got¬ 
ten under control the whole of block III, with 
the exception of the Park hotel, was in ruins 
and property to the amount of nearly $60,000 
had been destroyed. The blaze was supposed 
to have been of jncendiary origin. It was 
discovered in the Farmer’s hotel, a two story 
log building—relic of the early days—which 
was vacant at the time except for two lodgers, 
J. W. Cobb and A. N. Thompson. The former 
narrowly escaped from the burning building 
with his life, and later died from his injuries. 

A very short time after the discovery of 
the fire the Farmer's hotel was enveloped in a 
sheet of flames. Then they spread to the build¬ 
ing known as the Daily Rustler office and to J. 
Hopkins’ shoe shop to the east. The efforts 
of the citizens to stop the spread of the flames 
were useless, and the fire raged in both direc¬ 
tions from the starting point, burning the in¬ 
surance office of Lesley Bates and law office of 
John McGinnis, the Chicago dry goods house, 









HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


299 


M. Susman’s general store, Mrs. Forsythe’s 
boarding house and Mrs. Matheson’s fancy 
goods store on the east, and Tully & Freese’s 
hardware store, the First National bank and 
Schiffler & Gordon’s tailor shop on the west. 
Realizing that none of the buildings in the 
row could be saved, fire hooks were brought 
into requisition and some of the frame build¬ 
ings were torn down in the hopes of prevent¬ 
ing the flames from spreading to other parts 
of the town. This prompt action doubtless 
saved the Park hotel, separated from the 
burned block by First avenue north. The ho¬ 
tel was in great danger, but escaped with little 
damage. Conditions for fighting the fire were 
favorable. There was hardly a breath of air 
stirring, and there was a plentiful supply of 
water running in the land company’s ditch to 
the very point of operation, which was made 
use of by the bucket brigades. This water had 
gotten down as far as the town on the day of 
the fire. 

There were other small losses which would 
bring the total loss over $60,000. 

Hardly had the town recovered from the 
shock of this fire before another one occurred, 
and again did block no receive a severe scorch¬ 
ing, just a year after the block had been de¬ 
stroyed. The fire broke out about two o’clock 
on the morning of July 25 in a restaurant 
building on north Twenty-seventh street occu¬ 
pied by Jos. Parque. That building and sev¬ 
eral others contiguous were destroyed, entail¬ 
ing a loss of nearly $10,000. The Yellowstone 
county court house was destroyed, but the re¬ 
cords were saved. The energetic work of the 
citizens was all that saved the town from de¬ 
struction. 

Up to this time the only protection against 
fires was such as was afforded by volunteers, 
the company organized after the fire of 1884 
having failed to maintain an organization. So 
at the time of these fires buckets and axes were 
the principal equipment of the unorganized 


volunteers who undertook to fight the flames. 
Insurance companies now threatened to with¬ 
draw from Billings, and to restore their con¬ 
fidence the citizens made strenuous efforts to 
obtain adequate protection against fire. There 
being no water mains laid, a hose company was 
out of the question, but the people did the best 
under the circumstances; about fifty men 
united in the formation of a hook and ladder 
company, which was organized in September, 
1885. This pioneer company did valiant ser¬ 
vice during its short life, and was replaced by 
a hose company when the water works were 
established. 

During the year 1885 Billings made some 
advancement despite the fact that the boom 
was no longer bringing in new people and in 
spite of the severe losses by fire. It was now 
that the wisdom of the selection of the location 
was. manifest. Had it not been for the fact 
that the town became the distributing point 
for an immense territory, there would have 
been sorry times in Billings during the middle 
eighties. 

A good index of the volume of a business 
done in a town is its freight handled. During 
1885, 80,473,123 pounds, or over 4,000 car 
loads, were handled by the Northern Pacific 
railroad at Billings. 

The principal event of the year 1886 was 
the establishment of a system of water works 
by the Billings Water Power company. This 
company had l>een organized and incorporated 
in the summer of 1885, with a capital stock iff 
$50,000. Work was at once commenced on a 
canal to supply the water, which was taken 
from the Yellowstone, carried a distance of 
4,000 feet around a rapids in the river at this 
point, and then emptied again into the river, 
a fall of thirteen feet being obtained. The 
canal had an average width of thirty feet, and 
seven feet of water was conveyed through it. 

It took a year to do this work, and in the 
summer of 1886 a fine brick pump house was 
built at a distance of one and one-half miles 





300 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


from the city, and a Holly system of water 
works established.. 

Owing to the fires of the preceding year 
the building record for 1886 was a good one, 
the miserable shacks and temporary structures 
which characterized the early history of the 
town -being replaced by handsome brick and 
stone business blocks. A frontage of nearly 
1,000 feet of brick and stone buildings has been 
completed during the year ending in the spring, 
which, the Gazette claimed, was double the 
frontage of that class of buildings that had 
been erected during the year in any other town 
between Fargo and Helena. According to 
figures furnished by the Gazette, the cost of 
buildings constructed during the year was 
$257,400. Among others was a court house. 

The population in 1886 was estimated at 
1,500, which estimate probably exceeded the 
.facts. During the year 81,326,000 pounds of 
freight were handled by the railroad at this 
station. The assessed valuation of town prop¬ 
erty was $567,134, of which $341,043 was in 
real estate, and $226,091 in personal property. 

Late in January, 1887, electric lights were 
turned on in the little city, the plant having 
been installed by the Billings Water Power 
company. This year witnessed, also, the or¬ 
ganization of the first effective fire company. 
When the Water Power company installed its 
plant it put up pressure plugs and installed reg¬ 
ular fire pressure machinery, so no longer were 
the people obliged to fight fire by means of the 
old bucket brigade. The Billings Fire depart¬ 
ment came into existence and continued its or¬ 
ganization about one year. Then, in 1888, be¬ 
cause of differences between the mayor, E. B. 
Camp, and the department, the company dis¬ 
banded and donated the accumulations of its 
treasury to the school fund. 

The city was then without organized pro¬ 
tection for several months, but after an abor¬ 
tive attempt by inexperienced citizens to use 
the hose and equipment upon a burning build¬ 
ing, an armistice was effected, and a reorgani¬ 


zation was brought about. This was accom¬ 
plished on January 14, 1889, the new organiza¬ 
tion taking the name of Maverick Hose com¬ 
pany. 

There was very little advancement in Bil¬ 
lings during the latter part of the eighties. In 
the matter of population there was a falling 
off, if we are to place any reliance on the esti¬ 
mates during the time mentioned. The census 
taken by the government in 1890 gave the city 
a population of 836. 

The year 1891 was a memorable one in the 
history of Billings because of the fact that the 
first, last and only lynching took place. On 
Thursday, July 23, two tramps came to town 
and went to the saloon of Joseph Clancy, on 
Minnesota avenue, in company with a third 
man. One of the tramps ordered a number of 
drinks, and when requested to make settlement 
refused and began to abuse the proprietor. 
He was remonstrated with, which apparently 
highly incensed him, for he seized a beer mal¬ 
let and dealt Clancy a murderous blow upon 
the head. Mr. Clancy's skull was crushed and 
he died almost immediately. The murderer 
was arrested and placed in the county jail, the 
other two men being also taken into custody 
as witnesses. The story of the lynching which 
followed is told by the Gazette of July 30: 

“Although there had been a growing senti¬ 
ment of indignation and execration of the deed 
of blood by which Joe Clancy’s life had been 
taken and his two little children doubly or¬ 
phaned, the sheriff, although hearing rumors to 
that effect, did not anticipate any trouble that 
night, nor that a band of masked and deter¬ 
mined avengers would demand the delivery 
into their tender mercies of the red-handed 
murderer. The sheriff was not prepared 
to receive them when at the witching hour 
of night the summons rang out. People 
in the neighborhood say it was between 
midnight and two o’clock when they 
were, awakened by the noise of power¬ 
ful blows on what sounded like steel 





HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


301 


casements. Gib Lane was wakened by the 
noise, and as the moon was very bright could 
from his dwelling distinguish a crowd of mov¬ 
ing figures about and around the jail, patrol¬ 
ling the block and challenging all approaching 
persons, who having their slumbers thus rudely 
disturbed came out to see what was going on. 
A number of gentlemen who had been attend¬ 
ing a dance congregated as near the scene of 
action as the masked guards would permit, but 
made no attempt at rescue. Sheriff Ramsey 
says he was surprised at the first call, but knew 
at once what was wanted. Strong in the belief 
that the Pauly cells and cages would success¬ 
fully resist all attempts at battering them down 
with such means as a vigilance committee 
could bring to bear, and that daylight would 
intervene and save his prisoners, he denied 
having the keys, which, according to the 
Times , he had thrown down the well. After 
some further parleying, the sheriff removed 
his family and the vigilantes had full swing. 

“The next event on record was a silent 
march from the jail to the place of execution, 
where a telegraph pole on the Northern Pa¬ 
cific right of way was selected as the gallows 
tree, and before the light of day paled the stars 
a ghastly shape was swinging in the breeze, 
and an unknown murderer had gone to meet 
his Maker. Twelve hours after the brutal mur¬ 
der of Jos. Clancy one at least of his murderers 
had paid the price. The body remained as the 
avengers left it until about eight o’clock a. m., 
when by order of Coroner Chappie it was cut 
down and turned over to the undertaker.’’ 

An inquest was held and the coroner’s ver¬ 
dict was : “We, the jury, find that the deceased 
came to his death by hanging at the hands of 
party or parties unknown to the jury.” 

There were no papers, money or marks of 
identification of any kind on the body to tell 
who he was. After this event all the tramps, 
which element had been infesting the town for 
some time, were ordered out of the city. 

On August 18, 1891, there was organized 


the Billings club, an organization which has 
been of vast benefit to the city and which is 
still in existence. 

The matter of reincorporating the city un¬ 
der a general law, which had recently been 
passed, was considered in 1892. A petition, 
generally signed, was presented to the mayor 
and city council, asking that the matter be sub¬ 
mitted to the voters, was favorably acted upon 
and a special election called for March 5. At 
the election the people decided to continue the 
government under the old territorial charter by 
a vote of 86 to 32, so no change was made 
at that time. 

An event of some importance was the or¬ 
ganization of the Yellowstone Fair association 
in the summer of 1892, with a capital stock of 
$20,000. Since that date a fair has been held 
every year. 

Early in 1893 the question of reincorpora¬ 
tion was again brought up. At a special elec¬ 
tion held January 11 the proposition to rein¬ 
corporate was carried almost unanimously, 
there being only four negative votes. Billings 
became a city of the second class under this in¬ 
corporation. A census of the city taken by S. 
F. Morse about this time showed a population 
of nearly 1,600. Only a year before Robert 
Allen, United States census taker, had found 
only 1,000 people in Billings and less than 
1,500 in Yellowstone county. 

The “hard times” period, beginning with 
the financial crisis of 1893, had a restraining 
effect on the little city, which had begun to 
make steps forward during the first few years 
of the nineties. While conditions were ba‘d 
enough, Billings escaped with less suffering 
than did most of the towns of Montana, owing 
principally to the variety of her resources. 

Owing to this fact and to other things the 
recovery was quicker here than in many other 
places. The Burlington & Missouri River rail¬ 
road built into the city in 1894, which had a 
good effect. The population was estimated at 
2,000 in 1894. 






3°2 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


A telephone exchange was also put in late 
in 1895 by the Billings Telephone company. 
The company began business with a patronage 
of forty-two phones. There was also a mild 
building boom that season. Several business 
blocks and about twenty-five residences were 
reported to be under construction in the spring. 

Billings continued to advance during the 
next few years, each year witnessing an in¬ 
crease in population and business enterprises. 
In 1898 the building improvements amounted 
to $205,000. The federal census of 1900 gave 
the town a population of 3,221, an increase of 
nearly 30a per cent in the decade. Of-this pop¬ 
ulation 1,897 were males and 1,324 females; 
2,617 were native born, 604 foreign born; 
3,046 were whites, 89 were negroes, 84 Chi¬ 
nese, and two Indian. 

A valuable addition to the city in 1900 was 
the construction of the Parmly Billings memo¬ 
rial library, erected at a cost of about $25,000. 
The library was donated by Frederick Billings, 
Jr., of New York City, son of Frederick Bil¬ 
lings, after whom the city was named, and was 
given by the donor in memory of his brother, 
Parmly Billings, who was a resident of Bil¬ 
lings in the early days, and who died in 1887. 
The library was constructed under the direc¬ 
tion of a local committee representing the 
estate, which was composed of the following 
gentlemen: A. L. Babcock, chairman; I. D. 
O’Donnell, J. R. Goss, J. D. Matheson and E. 
L. Boardman. 

During the present decade the growth of 
Billings has been the wonder of the state. From 
the little struggling village it had always been 
since the boom it has grown to be one of the 
principal cities of the state of Montana. It is 
again properly designated the “Magic City.” 
An idea of this growth can be obtained from 
the increase in population. A census taken in 
the summer of 1904 gave the city a population 
of 5,447; the next year the compilers of the 
city directory estimated the population at 


7,000; early in 1907 the same company placed 
the population at between 12,000 and 13,000. 

Many have been the causes of this growth, 
but the principal one has been the reclamation 
of an immense tract of land in the immediate 
vicinity by the Billings Land & Irrigation com¬ 
pany,. under the provisions of the Carey act. 
Settlers have poured in and settled upon these 
lands, and the result has been beneficial to the 
town. All sorts of new enterprises have 
started in Billings. It has become a manufac¬ 
turing center because of cheap water power; it 
has a large wholesale trade because of its loca¬ 
tion as a railroad center; its always large agri¬ 
cultural shipments are increasing. 

Among the manufacturing concerns are a 
beet sugar factory of a capacity of 1,200 tons 
of beets per day, erected in 1906 at a cost of 
$1,500,000; two packing houses and cold stor¬ 
age plants, a brewery, a flouring mill, three 
brick plants, one marble works, a creamery, 
two broom factories, a cornice factory, one 
line plant, a Pintsch gas works, two candy fac¬ 
tories, two bottling works, four cement and 
concrete works, three cigar factories, one 
glove factory, three harness manufactories 
and one mattress factory. Billings whole¬ 
sale houses are represented by the fol¬ 
lowing : Five meat, three cigar, three grocery, 
three liquor, two hardware and one sash and 
door. 

Among the other things the people of Bil¬ 
lings point to with pride are its six public 
schools, its eleven churches, its thirty-four se¬ 
cret and fraternal societies, library, hospital, 
sanitarium, seven banks, building and loan as¬ 
sociations, two daily newspapers, theaters, 
seven hotels, sixteen restaurants, five lumber 
companies, a sheet iron works, three bakeries, 
two express companies, dye works, insurance 
company, 100-acre nursery, commercial club, 
two business men’s leagues, chamber of com¬ 
merce, a woman’s club, two telephone compa¬ 
nies with nearly 2,000 subscribers, two steam 





HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


laundries, a water works system, an electric 
light plant, sewerage system, three green 
houses, its paid fire department, its free mail 
delivery and rural free delivery routes, its 
forty miles of six-foot sidewalks, and in fact 
everything but its depot. 

The assessed valuation of the city at the 
present time is $3,500,000; it has a bonded 
debt of $50,000. 

At the present writing (spring of 1907) 
there are in course of construction buildings 
which will cost nearly $1,000,000. Among 
these are the Y. M. C. A. building, $100,000; 
Masonic temple, $85,000; St. Patrick's Catho¬ 
lic church, $50,000; opera house, $60,000; 
Northern hotel addition, $40,000; Smith 
building, $40,000; new electric light plant, 
$125,000 addition to the present plant, $100,- 
000; apartment house, $25,000; dwellings, 
$250,000; and many others of smaller cost. 

In the city are six public school buildings 
and there are 1,850 children of school age. 

Billings has the following church organi¬ 
zations : Congregational, Methodist Episco¬ 
pal, Protestant Episcopal, Catholic, Baptist, 
Presbyterian, African Methodist Episcopal, 
Christian Scientist, Christian, and Salvation 
Army. The following history of the Congre¬ 
gational church, the first organized in Billings, 
is taken from the Billings Gazette of October 
6, 1899: 

The Congregational church was the first church 
organized in the city. It was started in the spring of 
1882, and is, consequently, as old as the town. Hon. A. 
Fraser, Col. Lucius Whitney and Mr. Edgar B. Camp 
were the first trustees and incorporators. Rev. Ben¬ 
jamin F. Shuart, a missionary of the Congregational 
church, was the pastor. He began his work in the 
early spring of 1882 without a church, a congregation 
or a home, preaching the first sermon in the town. 

In the latter part of that year the trustees, acting 
for the young church, had a small frame structure, 
“20x32, with twelve foot posts, six windows and one 
door,” erected on the lots where the present church 
building stands. This structure was of the crudest 
kind, not ceiled or plastered, the cracks being stopped 
with battens. At the back of this building a “lean-to” 
of two rooms was built, and this served the purpose of 
a parsonage, so that the reverend gentleman could walk 


303 


out of his bed chamber into his pulpit, after counting 
the stars through the roof of his “lean-to” at night. 
Such was the birthday of the church. 

In 1883 Hon. Frederick Billings, of Woodstock, 
\ ermont, donated $12,000 for the erection of the neat 
and commodious building. The Minnesota & Montana 
Land & Improvement Co. and the owners of the Foster 
addition donated the lots, the church raised the rest of 
the funds necessary, and October of that year saw the 
dedication of a beautiful church which cost $14,000, and 
work begun on a comfortable parsonage. 

About this time Mr. Shuart resigned, and Rev. A. 
Stryker Wallace succeeded him as pastor, taking charge 
of the work November 1, 1883. Mr. Wallace was pastor 
for eight years, resigning his office in October, 1891. 
Mr. Wallace is perhaps more fully identified with the 
history of the church than anyone else, while Mr. Shu¬ 
art may be called its founder. In August, 1892, Rev. 
Chas. Hall Cook became the pastor. His pastorate 
lasted 18 months. On February 1, 1894, Rev. Preston 
B. Jackson took charge of the work, remaining until 
the fall of 1896. On May 15 of the following year Rev. 
W. D. Clark succeeded Mr. Jackson in the pastorate, 
and is the present incumbent. 

The same issue of the Gazette gives the fol¬ 
lowing history of the Methodist Episcopal 
church: 

The first services held in Billings by a minister of 
this denomination were held in 1882 by Rev. W. W. 
VanOrsdel. Then in June, 1883, Rev. F. A. Riggin, 
superintendent of missions for Montana, and Rev. G. C. 
Stull, pastor at Miles City, came together and held 
meetings. In 1884 a class was formed with R. R. Crowe 
as leader. Rev. Geo. Comfort, of Bozeman, was pre¬ 
siding ejder, and Rev. S. E. Snider was appointed pas¬ 
tor, who continued until July 9, 1885, when he was 
succeeded by Rev. J. L. Guiler, under whose pastorate 
the present brick church was erected. 

The class was small in numbers, and it was a hard 
struggle, but with faith in God they triumphed. In 1887 
Rev r . Jacob Mills succeeded Rev. Geo. Comfort as pre¬ 
siding elder, and Rev. W. A. Shannon became pastor 
in charge, and in 1888 he was followed by Rev. Jas. W. 
Tait, who at the end of the year was obliged to leave 
on account of his wife’s health. Rev. Geo. Comfort 
succeeded to the pastorate in July, 1889, continuing until 
April 1, 1891. He was followed immediately by Rev. 
O. H. Sproul, of South Dakota, who remained until 
August 4, 1892. Then Rev. Geo. C. Stull had charge 
of the work until Nov. 12, 1893, when he was taken 
up by Bishop Fowler and made presiding elder of the 
Helena district. 

At this time Rev. F. A. Riggin was presiding elder 
of the Bozeman district, who secured the sendees of 
Rev. J. W. Jennings, of Nebraska, who remained in 
charge until August 8, 1894. Rev. J. W. Bennett be¬ 
came .presiding elder, and Rev. Philip Lowry was ap- 









HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTS. 


3°4 


pointed pastor, continuing until August 22, 1895. 1 hen 

came Rev. John Hosking for one year, who was fol¬ 
lowed by E. C. Avis, who was expelled from the 
ministry by the annual conference. At a request of 
many leading citizens Rev. Geo. C. Stull returned to 
take* up the work under the appointment of Bishop 

Cranston, remaining until April, 1898, when he responded 

to his country’s call, going to Manila, P. I., as chaplain 
of the First Montana regiment of volunteers. From 
April to September, 1898, the charge was vacant, when 
Rev. Jacob Mills assumed the pastorate by appointment 
of Bishop Mallalieu. 

The following history of St. Luke’s Epis¬ 
copal church of Billings was prepared for this 
work by a bishop of that denomination: 

Billings was born in the summer of 1882 on the 
approach of the Northern Pacific railway. The first 
services of the church were held here in the fall of 
that year and in early winter of 1883 by the Rev. \\ il- 
liam Horsfall. I visited Billings for the first time on 
the 18th of February, 1883, and by the courtesy of the 
Rev. Mr. Shuart held services morning and evening 
at the Congregational church, which had just been built. 
During the summer and fall of that year the Rev. 
Frank B. Lewis came down from Bozeman once 
a month and held services and prepared the way for 
the coming of a permanent missionary. 

On the first of January came Rev. Alfred Brown 
from Kansas to take charge of the Billings and Liv¬ 
ingston churches. He resided at Billings and went 
twice a month to Livingston. The mission was named 
St. Luke’s after St. Luke’s church of Rochester, N. Y„ 
which gave several hundred dollars toward the building 
of a church. Services were first held here in the old 
railway station building, then in an empty store, then 
in the parlor of a hotel. Obliged successively to relin¬ 
quish these places, and there being no other to be se¬ 
cured Mr. Brown was obliged to make an effort to 
build. Lots were given by the townsite company on 
south 29th street. Ten or twelve hundred dollars 
were raised by subscription, and in 1886 our first 
church in Billings was occupied for services. 

Mr. Brown remained a little over four years, and 
then because of ill health gave up his work. He was 
succeeded by Rev. Chas. H. Linley, who came to Mon¬ 
tana from Nassau, in the Bahama islands. He re¬ 
mained three years. His work was especially marked 
by the starting of services at Red Lodge, which in 
1891 came into prominence as a coal mining camp. 
Ours was the first regular service held in that place. 
Mr. Linley was succeeded by Rev. Herbert G. Sharpley. 
who came to 11s directly after his graduation from the 
theological seminary and his ordination to the diacon- 
ate. His stay was only about fourteen months. He was 
succeeded by Rev. Chas.' H. Rainsberg, who had pre¬ 


viously been missionary for two years at White Sulphur 
Springs. Mr. Rainsberg remained for nearly three 
years. His successor was Rev. Albert Carswell, from 
the diocese of Toronto, Canada, whose work covered a 
period of between five and six years. During his in¬ 
cumbency the church was enlarged by the addition of 
the chancel and vestry room. 

In the spring of 1901 Rev. Anton T. Gesner took 
up the work laid down by Mr. Carswell, but remained 
only about eighteen months. On the first of January, 
1903, the present incumbent, Rev. J. J. Bowker, suc¬ 
ceeded to the charge in Yellowstone and Carbon coun¬ 
ties. From the time that Rev. Lindley. began work 
in Red Lodge up to June 1, 1904, Calvary mission, Red 
Lodge, was under the charge of the missionary at Bil¬ 
lings. Under the vigorous and efficient management of 
Mr. Bowker the work has been divided and Carbon 
county set off as a missionary field by itself. In Billings 
a beautiful $12,000 church and a commodious rectory 
have been built on the north side of the track. It was 
opened on Palm Sunday, 1906. 

The following history of Catholicism in 
Billings has been prepared by Father Thomas 
F. Stack, the present pastor: 

Catholicism in Billings is as old as the town itself. 
In the early summer of 1883 Rev. Father Palladino, S. 
J., who is at present pastor of the St. Francis Xavier 
church. Missoula, was the first priest to say mass’ here. 
The first baptism was performed by Father Barcelo 
in November, 1884. About this time Father Halton, 
of the Dakotas, who became a priest of the diocese of 
Helena for a short time, was appointed pastor of Liv¬ 
ingston, * with Billings as a mission attached thereto. 
During one of his visits to Billings he secured two lots, 
the present ones on which the church now stands, and 
the people of Billings erected thereon a church costing 
two thousand dollars. The names of the men who 
made up the building committee of this church were 
Dr. Rhinehart (at present an honorable citizen of our 
community), Patrick Gogarthy, now residing in Wash¬ 
ington state, and Thomas Hogan, a well-to-do and 
much respected rancher of Carbon county. The church 
was blessed August 21, 1887, under the title of St. 
Joachim. 

For some time previous to the building of the 
church, up to the spring of 1888, Billings was attended 
by the Jesuit fathers from St. Xavier’s mission among 
the Crows. At this time it became a dependency of 
Miles City parish, and was attended every fourth Sun¬ 
day from Miles City by Father Pauwelyn. In 1891 
Father Pauwelyn was promoted to Butte, and Billings 
was for the second time attached to the Livingston 
parish. Father Coopman was pastor at Livingston at 
that time and attended Billings regularly until the 
spring of 1897, when Father VanClarenbeek was ap- 












HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


305 


pointed as the first resident pastor, coming direct from 
Kalispel. He remained pastor of Billings till December, 
1904, when he was removed to Lewistown, where he is 
at present working for the material as well as the 
spiritual advancement of his people and the community. 

During Father VanClarenbeek’s pastorate of al¬ 
most seven years he purchased the two lots upon which 
at present the rectory is built, and built the rectory 
thereon. He also got a tower built on the old church 
and secured a bell for the same. He it was who 
finished the church and made it fit for divine services. It 
was during his pastorate that the present St. Vincent's 
hospital was built. The Catholics of Billings should 
never forget his labors among them. * * * On his 
assuming work the congregation was worshipping in a 
small church, with rather meagre accessories. Father 
VanClarenbeek has thoroughly vitalized the parish, has 
expended two thousand dollars in beautifying the in¬ 
terior of the church, and in 1898-99 erected the priest's 
house and St. Vincent’s hospital. 

In December, 1904, Father Thos. F. Stack was ap¬ 
pointed pastor of Billings, coming direct from Red 
Lodge. In the May following, seeing that a larger 
church yvas needed for the people and a better site 
required, he purchased at a cost of four thousand dol¬ 
lars the six lots on Thirty-first street and Third avenue 
north, and thereon is having built the beautiful Gothic 
church, the corner stone of which was laid August 12, 
1906. Father Stack is being assisted in this grand and 
great work by the following building committee and 
the board of trustes: Hon. Thomas S. Hogan, chair¬ 
man; Messrs. Frank X. N. Rademaker, William H. 
McCormick and Henry Gerhartz. With these four 
men to advise him, and with a united and generous 
people behind him, Father Stack has no reason to fear, 
and does not fear, but that his new church will be fin¬ 
ished in a reasonable short time and with little, if any, 
debt. 

The history of the First Baptist Church 
of Billings is furnished by Mr. J. S. Simineo: 

In the month of January, 1898, three women, Mrs. 
W. P. Trask, Mrs. Fielding Wilhite and Mrs. J. S. 
Simineo, met at the home of the latter to discuss the 
advisability of forming a Baptist Ladies Aid, with a 
view of searching out all the Baptists in the city. What 
was said at this meeting is not a matter of record, but 
the fruit sown that day is quite evident at the present 
time. On the 14th of the following August a prelim¬ 
inary organization was affected, which was made perm¬ 
anent October 9, 1898. Rev. Limes was called to take 
up the pastorate together with his work at Basin City, 
Wyoming, holding services in the court house twice 
each month. On account of the great demand for Mr. 
L : mes at Basin he resigned from our church April 30, 
1899. 


The following ten months were dark ones. With 
small financial resources, without a pastor, and no 
church building, the outlook was very discouraging. 
In February, 1900, Evangelist Rozelle and wife held 
special meetings with us, and a Sunday school was or¬ 
ganized February 18, 1900. March 1, 1900. Rev. Will¬ 
iam Remington took charge of the field. During his 
pastorate a Baptist Young People’s Union was organ¬ 
ized; weekly services were held in the court house; 
the Sunday school increased in numbers and interest; 
several were added to the church; and the great work 
of building was commenced. The pastoral work and 
the work of building being more than he could endure, 
Pastor Remington closed his labors October 1, 1902. 

In the spring of 1900 lots were purchased, which 
exhausted the funds, and there being none of the mem¬ 
bers rich with this world’s goods, there was nothing 
done until the summer of 1901, when excavation was 
commenced and a foundation completed, which again 
exhausted the church treasury. Now comes the struggle 
in the history of the church. Faint hearts wavered, but 
Pastor Remington—noble man—with great faith in God, 
spoke words of encouragement and said time and again, 
“It will come; it will be built.” A rallying came; the 
members went into their pockets liberally; the Home 
mission society gave $500 and kind friends came to the 
relief; the Ladies Aid society gave $300; the Sunday 
school, from the youngest to the oldest, came with their 
pennies to the extent of $100. 

Rev. C. B. Miller took hold of the work October 1, 
1902, and pushed the work already commenced by Rev. 
Remington, and on May 3, 1903, the now splendid 
church building was opened for services, at which time 
the membership was forty-three. Rev. Miller, desiring 
to again enter school and complete his education, re¬ 
signed the pastorate June 1, • 1905, very much to the 
regret of the entire membership. When Rev. Miller 
left, the membership had increased to over one hundred. 
July 1, 1905, Rev. Willard Fuller, of Jamestown, N. D., 
was called to the pastorate, and under his ministration 
the church has still continued to grow, and at the an¬ 
nual business meeting August 30, 1906, the books show 
a membership of 126 active members. Rev. Fuller’s 
work closed with the church September 1. 1906, and the 
church has called to its pastorate Rev. Daniel G. Dun- 
kin, of Hope, Indiana, whose work commenced 
October 1. 

Billings has the following fraternal se¬ 
cret organizations, the list being arranged 
alphabetically: 

Ancient Order United Workmen, Yellow¬ 
stone Lodge, No. 24; Degree of Honor, Mis- 
pah Lodge, No. 29. 

Benevolent Protective Order Elks, Billings 
Lodge, No. 394. 


20 





3°6 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


Brotherhood of American Yeomen, Bil¬ 
lings Homestead, No. 552. 

Fraternal Order Eagles, Aerie No.' 176. 

Grand Army of the Republic, McKinley 
Post, No. 28. 

Independent Order Odd Fellows, Billings 
Star Lodge, No. 41; Eureka Lodge, No. 69; 
Little Horn Encampment, No. 12; Olive 
Lodge, No. 40 (Daughters of Rebekah); Zelda 
Lodge, No. 14 (Daughters of Rebekah). 

Improved Order Red Men, Absarokee 
Tribe, 2028. 

Knights of the Maccabees, Billings Tent, 
No. 15; Yellowstone Hive, No. 34 (L. O. T. 
M.). 

Knights of Pythias, Rathbone Lodge, No. 
28; Oriental Division, No. 28 (U. R.) ; 
Sanger Temple, No. 2 (Rathbone Sisters). 

Masonic, Aldemar Commandery, No. 5 
(K. T.); Ashlar Lodge, No. 29 (A. F. & A. 
M.) ; Billings Chapter, No. 6- (R. A. M.) ; 
Edna Chapter, No. 14 (O. E. S.). 

Modern Woodmen of America, Billings 
Camp, No. 6269; Bitter Root Camp, No. 1964. 

Mountaineers, Billings Cabin No. 1. 

Order der Hermann Sohne, Germania 
Lodge, No. 7; Idelweiss Lodge, No. 12 
(Daughters of the Hermann Sons). 

Royal Highlanders, Yellowstone Castle, 
No. 172. 

Woodmen of the World, Magic City Camp, 
No. 593; Magic City Circle, No. 169 (Wo¬ 
men of Woodcraft).s 

The Masons were the first to effect an or¬ 
ganization in Billings. A meeting of Master 
Masons was held at the court house on July 
28, 1883, to take the first steps toward an or¬ 
ganization. Judge McGinnis presided over 
the meeting, and F. B. Stoneman was secre¬ 
tary. A resolution was passed to form a lodge 
to be known as Ashlar lodge, and a requisition 
was signed by those present. A dispensation 
for this lodge, numbered 29, was made Octo¬ 
ber 5, 1883, and a charter was granted Octo¬ 
ber 1, 1884. The first officers were Sidney 


H. Erwin, W. M.; Herman H. Mund, S. W.; 
Alex. Devine, J. W. 

Billings Chapter, No. 6, R. A. M., was 
granted a dispensation May 6, 1886, and the 
charter from the General Grand Chapter, U. 
S. A., was dated October 1, 1886. The first 
officers were: Sam. J. Prentiss, high priest: 
Albert L. Babcock, king; Paul VanLoon. 
scribe. A charter from the Grand Chapter of 
Montana was granted June 26, 1891, and the 
first officers under that charter were: Chas. 
A. Dewar, high priest; Henry G. Williams, 
king; Lewis H. Fenske, scribe. 

• The date of dispensation for Aldemar Com¬ 
mandery, No. 5, Knights Templar, was July 
25, 1888. The first officers were: Samuel J 
Prentiss, E. C.; Jas. H. McLeary, G.; Albert 
L. Babcock, C. G. 

Edna Chapter, Order Eastern Star, was in¬ 
stituted at Billings March 14, 1894, with a 
membership of 66. The officers weTe: Mrs. 
O. E. Railsback, W. M.; Mrs. S. F. Morse, 
W. P.; Mrs. W. H. Donovan, A. M.; Mrs. U. 
E. Frizelle, secretary; Mrs. A. L. Babcock, 
treasurer. 

The second order to perfect an organiza¬ 
tion in Billings was the Ancient Order of 
United Workmen, which came into existence 
in 1884 with a large membership. W. B. 
Webb was M. W., and B. S. Scott recorder. 
The lodge was known as Yellowstone. It was 
reorganized March 9, 1894, with a membership 
of 13. 

Post No. 24, of the Grand Army of the 
Republic, was the next organization to have 
an existence in Billings, being organized in 
1885, with J. R. Goss as commander and M. 
G. Mains adjutant. The G. A. R. is now rep7 
resented by McKinley Post, No. 28. 

Billings Star Lodge, No. 41, I. O. O. F., 
was instituted April 24, 1891, with a charter 
membership of 36. The first officers were: 
E. S. Holmes, N. G.; W. B. Chrysler, V. G.; 
Chas. F. Burton, secretary; W. H. Heffner, 
treasurer. Zelda Lodge No. 14, Daughters 






HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


307 


cf Rebekah, was organized April 26, 1893, 
with 34 charter members. 

Rathbone Lodge, No. 28, Knights of 
Pythias, was organized in July, 1891, with 
47 charter members. The lodge was instituted 
on the 31st of July with the following officers: 
Geo. A. Roberts, P. C.; J. O. Dalzell, C. C.; 
H. K. Fish, V. C.; G. L. Parkhill, prelate; 
W. L. Ramsey, M. A.; Ii. L. Knight, K. of R. 
and S.; H. M. Allen, M. of F.; Alex. Graham, 
M. of E.; H. K. Fish, E. W. Dunne, S. W. 
Soule, J. C. Bond, H. L. Knight, U. E. Fri- 
zelle, H. M. Allen, Alex. Graham and Geo. A. 
Roberts, past chancellors. Billings Division, 
No. 8, Uniform Rank, K. P.; was organized in 
September, 1892, with 33 members. 

The American Railway Union was organ¬ 


ized in February, 1894, the lodge being No. 
128, and having a membership of 50. T. W. 
Humphrey was president, J. Fred Carter, vice- 
president, and W. E. Burr, secretary. Among 
the other organizations of the early days which 
have since gone out of existence were the 
Knights of Labor and the P. O. S. of A. This 
completes the list of early day organizations 
in Billings. The many others now in existence 
were organized at later dates. 

Among the trades and labor organizations 
are the following: Billings Federal Labor 

Union, No. 133 (W. L. U.); Barbers Protec¬ 
tive Union, No. 137; Carpenters Union, No. 
1172; Cigarmakers Union; Typographical 
Union. 


CHAPTER VI 


OTHER TOWNS. 


Besides the city of Billings there are sev¬ 
eral towns and villages in Yellowstone county. 
These are Columbus, Laurel, Park City, Hunt- 
ley. Junction and Musselshell. Other postof¬ 
fices, railroad stations or points of settlement 
are Custer, Fattig, Rapids, Roundup, Summit 
and several others. 

COLUMBUS. 

Probably the second city of importance in 
Yellowstone county is Columbus, situated in 
the extreme western part of the county, forty 
miles up the Yellowstone valley from Billings. 

Owing to its favorable location, Columbus 
enjoys a thriving trade, drawing from a large 
stretch of tributary country. It is on the main 
line of the Northern Pacific railroad and is the 
terminus of two stage lines, one running to 
Busteed on the north, the other to Absarokee 


and Nye on the southwest. All lines of busi¬ 
ness are represented here, and the town sup¬ 
ports an excellent school and a Congregational 
church. One of the leading industries is the 
quarrying of building stone. In all the im¬ 
mense supply of this material that walls the 
sides of the Yellowstone valley nowhere is 
any found that equals in color and texture the 
product of this place. The industry has been 
developed for many years, and public buildings 
in all parts of that state have drawn fipon 
the resources of these quarries for building ma¬ 
terial. The state capitol at Helena is built of 
Columbus sandstone; the new federal building 
at Helena, public buildings in Butte, Billings 
and many other cities of Montana have taken 
much of this product. 

It is as the town of Stillwater that we 
must consider much of the early history of 
Columbus, the change in name not taking 








3°8 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


place until January i, 1894. This point en¬ 
joys the distinction of being the home of the 
first settlers of Yellowstone county—in fact, 
was the lowest point on the river to receive 
white settlers. So early as 1875 Horace Coun¬ 
tryman, C. H. Countryman and W. H. Nor¬ 
ton settled at a point two miles west of the 
present town and opened a trading post. In 
1877, when the mail and stage line through 
the Yellowstone valley was established, Hor¬ 
ace Countryman was the proprietor of the stage 
station which was established at his place. A 
postoffice named Stillwater was also estab¬ 
lished here, and Mr. Countryman became the 
postmaster which position he held for many 
years. 

When the Northern Pacific railroad built 
through the valley in 1882 a station was es- 
stablished at the present site of the town of 
Columbus, and this was also named Stillwater. 
Thither the postoffice was moved, and in a 
short time quite a little village had made its 
appearance. Here was established a ferry 
across the river by Horace and C. H. Country¬ 
man, who were also the proprietors of a hotel. 
W. H. Norton engaged in the general store 
business, as did also J. I. Allen, an old timer in 
the Yellowstone valley, who had been in the 
country for several years as interpreter, guide 
and hunter. A school was established, and 
Mrs. Wilkinson was employed as teacher. 

Stillwater did not grow as rapidly as did 
many of the towns which came into being with 
the building of the railroad, and there was no 
“boom period” there. A prosperous trade was 
enjoyed by the few business houses that con¬ 
stituted the town, however, and Stillwater be¬ 
came known early as one of the substantial 
towns of Yellowstone county. Horace Coun¬ 
tryman platted the townsite February 19, 1889. 

Owing to the similarity of the. abbrevia¬ 
tions of the names of the states of Montana 
and Minnesota and the fact that there was a 
city of Stillwater in the latter state, the North¬ 
ern Pacific railroad officials and the people 


generally were inconvenienced by the delivery 
of express and mail matter to the Minnesota 
town, so a change in name was decided upon. 
Superintendent Dorsey, of the railroad com¬ 
pany, suggested the name Columbus. A peti¬ 
tion asking that the change be made was sent 
to the postoffice department in August, 1893, 
and favorable action was taken; the name of 
the postcffice was changed to Columbus, the 
order providing that the change go into effect 
on January 1, 1894; the railroad company also 
made the change, and the station has since 
been known as Columbus. The town at this 
time had a population of about 150. 

Considerable advancement was made in 
Columbus during the year 1899, as the follow¬ 
ing from the pen of Prof. P. H. Hawkins, 
written for the Billings Gazette of October.6, 
of that year, will show: 

The present year is, however, the red letter year in 
the history of Columbus. This is not a speculator’s 
boom, but a development of the vast resources of the 
country. The bluffs to the north, which seemed valu¬ 
able only for scenery, have been found to be the best 
sandstone in the state. The capitol building at Helena 
is being constructed of it. Already a spur of the rail¬ 
road is being laid, and the vast derricks of Hager & 
Co. are placing the stone on the market. 

This was the beginning of Columbus’ ad¬ 
vancement. The population of the village was 
only 175 in 1900, but since that time it has 
probably trebled. Columbus has become am¬ 
bitious to become a county seat town and early 
in 1907 the people there made a strong effort 
to bring about the formation of a new county 
to be called Roosevelt. They failed in this, but 
are confident that at the next session of the 
legislature they will succeed and that Colum¬ 
bus will be the county seat of the new county. 
A little after this event the people of the little 
city decided that they wanted the town incor¬ 
porated, and on the 17th day of April, 1907, by 
a vote of 73 to 5, the electors declared that the 
city should begin a municipal existence at once. 








HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


309 


LAUREL. 

Sixteen miles southwest of Billings, at 
the junction of the Northern Pacific and the 
Red Lodge and Bridger branches, is located 
the town of Laurel (elevation 3,291 feet). 
Like most all the towns in the Yellowstone 
valley, Laurel is the product of natural tribu¬ 
tary conditions. The soil of neighboring 
farms is fertile, and lying, as these lands do, 
under a series of immense irrigation ditches, 
all kinds of farm products are marketed here. 

Laurel came into existence in the year 
1889, when the railroad was built from that 
point to Red Lodge, the plat being recorded 
December 5, 1889, by the Rocky Fork Town & 
Electric company. For many years the town 
made but little advancement, and was known 
principally as the railroad junction point. Now 
it has taken its place among the leading towns 
of Yellowstone county, and is building up at a 
rapid rate. It supports a good school, a Con¬ 
gregational church and three secret societies— 
Brotherhood of American Yeomen, Modern 
Woodmen of America and Royal Highlanders. 

PARK CITY. 

Park City is the name of a little town of 
about 150 people located on the main line of 
thp Northern Pacific, twenty-three miles south¬ 
west of Billings. Its elevation above sea level 
is 3,391 feet. The town supports a fine graded 
school, a Methodist church, public hall, two 
general stores, two hotels, saloons, blacksmith 
shops, livery stables, etc. 

Apples are grown in profusion, and 
peaches, pears, plums, cherries and the small 
fruits abound. Here, too, the market garden 
thrives. Tomatoes, melons and onions are 
shipped from here in large quantities, and all 
other kinds of garden truck receive a fair de¬ 
gree of attention. 

Park City dates its beginning from June, 
1882, when a colony from Ripon and other 


points in Wisconsin came to the Yellowstone 
valley, invested in property at the head of 
Clark’s Fork bottom, and started the town. 

The work of building the town continued 
without interruption. The townsite was plat¬ 
ted at once, although the records show that it 
was not filed until September 4, 1882, by E. P. 
Searles. 

In August the people of the new town were 
successful in obtaining a postoffice. On the 
4th Postmaster Young, of Young’s Point post- 
office, received notice that the name would be 
changed to Park City and that he should re¬ 
move the office to the new town. This change 
was made, and the route of the stage line was 
changed so as to supply the Park City office. 

The irrigating canal which was built in the 
early days added much to the prosperity of the 
town. But, being so close to Billings, the vil¬ 
lage did not grow into a town of any great 
size. It has, however, always been a good 
trading point, and today ranks among the sub¬ 
stantial villages of Yellowstone county. 

HUNTLEY. 

Huntley is another of the prosperous 
towns of Yellowstone county. It is located on 
the main line or the Northern Pacific railroad 
and is the junction point of that road with the 
Burlington & Missouri River railroad. -It is 
thirteen miles northeast of Billings and its ele¬ 
vation is 3,018 feet above sea level. Being on 
the south side of the Yellowstone river, it was 
within the boundaries of the Crow Indian res¬ 
ervation until a short time ago, when that por¬ 
tion of the reservation was thrown open to set¬ 
tlement. Therefore it was little more than a 
railroad station until that event. Since then 
it has grown and taken its place as one of the 
coming towns of the county. The government 
irrigation project, known as the “Huntley pro¬ 
ject,” whereby a large tract of the recently 
opened reservation is to be irrigated by the 
government, has attracted considerable atten- 







3 io 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


tion to the new town and has aided wonder¬ 
fully in its growth. 

Huntley, on its present location came into 
existence as a railroad station when the North¬ 
ern Pacific railroad built through, but for sev¬ 
eral years before that date there was a Huntley 
just across the river on the north bank which 
played an important part in the early history 
of this part of the valley. The site of the old 
towns was historic ground. There in 1872 was 
fought the famous Baker’s battle with the 
Sioux Indians, and the place became known far 
and wide as Baker’s battle ground. So 
early as 1877, when the first settlers in this 
part of the Yellowstone valley were selecting 
their homes, a few frontiersmen settled here. 
These men were Omar Hoskins, Thos. Mc- 
Girl, Black and Daniels. The last two were 
engaged in the freighting business, and selected 
this point as a supply station for their trains 
going up and down the river. The place also 
became a stage station on the Bozeman-Miles 
City route, and Hoskins & McGirl were the 
proprietors of this. In March, 1878, Huntley 
postoffice was established, and Mr. Hoskins 
was the first postmaster. The station was 
named Huntley, after S. O. Huntley of Clark 
& Huntley, pioneer stage contractors, who 
afterwards conducted stage lines in the Yel¬ 
lowstone National Park. 

A census taken in 1880 disclosed the fact 
that there were on Baker’s battle ground and 
in the village of Huntley 37 people. Here had 
gathered the wolfers, trappers and hunters in 
the early days, and it was only natural that a 
little village should grow up at this point. On 
July 6, 1879, the steamer F. Y. Batchelor 
(Captain Grant Marsh) arrived here with a 
big consignment of freight for Bozeman, and 
the little place for a time assumed the impor¬ 
tance that would attach itself to the head of 
navigation of the Yellowstone. In 1885 the 
town boasted of the following business enter¬ 
prises: Postoffice, two stores, a hotel and a 
blacksmith shop. 


JUNCTION. 

Very prettily located on the north bank of 
the Yellowstone under a high bluff, which pro¬ 
tects the town from the northern winds in 
winter, about 55 miles northeast of Billings, 
is the little village of Junction. The town is 
a little bit above, and on the opposite side of 
Yellowstone from the mouth of the Big Horn 
river, in the extreme eastern part of the county. 
Its business houses comprise a general store, 
saloons, restaurants, blacksmith shop and other 
minor enterprises. 

Junction is the leading town in eastern Yel¬ 
lowstone county, and is a place of much his¬ 
torical importance. In the summer of 1877, 
under the orders of General William T. Sher¬ 
man, a supply depot for the United States 
army was established on the south bank of the 
Yellowstone, just opposite the present location 
of Junction, and named Cantonment Terry, 
in honor of General Terry. 

On the site of the present town of Junction, 
in the month of June, 1877, William Taylor 
located with a little stock of goods, and there 
opened a trading store, his patrons being the 
soldiers left to guard the supply depot and 
Crow Indians. This trading post was first 
called Terry’s Landing, and when the stage 
line wa$ established it became one of the sta¬ 
tions of that line. It did not become a plac^.of 
much importance until the year 1880. In that 
year we find that the little town and the sur¬ 
rounding country, known as Sage Brush, 
boasted of a population of 41 people. 

The coming of the railroad did not greatly 
increase the population of Junction, but those 
who had made this place their home enjoyed a 
good trade with Fort Custer and Fort Mag- 
innis and the mines in the vicinity. In the 
early days the town was known as a “typical 
western town.” The Junction City townsite 
was platted and approved by the county com- 
missionefs of Custer county on March 8, 1883. 

On Thursday afternoon, April 5, 1883, a 








HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


large portion of the business part of the town 
was destroyed by fire, entailing a loss of about 
$10,000. In 1888 the town had a population 
of about 200. 

With changing conditions around it the 
town itself changed, until it is today a quiet 
business community of intelligent and indus¬ 
trious citizens. A new era is beginning here 
on account of the opening of the Crow reserva¬ 
tion. The favorable location of Junction, in 
the very midst of this great tract of irrigable 
land, is affording opportunity to her merchants 
to build up an excellent trade. The land in the 
vicinity is all fertile and only waiting the ad¬ 
vent of water to rival any portion of the Yel¬ 
lowstone valley. 

MUSSELSHELL. 

In the northeastern part of Yellowstone 
county, on the Musselshell river, 68 miles 
northeast of Billings and 42 miles northwest 
of Junction, is the little village of Musselshell. 
The town supports a good school, a Methodist 
church, two lodges (M. W. A., Musselshell 
Camp No. 10,514; and R. N. A., Isabella 
Camp No. 3908), one general store, hotel, 
livery stable, blacksmith shop and saloon. It 
is connected by a stage and mail line with Bill¬ 
ings, and is the terminus of four other lines 
which extend to neighboring postoffices. Set¬ 
tlement was first made here in 1882. 

Musselshell is the center of a large cattle 
and wool growing district, and a large amount 
of business is done here, it being the leading 
town of northern Yellowstone county. 

OTHER PLACES. 

Besides these places already mentioned are 
a number of postoffices, railway stations and 
settlements. Allendale is on a spur of the North¬ 
ern Pacific 13 miles west of Billings. A town- 
site was laid out here January 6, 1893, by Dr. 
W. A. Allen and J. L. Guyler. The following 


3ii 


year a flouring mill was completed, and an at¬ 
tempt was made to found a town, which, how¬ 
ever, resulted in failure. 

Anita is a railroad station on the B. & M. 
R. fifteen miles east of Huntley, the nearest 
postoffice. Ballantine is another station on the 
same road nine miles northeast of Huntley. 
Bull Mountain is a station on the N. P. 38 
miles northeast of Billings. Clermont is a 
station on the same road 21 miles northeast 
of Billings. Corinth is a station on the Bur¬ 
lington 22 miles east of Huntley. Custer is a 
postoffice, station and little village on the main 
line of the Northern Pacific 53 miles north¬ 
east of Billings. While until recently Custer 
was on the Crow reservation, that point has 
been quite a little shipping point ever since 
the Northern Pacific railroad was built. In 
the late eighties it was the shipping point for 
Buffalo, Lander, Dayton, Fort Custer and 
many other towns and supply points in north¬ 
ern Wyoming and on the Crow reservation. 
There were four warehouses, a store, two 
blacksmith shops, railroad station and the resi¬ 
dence of the agent. Since the opening of the 
northern part of the reservation Custer has 
grown into quite a little village. 

Fattig is a country postoffice on Fattig 
creek, 50 miles northeast of Billings. It has 
daily mail and stage from Billings. Six miles 
northeast of Billings is Lockwood station on 
the Northern Pacific. Mifflin is a station on 
the Cody branch of the Burlington 15 miles 
southwest of Toluca. Peritsa is a station on 
the Burlington about midway between Fort 
Custer and Toluca. Pompey’s Pillar is a sta¬ 
tion on the main line of the Northern Pacific, 
29 miles northeast of Billings, and located 
near the famous rock of the same name. Ron¬ 
ald is a station on the Cody branch of the Bur¬ 
lington, eight miles southwest of Toluca. 
Roundup is the name of a country postoffice on 
the Musselshell river, 45 miles northeast of 
Billings, with which city it is connected by a 
stage and mail route. Summit is an interior 






3 12 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


postoffice 30 miles northeast of Billings. It 
has a daily mail from Billings. Toluca is the 
junction point of the main line of the Burling¬ 
ton and the Cody branch. It is 16 miles north¬ 
west of Fort Custer, its nearest postoffice. 
Waco is a station on the Northern Pacific be¬ 
tween Custer and Bull Mountain. Wolf Spring 
is the name of a country postoffice 26 miles 
northwest of Custer. It is on the stage and 
mail line between Musselshell and Custer. 


Rapids is a station on the Northern Pacific 
eight miles southeast of Columbus and 32 miles 
southwest of Billings. The station is 3,483 
feet above the level of the sea. There was 
formerly a postoffice at this point, but it has 
been discontinued. It is one of the oldest settled 
portions of the county, Mr. Isaac M. Hensley 
having taken up a ranch there in 1877. The 
postoffice was established in 1881, and Mr. 
Hensley was the first postmaster. 


CHAPTER VII 


DESCRIPTIVE. 


Yellowstone county lies a little to the south 
and east of the center of the state of Montana. 

It is bounded on the north by Fergus county, 
from which it is separated by the Musselshell 
river; on the east by Rosebud county, on the 
south by the Crow Indian reservation and Car¬ 
bon county, and on the west by . Sweet Grass 
county. Prior to the opening of the Crow 
lands in 1906 the area of Yellowstone county 
was 3710 square miles, and this recent acquisi¬ 
tion has added about one-third more. This 
gives the county an area larger than the com¬ 
bined areas of the states of Delaware and j 
Rhode Island, and yet the county is not classed ; 
among the large counties of Montana. 

The territory of Yellowstone county is a 
prolongation of the Great Plains region, which j 
covers nearly the whole of eastern Montana. | 
The surface of nearly the whole of the county 1 
is level or gently undulating, and the elevation j 
varies from 3,000 to a little over 4,000 feet 
above sea. level. The soil varies from a sandy 
loam to “gumbo,” and from a few inches to 
40 feet in depth. The Yellowstone and Mussel¬ 
shell rivers, the principal streams of the county, 
have carved narrow valleys through the plain. I 
so that their bottom lands are bounded by steep 


bluffs a hundred or more feet in height. Trib¬ 
utaries of these two streams have cut other 
narrower valleys at numerous places. A trav¬ 
eler passing along these two river courses 
| finds them bounded by bench lands, whose 
j nearly level surface appears to be so high above 
the river as to render the introduction of water 
upon them of doubtful practicability. 

While Yellowstone county is a compara¬ 
tive level country, its scenic beauties are not to 
| be overlooked. Standing upon the brow of the 
high cliff overlooking the city of Billings, a 
heroic picture unfolds itself. Dotting the face 
of the sunlit sweep of russet valley and steppe 
here and there are the green and amber squares 
of grain fields and newly plowed lands, amid 
which the modest homes of the settlers nestle. 
As far as the eye can follow these cheerful 
signs of possessive life may be traced in the 
midst of a region which but a few years ago 
was penciled in the sombre tints of a forbid¬ 
ding and uninhabited desert by some of the 
foremost explorers and writers of the day. Far 
away on the horizon the white masses of the 
mountains loom up mistily in their solemn 
stillness, the broad sweep of yellow terrace 
melting imperceptibly into the curtained vapors 













HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


3 J 3 


at their feet. For miles the picturesque curves 
of the Yellowstone wind across green meadows 
or beneath shadowing cliffs, its surface here 
and there casting back the lance points of the 
sun, and over all the perspective is the mellow, 
golden haze that lends its indescribable charm 
to all mountain prospects. 

Yellowstone county is as fine a stock and 
agricultural country as can be found anywhere 
in the United States. It is covered with herds 
of cattle and flocks of sheep, while the num¬ 
erous valleys are dotted with irrigated farms. 
Mayor Fred H. Foster, one of the early set¬ 
tlers of the county, has written of the condi¬ 
tion of the country in which he has so long 
made his home: 

We have one of the few considerable areas of agri¬ 
cultural land capable of irrigation at moderate cost to 
be found in Montana. Our farms are bounded not by 
inaccessible mountains, but by gently rolling grazing 
lands, affording excellent feed and natural shelter. The 
Yellowstone river and its tributaries are mountain 
streams fed by perpetual snows, and can annually deliver 
more water per mile at less cost than any other river 
system in the northwest, except perhaps the Clark’s 
Fork of the Columbia. The Yellowstone valley around 
Billings contains the only large body of agricultural land 
from Lake Yellowstone to Fort Buford. Other valleys 
can perhaps raise more grain per acre, we alone over a 
considerable area can annually produce every agricul¬ 
tural product of the middle states. Other grazing lands 
may afford better feed in summer. But throughout the 
winter for hundreds of square miles we have natural 
shelter, hills bare of snow and covered with grass, and 
generous stacks of irrigated hay. Of no other stock 
region in the northwest is this true. The range losses 
of a dozen years have proven that here we have the 
lightest snow fall, the warmest climate, the best winter 
feed and shelter and the most abundant hay crop. In 
no other region in the northwest are such large area 
of agricultural lands tempered with so mild a climate, 
fed with such abundant streams, surrounded with such 
an ideal stock range. Nowhere else can every farmer 
be a stockman and every stockman be a farmer. 

The county is very well watered. 1 lie 
Yellowstone is the principal stream, flowing 
through.the county in a generally northeastern 
direction. Into this, within the borders of the 
county, flow over a score of more or less im¬ 


portant creeks and rivers. From the south 
come Duck, Blue, Bitter, Pryor, Arrow, Lost 
Boy, Mill and Sand creeks and Big Horn river. 
Into the Big Horn from the Yellowstone 
county side come Mission and Sorrel Horse 
creeks. Flowing into the Yellowstone from 
the north are the following creeks: Keyser, 
Hensley, Tilden, Valley, Canyon, Alkali, Five- 
Mile, Twelve-Mile, Crooked, Razor, Pompey’s 
Pillar, Hibbard and Buffalo. Bounding the 
county on the north is the Musselshell, one of 
the principal tributaries of the Missouri. The 
main branch of the Musselshell takes its rise 
in the Belt range of mountains; a southern 
branch has its source in the Crazy mountains, 
and the two streams unite at Martinsdale, in 
Meagher county. From that point for a dis¬ 
tance of 150 to 175 miles the river flows in a 
general easterly direction on a line almost par¬ 
allel with the Yellowstone and at an average 
distance of about 40 miles from it. At what 
is called in local parlance the Big Bend the 
river makes a broad turn and flows northerly 
to its junction point with the Missouri; at this 
point of turning it leaves Yellowstone county. 
The principal creeks flowing into the Mussel¬ 
shell from Yellowstone county are as follows: 
Fish, Big Coulee, Painted Robe. Deer, Gould- 
ing, Half Breed, Fattig, Hawks and Carpen¬ 
ter. In what is known as the Lake Basin, in 
the western part of the county, are several 
streams which have no apparent outlet. Among 
these are Whitney. Cedar, Gurney, Adobe, 
Greenwood and Comanche creeks. 

The tales of the genial climate of Yellow¬ 
stone county have been a cause of much incre¬ 
dulity on the part of those persons unac¬ 
quainted with local conditions. The climate is 
dry, as is proven by the fact that irrigation is 
necessary to insure successful farming. The 
hot growing weather of summer (accompan¬ 
ied by the restful coolness of the nights, due 
to the elevation), the moderate temperature of 
the sunny, open winters, and the exhilarating 
brightness of the 300 days of sunshine, are all 





3H 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


facts that are hard to reconcile with the ex¬ 
perience of local conditions elsewhere. The 
country is protected by the surrounding moun¬ 
tains, and it never gets very cold in winter, as 
the chinook winds prevent the cold from taking 
any vigorous or long-continued hold. There 
is seldom any cold winds in the Yellowstone 
valley when the weather is cold. Neither is 
the snow fall heavy, there being less than in 
southern New York or southern Ohio. Fruit 
trees are never killed by frost. The following 
table shows the average monthly and yearly 
temperature of the county : 

Degrees 


Month Fahr. 

January . 24.4 

February. 26.5 

March . 31.1 

April . 50.5 

May . 57.9 

June . 62.9 

July . 72.6 

August . 69.3 

September . 58.6 

October . 51.5 

November . 30.8 

December . 28.9 

Yearly average .47.0 


Stock raising and farming are the principal 
industries of the people of Yellowstone county, 
the backbone of the county's prosperity. We 
shall tell of these industries in the words of 
the Billings Gazette of April, 1905: 

STOCK RAISING. 

Cattle. Cattle raising was the first important stock 
interest to find place on the vast open ranges adjacent to 
the Yellowstone valley. The rich native grasses and 
the mild winter weather permitted the easy fattening of 
cattle and their safe wintering. At the present time ship¬ 
ments of southern cattle to Montana ranges have prac¬ 
tically ceased, and the vast cattle outfits are largely 
succeeded by individual owners of herds, seldom ex¬ 
ceeding 500 in number. Some of these smaller herds 
range together with the sheep, and all do well if over¬ 
crowding is avoided. A few still have exclusive range. 
Nearly all of our farmers now handle small bunches 
of cattle, many of these being brought to the home 
ranch during a part of the winter for alfalfa feeding. 

• 


Horses. In the development 'of that most noble 
animal, the horse, the Yellowstone valley has not been 
behind her neighbors. On ranch and range the quality 
of the individual horse has been gradually improved, 
so that a shipment of Yellowstone valley horses to the 
eastern or southern market is now able to compete 
with those of much older sections. Six thousand 
horses were shipped from Billings during the year 
1904, many of them bringing fancy prices. 

Sheep. The rapid development of the sheep rais¬ 
ing business is largely responsible for the corresponding 
decline in large cattle holdings. For a long time sheep 
owners depended on the ranges for both summer and 
winter feed, but so few winters passed during which 
sheep are safely carried through by this method that 
nearly all in the vicinity now depend on more or less 
winter feeding. For this purpose vast crops of alfalfa 
grown by the valley farmers are utilized. There is an¬ 
other phase of alfalfa feeding to sheep that is receiv¬ 
ing much attention, that is winter feeding for market. 
About 250,000 head are fattened each winter near Bil¬ 
lings, largely without grain. An average gain of 20 
pounds per head is easily obtained by ordinary open 
air alfalfa feeding. 

Poultry. This county raises large quantities of 
poultry. Turkeys do well, and many geese and ducks 
are raised. 

Swine. The raising of hogs has been successful in 
this vicini.ty. They are summered on alfalfa and fat¬ 
tened on corn, bran, wheat or oats. 

Bees. Considerable attention is given to the raising 
of bees. The vast alfalfa fields yield a quantity of 
honey even superior to the clover honey of the east. 

FARMING. 

Diversified agriculture is unusually successful in 
rhe Yellowstone valley. The soil here is adapted to 
every form of cereal growth. An eighty acre irrigated 
farm in the Yellowstone valley will insure annual re¬ 
turns of wheat, oats, rye, barley and corn at a lower 
price than any rain belt district of the middle west. 
Such a farm will yield an average of 4,000 bushels of 
mixed cereals every twelve months. This grain never 
sells for less than one cent a pound on the local 
markets. 

Corn. There has been a constant increase in the 
amount of corn grown in the valley during the last few 
years. The crop ripens well, and forty to fifty bushels 
per acre are raised, but it has never been extensively 
grown on account of the cost of cultivation. 

Wheat. All varieties of wheat are successfully 
raised here. Local mills that formerly imported wheat 
from the Dakotas now use the native product entirely. 

Barley. The finest malt producing barley is grown 
here. The yield is abundant and there is never any 
loss of color due to local rains. 

Oats. Oats is a staple product and a heavy yielder. 





















HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


3i5 


There are immense exports besides the large amounts 
used locally. 

Flax. Flax yields a good crop. The fiber is excel¬ 
lent and the seed production good. So far, however, 
there are few farmers giving attention to this crop. 

Potatoes The Yellowstone valley promises to be¬ 
come one of the greatest potato sections of the United 
States. The product of one twenty acre tract sold for 
nearly $2,300. On one acre of land near Park City 
1213 bushels were harvested. This is the world’s rec¬ 
ord. All varieties are grown; late and early seeming to 
thrive equally well. Home markets at present con¬ 
sume the entire product and prices are always good. 

Dairying. General dairying has been very success¬ 
ful in this valley. Private creameries find an active 
local market at excellent prices during the entire year. 
One dairy farm of forty acres cleared $2,000 in one 
year. The new company creamery will stimulate cream 
production on many farms. 

Garden. All kinds of garden products are culti¬ 
vated throughout the valley. Onions, celery, tomatoes, 
cabbages, turnips, melons, etc., are extensively raised. 
Many car lot shipments are made to nearby cities dur¬ 
ing the season. 

Fruits. All kinds of fruits grow and produce 
abundantly. Many farms have fine commercial apple 
orchards, from which an excellent revenue is derived. 
Peaches and pears are easily grown. Plums and cher¬ 
ries produce excellent crops. Blackberries, raspberries 
and currants thrive, and the local strawberry crop is 
an abundant source of revenue to the market gardner. 

Since the above was written the establish¬ 
ment of the beet sugar factory at Billings has 
added beet culture to the farming crops, and 
that industry has taken a prominent place. 
Alfalfa is also a leading crop of the county. 

Now let us consider the causes that have 
made Yellowstone county the rich agricultural 
country it is. The ^ ellowstone valley is nat¬ 
urally arid and unfit for agricultural purposes 
without the application of water, but by means 
of irrigation the land is made to produce won¬ 
derfully. In Yellowstone, more than in any 
other county of the state of Montana, have 
been demonstrated the possibilities of artifi- 
ciallv watering the land. There are no failures 
of crops under irrigation, and under the flood¬ 
ing system, peculiar to this valley on account 
of the smooth lying lands, one man can handle 
as much water as three men can in districts 
where furrow irrigation is 'practiced. There 


is an abundance of water supply, and the silt 
of the mountains, where the streams head, is 
| carried to the land, so that the fertility of the 
land is perpetually maintained. 

The Yellowstone river is the chief source 
of water for the lands of Yellowstone county, 
but owing to the difference in elevation between 
the large part of arable land and the stream, 
which has a somewhat lower grade for at least 
100 miles above, only a portion of the arable 
land has so far been reached, and at the pres¬ 
ent time the reclaimed land is found mostly in 
the valleys bordering the river, separated from 
the higher bench lands by high walls of strati¬ 
fied sand rock. There are now under irriga¬ 
tion and cultivation within a radius of fifty 
miles from Billings about 25.000 acres of land, 
while that in other portions of the county will 
bring the total up to a higher figure. But this 
is only a small per cent, of the land that can 
be, and will be at an early date, put under 
water. To the north of the city of Billings, 
beginning at its very limits, is a tract of 5°°>~ 
000 acres of land that can be irrigated by the 
Yellowstone river by tapping it 100 miles west 
of that city. To the west, along the Yellow¬ 
stone and Clark’s Fork rivers and their tribu¬ 
taries, there is another quarter of a million 
acres of land which private capital may be ex¬ 
pected to reclaim in the not far distant future. 
To the south there is another half million acres 
on which the government has nearly completed 
an irrigating system. To the east a large area 
can easily be irrigated, and the government is 
now constructing a ditch. 

The idea of irrigating in T ellowstone 
county began with its settlement in 1882, when 
the Minnesota & Montana Land & Improve¬ 
ment company constructed its famous canal to 
irrigate Clark s Fork bottom and thereby 
brought about the building of the city of Bill¬ 
ings. 

There were many other ditches constructed 
in Yellowstone county during the latter part of 
the eighties and the early part of the nineties. 











3i6 


HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


In 1894 we find that there were the following 
ditches, the list having been prepared by I. D. 
O’Donnell: 


YELLOWSTONE RIVER. 

Length 

Ditch Owners Miles 

Minnesota & Montana Land & Imp. Co.. 39 

Canyon Creek Ditch Co . 19 

Italian Ditch Co . 24 

Old Mill Ditch Co. 12 

Yellowstone Ditch Co.15 

Newman et al. 7 . 2 

Thomas McGirl . 1 

S. R. Miller . 2}4 

L. Nutting . 6 

C. O. Gruwell.. 2 j 4 

A. Countryman. 

H. P. Nelson . 3 

William Rodgers . D /4 

Merrill Ditch Co. 6 

Grey Eagle . 2 

William Deal . 1 

MUSSELSHELL RIVER. 

M. F. Frank . 3 

Handel Bros. 3 

Ryan Bros, et al. 5 

cow GULCH. 

Randall Bros. 3 

KEYSER CREEK. 

John Rosen . 3 

LAKE BASIN. 

A. L. Tolle. 3 

Henry Stuck. 3 

R. J. Martin . 4 

A. Whitney . 3 


BIG COULEE CREEK. 

Forsythe & Rye . 3 

Montana Cattle Co. 4 

GOULDING CREEK. 

Ed. Goulding .. 2 

J. B. Herford. 2 

HALF BREED CREEK. 

Wustrum & LaMott. 4 

W. F. Strait. 1 

BARROT CREEK. 

A. D. Edminston . 2 

FATTIG CREEK. 

Balch, Bakon et al . 5 


The most important irrigating project un¬ 
dertaken in Yellowstone county is that of the 
Billings Land & Irrigation company, which, 
under the provisions of the Carey act, is build¬ 
ing a fifty-mile irrigating ditch which will 
reclaim many thousand acres. This company 
was organized in 1903, and contracted with 
the state of Montana to construct, upon plans 
approved by the state engineer, a complete and 
adequate irrigation system for the reclamation 
of district No. 1, the work to begin on or 
before January 1, 1904. and to be prosecuted 
vigorously and continuously. In event of fail¬ 
ure to comply with the contract, the works 
constructed with all appurtenances, might be 
be acquired by the state at an appraised price. 

Work has progressed very rapidly on this 
undertaking, and in all respects has met the 
approval of the Carey land act board. In the 
report of that board for the two years ending 
November 30, 1906, it is stated that of the 







































HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 


3i7 


three districts in which the work has been un¬ 
dertaken the one in Yellowstone county shows 
the most development. A perusal of that re¬ 
port shows that the company has so far built 
42 miles of main canal and about 27 miles of 
laterals. Forty-five houses have been erected 
on land sold by the company, and they were 
all occupied by families. Twenty miles of 
road had been graded. Ten thousand acres 
of land had been sold, of which 2,584 were 
from the Carey selection or state lands. 

The report says that because of the efforts 
of the board in the reclamation of the lands in 
this district and activities growing out of it, 
a 1,200-ton beet sugar factory has been estab¬ 
lished in Billings at a cost of $1,250,000 and 
is now employing 300 men; that the industry 
has created a pay roll of $287,000 in the lo¬ 
cality, in addition to the profit to the farmer, 
and a payroll of $1,000 a day at the factory 
when it is running. Of the results of the work 
so far the report continues: “Through the 
courtesy of the railroads running into Billings, 
and by the expenditure of $28,000 by the con¬ 
tracting company in systematic advertising, 
the population of Billings has increased 2,000 
since the beginning of the construction of the 
canal. The value of farm lands near Billings 
at that time was between $12 and $20 an acre. 
Now they are selling from $40 to $100 an 
acre. City property has advanced 200 per cent 
and the banks admit their deposits have 
doubled within the three years past, and go so 
far as to say that farm and city property in and 


Billings has increased $2,000,000 in value.” 

A government undertaking known as the 
Huntley project, is fast nearing completion. 
This will irrigate something like 30,000 acres 
of land in the recently ceded Crow reservation. 
This canal starts near Huntley, and the lands 
which will be irrigated by it lie in a general 
way north of the Burlington & Missouri River 
railroad and both north and south - of the 
Northern Pacific. 

Although Yellowstone county is not known 
as a mining country, there are vast deposits 
of coal there, and some little mining 
has been carried on. Says Mr. Storrs, of 
the United States geological department, in 
his report of March, 1902: 

“The coal fields of Montana form a nearly 
continuous belt extending in a northwest-south¬ 
east direction entirely across the state; but 
most of the fields have not been investigated 
in detail. As in Wyoming the plains region 
east of the Rocky mountains, extending into 
the Dakotas, is underlined by beds of lignite 
coal of varying quality. The Bull Mountain 
district of 55 square miles lies in Yellowstone 
county, about 45 miles northeast of Billings on 
the Northern Pacific railroad. The bed is 
from 10 to 16 feet of lignite coal. But little 
coal is now mined there. The Clark’s Fork 
district crosses the Yellowstone 22 miles west 
of Billings and extends north, to the Mussel¬ 
shell river, though without known valuable 
beds. 































. 













































































































» 











CUSTER BATTLEFIELD 



A HERD OF BISON 





4 









• * 




















PART VI 

ROSEBUD COUNTY 


CHAPTER I 


CURRENT 

Rosebud county is correctly named the 
“historical county” of Montana as it was in 
what is now the confines of Rosebud county, 
that occurred those stirring incidents that 
opened up the valley of the Yellowstone for 
occupation by the white man. Here it was that 
Custer and his brave men met with defeat, and 
General Miles thrashed the Indians at Little 
Muddy and Lame Deer. The full and com¬ 
plete accounts of these battles are given in pre¬ 
ceding chapters and also other interesting in¬ 
cidents relating to the subduing of the Indians 
and the settlement of this great domain by the 
whites. 

The first white settlers to enter the territory 
now embraced in Rosebud county, came in the 
fall of 1876 and too much cannot be said in com¬ 
mendation of these hardy pioneers who braved 
the many dangers of frontier life at a time 
when the Indians were on the war path and 
their war parties scattered over all parts of the 
territory. Among those sturdy men who risked 
their lives to build homes in this then virgin 
territory, we find: Peter Jackson, Archie Mc- 
Murdy, and James Simpson, who came here in 
1876, and were followed the next spring by: 
John Guy, Wm. Mouatt, Ben Green, Tom 


EVENTS. 

Carter, John Justin, who settled at Pease Bot¬ 
tom ; Mr. Murphy, Thomas Alexander, Thomas 
Hammond, Frank Andrews, M. Curran, who 
settled at Forsyth in 1877. Mr. Tolbert settled 
on Froze-to-Death creek in 1877 and Joseph 
Gee and N. Boyle settled at the mouth of the 
Rosebud; George Mace settled at Howard the 
same year. In 1878, we find Joseph Isaacs, Mr. 
Nichols, Mr. Nortman, George King, Wm. 
Roche, James Norman, James McGraw, Mike 
Conklin, James Parker, Dick Kennedy and 
W. B. S. Higgins had taken up their settle¬ 
ment here. John Guy, who settled at Pease 
Bottom must be given the distinction of being 
the first to break land and try the possibilities 
of this section along agricultural lines. Thomas 
Alexander was the first to have a band of cat¬ 
tle in this territory which was in 1878, but Dia¬ 
mond Carpenter and Robinson were the first 
to run a large bunch of cattle in this section. 
The first band of sheep was brought into this 
territory in 1881 and they also belonged to 
Thomas Alexander. 

The Northern Pacific railroad was built 
through this section in 1882 and the population 
grew rapidly. New settlers came in and lo¬ 
cated along the creeks and rivers and engaged 






HISTORY OF ROSEBUD COUNTY. 


in stock raising, which industry thrived won¬ 
derfully. The severe winter of 1886-7 was a 
hard blow to the stockmen, but it was the 
means of giving them a valuable lesson. Up 
to that time they had had no thought of winter 
feeding and had never made preparations for 
doing so, but since that time, though it is sel¬ 
dom necessary, nearly all the stockmen have 
been in a position to feed their stock should 
the winter be severe enough. 

The government agency at Lame Deer was 
established in 1888, buildings were erected and 
an agent was stationed there. A school was 
started and has always been well attended by 
the Indian children. The fact that a govem- 
, ment agent was stationed there has probably 
been the cause of several Indian outbreaks be¬ 
ing nipped in the bud, and much protection to 
settlers and their property. 

The history of Rosebud county is so closely 
connected with that of Custer county that it 
must necessarily be brief and only those 
points are taken up that are already not in¬ 
cluded in the history of Custer county. The 
matters of historical importance up to the time 
of the creation of Rosebud county are limited. 

The first agitation for the creation of a 
new county was started in 1893, but little in¬ 
terest was manifested, however, until 1895 
when the principal issue in Custer county was 
the cutting off of the present county of Rose¬ 
bud. The people in favor of county division 
were successful in electing the men whose opin¬ 
ions coincided with theirs and House bill Num¬ 
ber 12 was introduced by Representative James 
S. Hopkins, which provided for the creation 
of Rosebud county. They were unsuccessful 
in passing the bill through the legislature and 
still remained a part of the large county of 
Custer. Two more unsuccessful attempts were 
made to bring about the division, in 1897 and 
1899, and it was not until 1901 that the bill 
passed the legislature and the new county was 
formed. On February 11, 1901, Governor 
Toole appended his signature to the bill with a 


gold pen provided by James Hopkins of For¬ 
syth who still possesses the pen as a souvenir. 
Following is the enabling act: 

ROSEBUD COUNTY. 

Senate bill No. 21. An act to create the county of 
Rosebud, to define its boundaries, and to provide for 
its organization. 

Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the State 

of Montana: 

That all that portion of the State of Montana em¬ 
braced within the following boundaries shall be known 
as, and shall be. Rosebud county, to-wit: Beginning at 
a point where the township line, running between ranges 
forty-four and forty-five east, in the county of Custer, 
in the State of Montana; when surveyed and extended 
south, will intersect the northern boundary line of the 
State of Wyoming; thence north, along said township 
line, observing the jogs or offsets in said line, to its 
intersection, when surveyed, and extended, north, with 
the county line running east and west along, between 
Custer county and the county of Dawson, in said State 
of Montana; thence west along said county line to the 
middle of the main channel of the Musselshell river 
and the east boundary line of Fergus county; thence up 
the middle of the main of said river and along the 
meanderings thereof in a southerly direction, to a 
point where the same is intersected by the county line 
running between the counties of \ ellowstone and Cus¬ 
ter; thence in a southeasterly direction along said 
county line to the junction of the Yellowstone and Big¬ 
horn rivers; thence up the middle of the main chan¬ 
nel of the said Bighorn river and along the mean¬ 
derings thereof in a southeasterly direction to the in¬ 
tersection with the aforesaid northern boundary of the 
State of Wyoming; thence east, along the boundary 
line to the place of beginning. The town of Forsyth 
situated within the boundaries above described shall 
be the county seat of said county of Rosebud until the 
permanent county seat shall be designated in the mode 
and manner provided by law. 

Sec. 2. That the indebtedness of said Custer coun¬ 
ty, as the same shall exist on the first day of March, 
1901, shall be apportioned between the said counties 
of Custer and Rosebud by first deducting from said 
indebtedness the amount of all moneys on hand and all 
moneys belonging to said Custer county, and also de¬ 
ducting the value of all real estate and personal prop¬ 
erty within and belonging to Custer county on the 
said first day of March, 1901, and the remainder of 
said indebtedness shall be apportioned between the 
said counties of Custer and Rosebud respectively in 
proportion to the amount of taxable property in each 
of said counties, said amount of taxable property to be 
ascertained by a commission consisting of the boards 
of county commissioners of said Custer and Rosebud 












HISTORY OF ROSEBUD COUNTY. 


32 1 


counties and Charles H. Loud, judge of the seventh 
judicial district, which said commission shall meet at 
the court house at Miles City, on the 15th day of 
March, 1901, and shall take, as the standard for such 
apportionment of indebtedness the assessment for the 
year 1900 as determined by the board of equalization of 
said county of Custer. 

Sec. 3. That it shall be the duty of said board of 
county commissioners of Rosebud county, in the event 
it should be found, upon the adjustment of such in¬ 
debtedness, that the said county of Rosebud should as¬ 
sume and pay any amount of same, to cause to be made 
and delivered to the said county commissioners of said 
Custer county, warrants on the county fund in the sum 
of one thousand dollars each, and fractions thereof, if 
such there be. for the amount found to be due, which 
said warrants, upon presentation, shall be indorsed by 
the treasurer of said Rosebud county, "Not paid for 
want of funds,” and shall thereafter draw interest as 
other county warrants. 

Sec. 4. It shall be unlawful for said board of 
county commissioners of Rosebud county to issue any 
warrant or warrants in any amount or sum, or to incur 
any indebtedness, or enter into any contract, or incur 
any liability for or on behalf of said Rosebud county, 
until they have fully complied with the provisions of 
Sections 2 and 3 of this act. 

Sec. 5. That the board of county commissioners 
and the treasurer of said Custer county shall, at their 
regular meeting during the month of March, 1901, as¬ 
certain the amount of money in the school fund be¬ 
longing to (whether apportioned or not) the several 
school districts embraced within the limits of said 
county of Rosebud which have been carved out of the 
county of Custer, and the county treasurer of said 
Custer county shall, during the month of March, 1901, 
and upon receipt of the warrants specified in Section 
3 of this act, transfer and pay over to the treasurer of 
said county of Rosebud, such moneys as may be on 
hand at the said March meeting of said board of 
county commissioners of said county of Custer, and 
as by them and the said treasurer thereof, found to be¬ 
long to the school districts of the said county of Rose¬ 
bud. Said funds to be transferred shall be held by 
the treasurer of the county of Rosebud, where they 
were originally designated and bonded. 

Sec. 6. The following named persons are hereby 
appointed to the following offices, the name of the ap¬ 
pointee being placed opposite the office to which he is 
appointed: Freeman Philbrick, W. W. McDonald, 

and Hunter Terrett, commissioners; Charles W. 
Bailey, clerk and recorder; Charles Davis, sheriff; T. 
W. Longley, treasurer; James B. Grierson, clerk of 
the district court; Fred L. Gibson, county attorney; 
Gertrude M. Higgins, superintendent of common 
schools; R. W. Snook, public administrator; J. F. Ken¬ 
nedy, coroner; Charles B. Taber, county surveyor. 

Said officers shall have the powers, duties and priv- 

21 


ileges as are by law conferred upon like officers in other 
counties of “the state of Montana, and they shall be 
entitled to receive the same emoluments, salaries and 
fees, as are conferred by law upon like officers of other 
counties of the same class in the state, and shall in 
like manner give bonds and enter upon the discharge 
of their respective duties upon giving a bond within 
ten days after the passage and approval of this act, 
and they shall hold their respective offices until their 
successors are elected and qualified, and be subject to 
all repealing laws applicable to other similar offices 
generally. The bond above provided for shall be ap¬ 
proved in the same manner as the bond of other county 
officers, and filed and recorded in the office of the 
county clerk of the county of Rosebud. Provided, how¬ 
ever, that such salaries shall not commence until such 
officers shall enter upon the discharge of their duties 
and shall have qualified according to law 

Sec. 7. The county commissioners of said Rose¬ 
bud county shall have authority to contract for the 
transcribing of such parts of the public records of said 
Custer county as they may deem useful and necessary 
to the said county of Rosebud and the inhabitants 
thereof, or they may appoint and depute some capable 
and discreet person to transcribe the same, and for 
such purpose shall have access to the records of said 
Custer county. 

Said transcripts, when completed shall be carefully 
compared with the originals by the county clerk of 
said Custer county, who shall be entitled to receive a 
compensation of five dollars per diem while actually 
engaged in the performance of such duties; and when 
found to be correct, shall by him be so certified under 
his name and seal, and thereafter the records so tran¬ 
scribed and certified to shall be received and admitted 
in evidence in all courts of the state, and shall be in 
other respects entitled to like faith and credit as said 
original records. 

Sec. 8. The county commissioners of said county 
of Rosebud, for the purpose of funding and paying any 
indebtedness which may be incurred by reason of as¬ 
suming any of the indebtedness of Custer county, are 
hereby given the authority to issue on the credit of their 
respective county, coupon bonds, to the amount suffi¬ 
cient to enable them to redeem any or all legal out¬ 
standing warrants or orders, equal in amount to said 
indebtedness so incurred, which said bond shall be sold 
at no less than par and^in the mode and manner pro¬ 
vided by law for the issue and sale of county bonds. 

Sec. 9. That the treasurers of Custer and Rose¬ 
bud counties shall, at the time of the adjustment of 
the indebtedness as provided in Section 2 of this act, 
make out and transmit to the county commissioners of 
said Rosebud county, lists of all delinquent taxes within 
the limits of Rosebud county, as above established, 
shown by the records of their respective offices. 

Provided, That no delinquent taxes due to the 
county of Custer shall be considered in the adjustment 
of the debts as hereinbefore provided, but it shall be 





322 


HISTORY OF ROSEBUD COUNTY. 


the duty of the treasurer of Custer county to collect 
such delinquent taxes and to turn over to the treasurer 
of Rosebud county its pro rata share of said taxes as 
he may be able to collect within thirty days after mak¬ 
ing such collection; Provided further, that should there 
be any surplus of funds in the hands of the treas¬ 
urer of Custer county after adjustment, as hereinbe¬ 
fore provided, said surplus shall be divided between 
the counties of Custer and Rosebud in the same man¬ 
ner as hereinbefore provided for dividing the in¬ 
debtedness. 

Sec. io. All district and township officers within 
the said county of Rosebud, whose election or appoint¬ 
ment is not herein provided for, shall or may continue 
to hold office and exercise the duties pertaining thereto, 
until the expiration of the term for which said officers 
were elected or appointed. 

Sec. ii. The county boundaries of said Custer 
county are hereby altered to conform to the boundaries 
of said Rosebud county, as established by this act. 

Se<^. 12. The said county of Rosebud is hereby 
added to and made a part of the 7th Judicial District 
of this state, for judicial purposes, and all that part 
of the Crow Reservation lying east of the Big Horn 
river is hereby attached to Rosebud county for the pur¬ 
pose of taxation and for judicial purposes. 

Sec. 13. This act shall take effect on March 1st, 
1901. 

Sec. 14. All acts or parts of acts in conflict with 
the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. 

Approved: February 11, 1901. 

The officers of the new county entered upon 
their duties in the early part of March and at 
once took the necessary steps to bring about a 
settlement of affairs with the mother county of 
Custer. After a careful accounting it was as¬ 
certained that the total indebtedness of Cus¬ 
ter county was $274,000 and that Rosebud 
county's porportion was 32.85 per cent of the 
whole, or $45,259.50, and warrants were drawn 
for that amount payable to Custer county. 
The taxable property of the new county was 
found to be $2,187,639. 

On June 3, 1901, two of the commissioners 
appointed resigned. They were W. W. Mc¬ 
Donald and Freeman Philbrick. Thomas 
Alexander was appointed in place of McDon¬ 
ald and Thomas E. Hammond was appointed 
to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of 
Philbrick. 

The county has as yet never had a county 


seat contest, although the town of Rosebud re¬ 
cently attempted to circulate a petition for that 
purpose. They were unsuccessful and the mat¬ 
ter was soon forgotten’. 

The assessed valuation of taxable property 
in Rosebud county since its formation has 
been: 1901, $2,829,114; 1902, $4,047,033; 
1903, $4,464,761; 1904, $3,870,251; 1905,$4,- 
404,670; 1906, estimated, over five million dol¬ 
lars. The number of acres of land assessed in 
1905 was 833,108; farming and grazing lands, 
206,290; valued at $470,263; Northern Pacific 
lands, 626,818, valued at $263,343; horses, 
7,730, valued at $193,951; cattle, 44,055, val¬ 
ued at $988,046; sheep, 214,486, valued at 
$536,952; Angora goats, 100, valued at $400; 
hogs, 162, valued at $961; railroad property 
and roadbed valued at $1,328,963. 

The settlement of the Crow Indian reserva¬ 
tion, which was recently thrown open for set¬ 
tlement, will add much to the resources and 
population of Rosebud county. More than 500,- 
000 acres of this tract lies in the county and 
much of it can be irrigated while the rest is ex¬ 
cellent grazing lands. The conditions for obtain¬ 
ing this land were the same as those under the 
homestead law, except, that each person draw¬ 
ing a piece of land had to pay four dollars per 
acre for it. One dollar down and the balance 
in three equal payments, the second payment 
to be made at the end of the second year, the 
third at the end of the third year, and the 
fourth at the end of the fourth year. The ap¬ 
plications for this drawing were not as numer¬ 
ous as expected on account of tlie government 
reserving much of the irrigable land. Among 
the irrigable tracts thrown open was the Myers 
and Sanders flats, located in the valley of the 
Yellowstone river west of the town of How¬ 
ard. I^and in this district was especially de¬ 
sirable on account of the fertility of the soil 
and its easy access to railroad facilities. 

The Yellowstone valley is the most fertile 
of the valleys of Rosebud county and agricul- 





HISTORY OF ROSEBUD COUNTY. 


3 2 3 


ture has become one of the main pursuits of 
the settlers. The valleys of the Tong-ue, Rose¬ 
bud, Big- Horn and Little Big Horn rivers as 
well as other smaller streams are very fertile 
and large quantities of hay, grain, vegetables 
and fruit are raised here every year. 

The Scenery along the rivers is very beauti¬ 
ful, the valley being covered with a dense 
growth of cottonwood and the surrounding 
hills covered with a mat of grass. The canyon 
of the Big Horn is considered one of nature’s 
grandest works of scenic beauty. One of the 
wonders of nature is found on Greenleaf creek 
about 60 miles from Forsyth in the shape of 
an ice well. Some years ago a man named 
Wm. Campbell started a shaft while prospect¬ 
ing for gold and after getting down 30 or 40 
'feet complained of the extreme cold. The per¬ 


spiration from his face would run down and 
form ice drops as it fell. Being somewhat 
superstitious he decided to quit and did so. 
This was the starting of the ice well. As a 
rule in summer, the ice. forms within a few 
feet of the top. While the ice itself makes the 
well a natural curiosity, it is the formation of 
the ice during the hottest period in the sum¬ 
mer, that makes this well a great natural 
curiosity. 

The Milwaukee railroad is to build through 
Rosebud county and is now at work on the 
right of way. The route is up the Yellowstone 
river on the north side until it reaches a point 
opposite the town of Forsyth, when it runs in 
a northeasterly direction to the Musselshell 
river. This will open a large section to settle¬ 
ment. 


CHAPTER II 


CITIES AND TOWNS. 


The town of Forsyth, the county seat of 
Rosebud county, was started in 1882, when 
the Northern Pacific railroad was building 
through this section. It was the winter ter¬ 
minus of that road in 1882 and was located on 
the Yellowstone river, 45 miles west of Miles 
City. The selection of the site was a favorable 
one as the valley of the Yellowstone has an 
average width here of about 1^2 miles, where 
the land is level and fertile, and is almost in 
the center of the county. 

The town gets its name from Col. James 
W. Forsyth, of the seventh cavalry, who 
was well known in this section during the 
Indian troubles. It was platted by the North¬ 
ern Pacific Railroad Co., in October, 1882, and 
was chosen by them as the end of the freight 
division between Glendive and Billings. 

The first merchant in the town was Charles 


Young, who opened up a general merchandise 
store here in the spring of 1882, and was soon 
followed by Fred Henning, George Taylor, H. 
R. Marcyes and Manchester and Bryan, 
David Sweet started the first restaurant the 
same year. In 1883 Thomas Alexander en¬ 
tered the mercantile business here. 

The town was visited by a disastrous fire 
in August, 1888, which destroyed twenty 
thousand dollars worth of property. Seven 
business houses on Main street between Ninth 
and Tenth streets were burned to the ground. 
The origin of the fire is unknown. The insur¬ 
ance on stocks and buildings was about eight 
thousand dollars. 

For many years the growth of the town 
was very slow and little progress was made 
and it was not until the year 1901 that the 
people awakened to the fact that Forsyth had 







3 2 4 


HISTORY OF ROSEBUD COUNTY. 


a future. Since that time great building ac¬ 
tivity has been experienced and the town has 
had a rapid and healthy growth. 

A disastrous fire occurred July 8, 1901, 
when the Occidental hotel, a three-story frame 
structure, was burned to the ground. It was 
occupied by its own employees and about 
twenty-five boarders, mostly railroad men. 
Twelve persons occupied the third floor and 
but two of these escaped without jumping from 
the windows. The inmates of the lower floors 
left the building in time to escape injury but 
lost most of their personal effects. All of the 
ten who leaped wrom the third floor were in¬ 
jured and bruised by the fall. The more spe¬ 
cific hurts were as follows: Albert Smith, left 
hand and fingers burned; Carl Schroeder, 
right foot burned and ankle sprained; J. V. 
Saleno, hips injured; Stephen Bolen, right hip 
bruised, nose and cheek badly cut; Gus Ahl- 
gren, bruised head and left knee; John Faler, 
right arm broken; John Roeu, hands and face 
burned, side injured, ribs broken; W. S. My¬ 
ers ,sprained wrist and face burned; Fred Roeu, 
arm sprained and bddy bruised; Aman Ahor- 
lick, bad cut and head bruised. All of them 
suffered much from the jar. In fifteen minutes 
the walls had fallen and the fire had spread 
to the coal dock and engine house. A barrel 
of gasoline was stored in the engine house 
which soon exploded and in a brief time the 
buildings were in ruins. The line of cars were 
pushed to a place of safety. In the morning 
it was discovered that one man had lost his 
life in the conflagration. The charred body 
was seen in the ruins and by means of grap¬ 
pling hooks an effort was made to draw it 
forth. The attempt was only partially suc¬ 
cessful as only the head and trunk could be re¬ 
covered, the rest having been burned away. It 
was afterwards found that the remains were 
those of Jacob Braun of Hebron, N. D, The 
origin of the fire is unknown. 

The town boasts of one of the finest school 
buildings in the state where a very efficient 


corps of teachers is employed. The present 
building cost about $12,000, and a new build¬ 
ing is now in the course of construction which 
will cost when completed about $8,000 and will 
be used for the grade pupils, the old building 
will be used for the High school department. 

Four different churches have organizations 
here, though but two of them have buildings, 
the Methodist and Presbyterian. The Epis¬ 
copal and Catholic denominations are expected 
to erect edifices in the near future. 

Forsyth is naturally the outfitting, mercan¬ 
tile and banking center of the country, supply¬ 
ing sheep, cattle and ranch outfits for a radius 
of over one hundred miles and affording ample 
facilities for the transaction of all manner of 
business. 

In 1904 the county voted bonds for $50,- 
000 for the purpose of building a bridge across 
the Yellowstone river at Forsyth. The bridge 
was completed in 1905 at a cost of $57,000. 
With adequate bridge facilities closer rela¬ 
tions have grown between the residents of the 
north side and the townspeople and a marked 
increase in trade and business has been ex¬ 
perienced. 

The Northern Pacific railroad employs 
about 200 men here and its monthly payroll 
amounts to about $12,000. The railroad com¬ 
pany is now building at $25,000 wool ware¬ 
house here for handling that product. In ad¬ 
dition to the Northern Pacific, Forsyth will be 
on the main line of the Chicago, Milwaukee 
and St. Paul railroad which is now building 
towards the coast. 

The building of a system of water works 
is contemplated and an election will be held in 
July to decide the question of bonding the 
town for $35,000 for such purpose. If the 
bond issue carries, water will be taken from 
the Yellowstone river and pumped to a reser¬ 
voir on Forsyth Heights, which rise several 
hundred feet above the town. This will insure 
ample pressure for all purposes. 

The town was incorporated in 1904 and. 







HISTORY OF ROSEBUD COUNTY. 


325 


three elections have been held. The officers 
electer have been: 1904—Mayor, Charles B. 

Tabor; councilmen, Charles W. Bailey, Bar¬ 
ney Blum, D. J. Muri and Wm. Martin; clerk, 

C. W. Bailey; attorney, J. C. Lyndes; marshal, 
O. O. Bitle; police magistrate, H. R. Marcyes. 

1905— Mayor, A. R. Sickler; councilmen, 
H. H. Fletcher, C. E. Richter, J.C. Lyndes and 
Barney Blum; clerk, J. B. Collins; marshal, 

D. J. Smith; attorney, F. V. H. Collins; police 
magistrate, T. J. Thompson. 

1906— Mayor, A. R. Sickler; councilmen, 
S. H. Erwin, C. E. Richter, Barney Blum and 
D. J. Muri; clerk, D. J. Muri; attorney, Fred 
L. Gibson; marshal, J. W. Straw; police mag¬ 


istrate, T. J. Thompson. 

The town has a wide-awake Business 
Men’s association and the fraternal orders are 
well represented, the Masons, Eagles, Odd 
Fellows, Knights of Pythias, and railroad 
men’s organizations having a large member¬ 
ship. 

ROSEBUD. 

The town of Rosebud, located twelve miles 
east of Forsyth, the county seat, is the second 
town of the county in size and importance. It 
has a population of about 125. Being located 
on the railroad at the confluence of the Rose¬ 
bud and Yellowstone rivers, it has become a 
large shipping point. Directly opposite across 
the Yellowstone river is the Edwards irrigat¬ 
ing canal which waters a large tract of land 


where much hay, grain and produce is raised. 
The town is growing rapidly and is well 
equipped with business houses, having two 
good hotels, two large mercantile establish¬ 
ments, a bank, a lumber yard, and other lines 
of business. It has a fine brick school building 
with a-n able corps of teachers and two 
churches, the Methodist and Episcopal. It has 
a daily mail, Western Union telegraph and 
Northern Pacific express office. 

The town was first settled in 1879 and was 
formerly known as Beeman. 

Busby is a village on the Rosebud river, 
first settled in 1884, eighty miles south of For¬ 
syth, the county seat, thirty miles east of the 
Crow agency on the C. B. & Q. R. R-, the 
shipping point. It is situated in the midst of 
the Cheyenne Indian reservation containing 
about 1,500 Indians and 200 whites. The U. 
S. Indian training school is located here, hav¬ 
ing between 80 and 9 ° pupils. Mail is re¬ 
ceived by special supply. 

Crow Agency, a station on the C. B. & Q. 
R. R. first settled in 1880, 170 miles by rail¬ 
road southwest of Forsyth, the county seat. 
It has Catholic and Mission churches, a flour¬ 
ing mill, two general stpres and a hotel. Mail 
daily. 

Other postoffices in Rosebud county are: 
Ashland, Birney, Decker, Hathaway, Howard, 
Kirby, Lame Deer, Lee, Lock, Lodge Grass, 
Pearl, Rancher, Sabra, Saint Xavier, and 
Satchwell. 







CHAPTER III 


DESCRIPTIVE. 


Rosebud county is nearly as large as the 
entire state of New Jersey and contains 7,383 
square miles or four million seven hundred 
twenty-five thousand, one hundred twenty 
acres of land, which is largely rolling. Her 
resources are many and varied and her output 
of stock is enormous, considering the limited 
population which does not exceed five thou¬ 
sand, by the most careful estimates. The 
inhabitants are thrifty, progressive and 
well-to-do. The population is fairly well 
distributed but as in most stock coun¬ 
tries, it is scattering. The surface is 
rolling and much of it is rugged, and 
some mountainous. Much of it is termed 
“bad lands,” but there is also the high rolling 
prairie lands and the rich bottoms, which com¬ 
bine to form a whole that is peculiarly well 
adapted to both stock raising and agriculture, 
the two principal industries. The most pro¬ 
ductive valleys are: From the mouth of the 
Big Horn to Myers station on the north side 
of the Yellowstone river, which is twelve miles 
long and one and a half miles wide; from San¬ 
ders to Howard, called Froze-to-Death valley, 
which is six miles long and one and three- 
fourths miles wide; from Forsyth to Hatha¬ 
way on both sides of the Yellowstone, which is 
25 miles long and two miles wide, and where 
the big Edwards ditch is located; the valley 
of the Rosebud 100 miles long by one mile in 
width, where more hay is raised than in all 
other parts of the county combined; the upper 
part of the Tongue river valley which is well 
watered and is fifty miles long and one mile 
wide; and Porcupine Bottom which is watered 
by thirteen artesian wells. The soil in all these 
bottoms is a sandy loam. Through the west¬ 
ern part of the county is the Big Horn and 


Little Big Horn rivers, and nearly through the 
center flows the turbulent Yellowstone, while 
within its confines are the Tongue and Rose¬ 
bud rivers, besides innumerable smaller 
streams, water holes or basins, coulees, draws 
and other natural reservoirs for the holding of 
water, all tending to create a well watered 
area, the greater part of which is susceptible 
or irrigation. 

During the past four years over 35,000 
acres of land have been irrigated. The Rose¬ 
bud Land and Improvement Co. is the largest 
of the irrigation projects of Rosebud county. 
This is a co-operative company and has a ditch 
thirty-six miles long, fifteen feet across the 
bottom and carries 22,000 inches of water. 
Water is taken from the Yellowstone near For¬ 
syth and runs in an easterly direction to Sadie 
bottom, where it is again returned to the Yel¬ 
lowstone. This waters 25,000 acres of land. 
Work was started on this ditch in August, 
1903, and the work was completed in 1904 at 
a cost of $150,000, or about six dollars per 
area. The Rancher Ditch Co. started work in 
1904 at the confluence of the Yellowstone and 
Big Horn rivers, to supply the country known 
as Pease Bottom with water. The ditch is 
twelve miles long, twelve feet wide at the bot¬ 
tom, carries three feet of water, runs northeast 
and empties into the Yellowstone three miles 
east of Myers station. The Terrett and Bailey 
ditch, near Brandenburg, on the Tongue river, 
about forty-five miles from Forsyth, was 
started in 1900 and completed in 1904. This 
was a private enterprise and watered about 
2,000 acres of land, but could be extended to 
water 4,000 acres additional. It is six miles 
long, eight feet wide at the bottom, carries 
three to four thousand inches of water, and 





HISTORY OF ROSEBUD COUNTY. 


3 2 7 


cost $15,000 or about $7.50 per acre. There 
are a number of small irrigation projects in 
operation where small tracts are watered, es¬ 
pecially along the creeks of the interior, where 
many of the ranchers take water for a few 
acres. A tract of land west of Forsyth on the 
south side of the Yellowstone is to be watered 
by the government which comprises 7,000 
acres. The Rosebud reservation recently 
thrown open for settlement comprises 525,000 
acres of land in Rosebud county of which half 
is susceptible of irrigation. With irrigation 
all kinds of hay, grain, fruit and vegetables 
are raised here and yield prolifically. The soil 
is especially well adapted to the raising of 
sugar beets and as soon as a factory is estab¬ 
lished cl®se enough to this section the raising 
of sugar beets will become one of the chief 
pursuits. 

The finest irrigating ditch in Rosebud 
county is a private ditch owned and built by 
John Barringer, on Tongue river, about fifty 
miles from Forsyth. The ditch is four and 
one half miles long and waters 2,000 acres of 
land. 

Stock raising has always been the chief 
industry in this section as the topography of 
this country affords excellent protection against 
the inclemency of the weather, while the nu¬ 
tritious bunch grass of the ranges possesses 
wonderful fattening properties. It is estimated 
that it requires ten acres of land for each head 
of cattle and three acres for each head of sheep 
per year on the open range. The days of ex¬ 
tensive herds and stock holding have passed, 
and now the stockmen are decreasing their 
holdings, taking better care of their stock and 
acquiring lands so that they may raise hay to 
feed in case of a hard or prolonged winter sea¬ 
son. It is estimated that at the present time 
there are 250,000 head of sheep and 150,000 
head of cattle in Rosebud county, besides a 
large number of horses. 

Since irrigation has been used and the peo¬ 
ple have come tb know of the agricultural pos¬ 


sibilities, diversified farming is rapidly becom¬ 
ing one of the chief industries of this section. 

On the north side of the Yellowstone river 
lies a rich tract of land sixty by seventy miles 
in area where stock grazing is engaged in ex¬ 
tensively, while on the south side of the river 
is a section sixty by one hundred miles square, 
that is, if anything, even better than that on the 
north side. 

Throughout the county there remains large 
tracts of railroad lands unsold and immense 
areas of government land which can be secured 
under the homestead and desert land acts. 

The Crow reservation recently thrown 
open for settlement will add much to the pop¬ 
ulation and resources of Rosebud county. This 
land, approximating 525,000 acres in this 
county, is rolling with some bench land and 
some very rich bottoms along the rivers. Some 
of the soil is gumbo, but there are large tracts 
of sage brush lands, a sandy loa'm with great 
grain possibilities when furnished with water. 
The entire tract is bounded on the north by the 
Yellowstone river, while it is crossed by the 
Big Horn, Little Big Horn and Tulock Fork 
rivers. These with numerous other smaller 
streams will furnish an abundant supply of 
water for irrigation purposes. The system of 
irrigation works now in operation, constructed 
by the Indians under government supervision, 
indicates what the white man may do with this 
soil and with these conditions. 

As a tribe the Crow Indians, who occupy 
the southern part of this county, are peaceable 
and docile. Agriculture is their principal pur¬ 
suit and in that they are making rapid strides; 
some of their farms on the reservation might 
serve as models for some white farmers and 
the general appearance of the Big Horn valley 
compares favorably with other agricultural sec¬ 
tions of the state. The Crows raise wheat, 
oats and vegetables and also cut large quanti¬ 
ties of wild hay, while stock-raising is an in¬ 
dustry of considerable importance. 

What has been said of the climate of Cus- 






328 


HISTORY OF ROSEBUD COUNTY. 


ter county is also true of Rosebud county. It 
does not go to extremes here either in winter 
or summer and this section has been termed 
the “Banana belt of Montana.” 

The county is traversed by two great rail¬ 
ways, the Northern Pacific, which passes 
through the valley of the Yellowstone, about 
the center of the county, and the Burlington, 
which enters the county from the south and 
proceeding northward, passes through the west¬ 
ern portion of the county and forms a junc¬ 
tion with the Northern Pacific, thus affording 
ample means of transportation to and from the 
large centers of traffic. The Chicago, Milwau¬ 
kee and St. Paul road is now building through 
this county on the north side of the Yellow¬ 


stone, but in close proximity to that stream 
until it reaches Forsyth, when it runs in a 
northwesterly direction to the Musselshell 
river. Trains are expected to be running over 
this line sometime in 1907. 

Coal is mined here but in small quantities, 
as it is a lignite and its natural condition is the 
same as that in Custer county, so that it will 
not permit of shipment. It is used quite exten¬ 
sively here, however, for fuel and retails at 
about $3.50 per ton delivered. 

With all its natural advantages, the .open¬ 
ing of the Crow reservation and the advent of 
the Milwaukee railroad, Rosebud county must 
develop rapidly and soon become one of the 
wealthiest counties in the State of Montana. 


CHAPTER IV 


POLITICAL. 


In accordance with the provision of the 
enabling act creating the county of Rosebud, 
wherein the Governor of Montana was em¬ 
powered to appoint the officers of the new 
county, on February 11, 1901, Govemoi J. K. 
Toole appointed the following persons to fill 
the offices mentioned with their names. 

Freeman Philbrick, W. W. McDonald and 
Hunter Terrett, commissioners; Charles W. 
Bailey, county clerk and recorder; Charles Da¬ 
vis, sheriff; T. W. Longley, treasurer; James 
B. Grierson, clerk of the district court; Fred 
L. Gibson, county attorney; Gertrude M. Hig¬ 
gins, county superintendent of schools; R. W. 
Snook, public administrator; J. F. Kennedy, 
coroner; and Charles B. Tabor, county sur¬ 
veyor. 

The county seat of the new county was 
fixed by the legislature at Forsyth and, as 
Forsyth is the largest town in the county and 
centrally located, the matter of changing the 


county seat has not been agitated by over am¬ 
bitious communities. The first election was 
held in the new county November 6, 1902, and 
the votes for the respective candidates were 
as follows: 

Congress—J. M. Evans, dem., 248; J. M. 
Dixon, rep., 310; George B. Sproule, soc., 5; 
Martin Dee, labor, 8. 

Associate Justices—J. B. Leslie, dem., 249; 
W. L. Holloway, rep., 344; W. D. Cameron, 
soc., 4. * 

Senator—J. S. Hopkins, dem., 342; A. C. 
Wilson, rep., 265. 

Representative—James Blair, dem., 294; 
Wm. Bray, Sr., rep., 311. 

Sheriff—R. J. Guy, dem., 300; J. Z. 
Northway, rep., 300. There being a contest 
filed for this office, Noth way won and es- 
sumed charge. 

Clerk of Court—C. Z. Pond, deqi., 279; D. 
J. Muri, rep., 313. 








HISTORY OF ROSEBUD COUNTY. 


3 2 9 


Treasurer—T. W. Longley, dem., 332; 
M. Bentail, rep., 264. 

Clerk and Recorder—C. W. Bailey, dem., 
304; R. McRae, rep., 289. This election was 
contested and McRae won the contest. 

Assessor—B. Roney, dem., 275; J. B. 
Grierson, rep., 323. 

Attorney—E. J. Diecks, dem., 288; F. L. 
Gibson, rep., 307. 

Supt. of Schools—Gertrude M. Higgins, 
dem., 323; Luella Lane, rep., 272. 

Cproner—N. O. Finch, dem., 296; G. H. 
Kline, rep., 303. 

Public Administrator—Ed Adams, dem., 
272; R. W. Snook, rep., 304. 

Commissioners—N. G. Humphrey, dem., 
286; Thomas Alexander, dem., 323; Wm. 
Mouart, dem., 265; M. Schiltz, rep., 296; 
Freeman Philbrick, rep., 256; J. C. Hope, rep., 
276. The election of Mr. Humphrey was con¬ 
tested by Mr. Hope and the latter won the con¬ 
test, Mr. Hope assuming the duties of the 
office. 

It was claimed that many illegal votes 
were cast at this election and that many men 
had been shipped here to vote, and that they 
had not established a residence here. The con¬ 
tests were all brought on this point and in each 
case the contestant was successful. 

In the election of November 8, 1904, the 
Republican ticket was successful throughout 
with a large majority. The result of the vote 
was as follows: 

Roosevelt electors, 460; Parker electors, 
140. 

Congress—A. C. Gormerly, dem., 163; J. 
M. Dixon, rep., 480; J. H. Walsh, soc., 10. 

Governor—J . K. Toole, dem., 210; Wm. 
Lindsay, rep., 434; M. G. O’Malley, soc., 7. 

District Judge—C. H. Loud, rep., 4 2 9"> J- 
B. Herford, dem., 207. 

Senator—Maurice Bentail, rep., 384; T. 
W. Longley, dem., 269. 

Representative—J. T. Brown, dem., 204, 
J. Rumley, soc., 8; G. W. Brewster, rep., 431. 


Sheriff—J. Z. Northway, rep., 375; W. J. 
Nix, dem., 249; Zeb Tart, soc., 22. 

Treasurer—Chas. Davis, rep., 389; W. W. 
McDonald, dem., 242; J. A. Waddell, soc., 11. 

Assessor—J. B. Grierson, rep., 455; Ed 
McGeehee, dem., 182; R. L. Forney, soc., 7. 

Clerk and Recorder—R. J. Cole, rep., 413; 
P. C. Schoelkopf, dem., 225; H. C. Holtkamp, 
soc., 6. 

Attorney—J. C. Lyndes, rep., 429. 

Clerk of Court—D. J. Muri, rep., 401; H. 
E. Webber, dem., 233. 

Sut. of Schools—Millie Smith, rep., 417> 
G. M. Higgins, dem., 223. 

Public Administrator—R. W. Snook, rep., 
418; Ed Adams, dem., 191. 

Surveyor—C. B. Tabor, rep., 455- 
Coroner—Peter Drbese, dem., 226. 

An election was held April 4, 1906, for the 
primary election law and by a vote of 263 to 
72 it was decided to adopt it. 

The people of Rosebud county have been 
wise in their selection of public officials and 
none of them have as yet betrayed the con¬ 
fidence reposed in them. 

There are seventeen election precincts in 
Rosebud county and below we give the names 
of the precincts according to their numbers, 
they are : Rancher, 1; Howard, 2 ; Forsyth, 3; 
Airmails creek, 4; Hathaway, 5; Decker, 6; 
Birney, 7; Tellett. 8; Antelope, 9; Acorn, 10; 
Rosebud, 11; Pleasant Hill, 12; Butte, 13; 
Lee, 14; McKay, 15; Kirby, 16; Ashland, 17; 
Crow Agency, 18. 

The registry districts are as follows: No. 
1—Forsyth, Howard, Armalls creek, Ante¬ 
lope and Acorn, Bert Coleman is registhy 
agent. No. 2—Rancher, and Crow Agency 
precinct, Phillip Isaac is registry agent. No. 
3—Rosebud, Hathaway, Pleasant Hill, and 
Butte, R. McRae, registry agent. No. 4— 
Lee, McKay, Terrett, and Ashland, George 
W. Parkins, registry agent. No. 5—Birney, 
Kirby, and Decker precincts, C. C. Rouscolp, 
registry agent. 








CHAPTER V 


EDUCATIONAL. 


Owing to the fact that Rosebud county has 
existed but a short time as a separate political 
division the educational history of the county 
is necessarily short, the greater part of it being 
included in the history of Custer county. The 
schools of the county are up to the standard of 
the state and the people have displayed com¬ 
mendable zeal in providing for the rising gen¬ 
erations proper educational facilities, and steps 
have been taken to assist the youth of the 
county to obtain good education at home. 

The first school in the territory now em¬ 
braced within this county was at Pease Bottom 
at the confluence of the Big Horn and Yellow¬ 
stone rivers, and was held in the proverbial 
log schoolhouse. This was in 1879 and was 
then known as district number two of Custer 
county. The second school was established in 
1883 at the town of. Forsyth. The first teacher 
in this school was Miss Kitchen, now Mrs. 
Harden, and about fifteen pupils attended. 

The first school in Forsyth was held 
in a small log building between Ninth and 
Tenth streets. This building was used for a 
short time and then the school moved to the 
corner of Tenth street. It was afterwards moved 
across the railroad tracks, and in 1888, it 
moved back to the north side of the tracks 
into the frame building now occupied as the 
court house. There it remained until the year 
1902, when the handsome brick structure was 
erected on Main street getween Thirteenth and 
Fourteenth streets. This building cost $12,- 
500, and is one of the best equipped in the 
state. 

From the school report of 1901, we quote 
the following facts and figures: Census, male, 
342, female, 314; number enrolled, 325; total 
attendance, 26,255 days; average daily attend¬ 
ance, 214; average salary of teachers, male 


$50; female $50; number of school houses, 12; 
volumes in libraries, 1,267; value of libraries, 
$707; value of school houses and grounds, $4,- 
135; total money apportioned for school pur¬ 
poses, $4,462.40; disbursements, $1,917.28; 
amount on hand August 31, 1901, $2,465.92. 

Gertrude M. Higgins, Supt. of Schools. 

The report for the year 1904 shows a large 
increase in attendance, the number of school 
children and the number of school houses and 
amount expended for school purposes. Below 
is the report: 

Amount collected, $38,837.45; disburse¬ 
ments, $27,926.15; census, male, 408, female, 
335; total number enrolled, 552; average daily 
attendance, 305; number of teachers, male 6, 
female 26; average salary of teachers, male 
$73, female $52; number of school houses 
built during year, 6; total number of school 
houses, 24; volumes in libraries, 4,099; value 
of libraries, $2,2491 value of school houses and 
grounds, $25,770. 

Gertrude M. Higgins, Supt. of Schools. 

The question of instituting a free county 
high school which the laws of Montana pro¬ 
vide for has not yet been voted on in Rosebud 
county, but the rapid growth in population 
and the desire of the outside districts for 
higher education will soon make the institu¬ 
tion of a county high school necessary. 

A second brick school building to cost $7,- 
500 is in course of construction at Forsyth and 
will be occupied by the grade pupils. When 
this is completed the former building will be 
used by the high school. The enrollment at 
Forsyth in the spring of 1906 was 162. The 
students finishing the high school work in the 
Forsyth schools are admitted to all the institu¬ 
tion of higher learning throughout the state. 




PART VII 

CUSTER COUNTY 


CHAPTER I 


CURRENT EVENTS. 


The history of Custer county contains the 
account of. many interesting events, and it 
was in this section of the Yellowstone valley 
that were enacted those incidents which made 
possible the settling of the West and the trans¬ 
forming of the barren plains with their In¬ 
dian tepees to rich farms and populous cities. 

The general history in preceding chapters 
give the account of the trip of Lewis and 
Clark through this virgin wilderness in 1806; 
the trials and hardships of the venturesome 
trappers and the location and abandonment of 
their outposts when fur trading in the north¬ 
west became unprofitable; the true and detailed 
account of the horrible massacre of the gal¬ 
lant Custer and his brave men on the Little 
Big Horn, June 25, 1876; the campaigns of 
Gibbon, Crook, Miles and other generals who 
participated in the closing events of the In¬ 
dian wars of the Yellowstone valley; the fight 
with Crazy Horse and his band on the Tongue 
river; the fight on the Rosebud; General Miles’ 
fight with the forces under Sitting Bull on the 
Yellowstone; the flight of Sitting Bull and his 
ultimate surrender; and the flight of Chief 
Joseph through Montana and his capture by 
General Miles. 


Repetitions have a tendency to tire one, 
so the history of Custer county commences 
with its formation in 1864 as Big Horn coun¬ 
ty, its re-creation in 1877 as Custer county and 
the early settlements. 

The territory which comprised the county 
of Custer at the time of its organization in 

1877, was i n set as a count y an( l 

named Big Horn county. This territory has 
at times been a part of Nebraska territory, Da¬ 
kota territory, Idaho territory and finally in 
1864 it became a part of the territory of Mon¬ 
tana. The boundaries of Big Horn county 
when a part of Idaho territory were as fol¬ 
lows: Commencing at the point of intersec¬ 
tion of parallel of latitude 47 degrees; and 
meridian of longitude 109 degrees; and from 
thence east along said parallel of latitude 47 
degrees to meridian of longitude 104 degrees; 
thence along said meridian 104 degrees to par- 
ellel of latitude 45 degrees; thence along said 
parallel of latitude 45 degrees to meridian of 
longitude 109 degrees; and from thence 
north long said meridian 109 degrees to 
place of beginning. Thus, it will be 
seen, that in the early part of 1864, 
Big Horn county comprised all that 





HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


332 


territory which is now Custer, and Rosebud 
counties and a part of what is now Dawson, 
Yellowstone, Carbon and almost a quarter of 
the present county of Fergus. 

After the territory of Montana was organ¬ 
ized in 1864, Dawson county was one of the 
first formed, as also was Gallatin county. The 
east line of Gallatin at that time extended 
farther east than at present and took in a part 
of what is now Park county. The exact bound¬ 
aries of Big Horn county at that time were 
not accurately described, but according to the 
enabling act, it was to comprise: All that part 
of the territory of Montana not included in 
any of the counties already created. The 
north and south boundaries of Big Horn 
county remained the same as when this was a 
part of Idaho territory, but the west line was 
made to extend to the east line of Gallatin 
county, and Big Horn county then comprised 
almost a quarter of the territory of Montana. 

No county organization was ever effected 
in Big Horn county and no settlements were 
made in this territory prior to the Custer bat¬ 
tle and the occupation of this section by the 
army. In fact, the Indians roamed at will 
over the entire Yellowstone valley. Such 
knowledge of ft as the white man had gained 
was due to hardy and fearless explorers who 
attempted its exploration because of the many 
stories of the great wealth that was to be found 
here. Their progress was always stubbornly 
resisted by the Indians and they had but little 
time or opportunity for investigations, and 
until the occupation by the army little was 
known of this great and fertile valley. The 
Custer battle, which occurred June 25, 1876, 
and which is fully given in a previous chapter, 
while it was the greatest victory of the allied 
tribes was also their greatest defeat, as it re¬ 
sulted in the immediate occupation of their ter¬ 
ritory by their greatest enemy, the whites, of 
the great valley that had hitherto been held 
sacred to their uses and which was the last of 
their important strongholds. The magnitude 


of the loss suffered by Custer and his brave 
soldiers awoke the whole country to the fact 
that a great and fertile portion of the public 
domain was practically under another sover¬ 
eignty. This fact, only a few scattered pio¬ 
neers of the Northwest and the army were 
cognizant of, but it was suddenly brought to 
’the attention of the whole nation embellished 
by the details of the horrible massacre which 
enraged the country. The army was at once 
ordered to occupy the Yellowstone valley, and 
two military posts were established, Fort Cus¬ 
ter, at the confluence of the Big Horn and Lit¬ 
tle Big Horn rivers, a few miles from the site 
of the famous Cuslter battlefield, and Fprt 
Keogh, at the confluence of the Tongue and 
Yellowstone rivers, each named in honor of 
a hero of the massacre. This was done to add 
to the effectiveness of the troops and for the 
protection of the incoming rush of settlers. 

The army established its headquarters at 
the cantonment at the confluence of the 
Tongue and YeHowstone rivers in the fall of 
1876, and in the spring of 1877 the first influx 
of settlers reached what is now Miles City 
and established a settlement at the edge of the 
reservation. The settlement grew rapidly and 
in a very short time it had a population of over 
two hundred souls. Among the early settlers 
of Custer county were: W. H. Bullard, W. 
F. Schmalsle, scouts under General Miles, H. 
C. Thompson, train master for the army, C. 
W. Savage, Chas. Brown, N. Borchardt, 
Maurice Cohn, Bassinski Bros., John J. Gra¬ 
ham, Jack Johnson, Tom Irvine, Chas. Miller, 
Peter Peterson, A. Carmichael, A. Flanagan, 
John Anderson, Louis Payette, Ed Flynn, 
Chas. Archer, John W. Smith, M. Hurley, 
Major Grover, Wm. Strong, George Miles, 
J. Cooper, Henry Bender, J. W. Montague, 
Hugh Hoppe, J. H. Grimmet, Dan Hamilton, 
Fay Bros., A. Maxwell, John Burke, Tom 
Bishop, John Seaman, D. Ringer, Louis Bach, 
O. C. Rogers, Smith Irvine, J. A. Allen, Gus 
Bloom, Louis Clark, Tom Mason, John Chin- 





HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


333 


nick, Barney Colloran, Jack Woodliff, Frank 
Doe, -Harris, - Sherman, Henry Da¬ 

vis. All of the above and many others whose 
names are lost to history arrived in the year 
1877 and settled here. Among these early 
settlers we find that Henry Bender was the 
first rancher. He had a ranch just below the., 
old town where he raised garden truck and hay 
with which he suplied the soldiers at the fort. 
J. H. Grimmet started a, truck garden a short 
distance up the.Tongue river in 1878 and was 
the second rancher in the vicinity of Miles 
City. J. W. Montague had started a ranch on 
the Yellowstone in 1877, near where Terry 
now stands where he raised considerable hay, 
which found a ready market, among the gov¬ 
ernment contractors and others who were 
freighting from Bismark. To Chas. Brown 
belongs the distinction of being the first dairy 
rancher. He owned a ranch about two miles 
up the Tongue river. Mrs. Brown brought the 
first chickens into Custer county in 1878 and 
the poultry business was a success from the 
start. Eggs reached the fabulous price at 
times of twenty-five cents a piece. Soon after 
Mr. Brown’s venture into the dairy business, 
he was followed by M. Kircher and his son, 
Al. Fay Bros., and Dan- Hamilton were also 
among the first to try the possibilities of 
ranching in the new country. 

In February, 1877, the* legislature of the 
territory of Montana, still having in mind the 
disaster that befell Custer and men, passed the 
following resolution which was approved Feb¬ 
ruary 3, by Governor B. F. Potts: That in 
commemoration of the dauntless courage, the 
disciplined valor, and the heroic death of 
Lieut.-Col. George A. Custer, and his men of 
the seventh regiment of cavalry, who fell in 
battle with the Sioux Indians, on the Little 
Big Horn river, in the territory of Montana, 
on the 25th day of June, 1876, the name of 
said Little Big Horn river, shall be changed 
to Custer river, and the same shall hereafter be 
known as Custer River. This resolution failed 


in its purpose and the name of Little Big Horn 
is still retained by that historic stream. 

By an act approved Febraury 16, 1877, the 
name of Big Horn county was changed to 
Custer county, but the boundaries of the coun¬ 
ty remained the same as before. B. F. Potts, 
then Governor of Montana territory, named N. 
Borchardt, D. A. Ringer and John W. Smith 
as the first board of county commissioners of 
Custer county wiith instructions to meet • 
and organize the county by appointing county 
officers and selecting a county seat. This 
board held its first session June 14, 1877, and 
its first official act, after naming Mr. Borchardt 
as chairman, was to designate the town of 
Miles City as the seat of government for the 
new county. This was followed by the ap¬ 
pointments of A. Carmichael as probate judge, 
John McCormick, county clerk; Matt Carroll, 
treasurer; Hugh Hoppe, sheriff; Chas. John¬ 
son, assessor, and A. B. Hicks as coroner. 
For Miles precinct, the only precinct in the 
county, Russell Briggs was named as the first 
justice of the peace and M. T. Hall as first 
constable. 

The first tax levied in the county was eigh¬ 
teen mills on the dollar, which was apportioned 
as follows: Territory three mills, county 
eleven mills, school three mills, poor one mill. 
The first assessment returned by the assessor 
showed that within the vast area of the largest 
county in the United States, there was a prop¬ 
erty valuation of only $100,197. 

The first grand jury in Custer county was 
called in the fall of 1878, and the panel in¬ 
cluded the names of Chris Hehli, T. C. Burns, 
C. L. McKay, James Simpson, Emery Vine, 
Chas. Brown, Wm. Burke, A. W. Church, J. 
M. Gilman, John Woodliff, Fred Barrell, 
George Ives, Arch McCurdy, James McGraw, 
J. W. Montague, L. J. Whitney, J. M. Riddle, 
James Bottoman, David Toner and J. B. 
Hubbell. The first trial jury was made up of 
J. A. Trumel, J. B. Wright, Clark Tingley, 
Lewis Clark, Michael Burker, Julius Balzer-, 









334 


HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


Paul Borchardt, Louis Bach, W. H. Adams, 
Henry Bender, George Eastman, James 
Cooper, John Chinnick, Al. Clark, Ole John¬ 
son, Mat Ilgen, Fred Miller and George 
Troeschman. 

During the years 1877-78-79 and 1880, 
the population of Custer county increased very 
rapidly and centered in and around Miles City 
and up and down the Yellowstone river, while 
a few more venturesome than the rest started 
homes along the Tongue river some distance 
from its mouth. The establishment of. Forts 
Keogh and Custer and the activity of General 
Miles in controlling the Indians had rendered 
the Yellowstone valley safe for settlement. A 
continuous line of farms were located along 
the north bank of the Yellowstone and each 
one showed some cultivation. A sawmill, the 
first in the Yellowstone valley, had been 
started in 1877 by W. H. Bullard, with a 
capacity of 5,000 feet per day. This was lo¬ 
cated about fifteen miles east of Miles City, 
and furnished the lumber for most of the 
frame buildings erected in the vicinity of that 
town. 

According to the territorial treasurer’s re¬ 
port of 1878, there were three births in Cus¬ 
ter county and no deaths. The report of county 
industries were as follows: Oats, 164 acres, 
6,835 bushels; wheat, 12 acres, 430 bushels; 
rutabagas, J4 acre, 7,500 pounds; 119 milch 
cows, 10,980 pounds of butter and cheese; 
1,200 sheep, 7,500 pounds of wool; 1 sawmill, 
75,000 feet of lumber; six acres of onions, i6q 
bushels. 

The hunting and slaughtering of buffalo 
for their hides had been one of the principal 
sources of trade in Custer county since its first 
settlement. In 1881 the killing of buffalo 
reached the high water mark and was the be¬ 
ginning of the end of the monarch of the 
prairie. Through courtesy the killing of the 
buffalo was called hunting, but it was nothing 
less than butchery. The method used in kill¬ 
ing buffalo was for a hunter to go out with 


perhaps a half dozen “skinners” and establish 
a camp near some well known feeding ground. 
Having concealed himself before dawn the 
hunter would be ready to commence killing as 
soon as the herd would rouse themselves and 
begin their morning graze. The heavy rifle 
made but little noise and when a buffalo faould 
drop from no apparent cause, those around 
him would sniff his calrcass apprehensively 
once or twice, and seeing nothing to excite 
them, would again fall to grazing, only to 
meet the same fate as soon as their movements 
gave them the proper exposure. The ignorant 
brutes refused to stampede and usually staid 
in one place until the last survivor had 
dropped. Large scores were made, often run¬ 
ning as high as fifty or sixty and even up to a 
hundred killed in a day, when conditions were 
favorable. The number was only limited by 
the number of “skinners” a hunter had in his 
camp, as they never killed more than could 
be skinned while the carcasses were yet warm 
and it was almost impossible to skin a carcass 
after it had become cold. The hides were sup¬ 
posed to be salted, rolled and piled so that they 
would be safe from the weather and easy of 
access for the teams to be sent out after them 
in the spring. Some did this, but many did 
not and many skins were spoiled in this man¬ 
ner. Usually the hunter was a man whose only 
asset was his ability to shoot, but he had no 
trouble in finding many willing to stake him 
for $800 or a $1,000 with which to buy an out¬ 
fit. Owing, probably to the deep snows that 
made it almost impossible for the herds to 
move, the winter of 1880-81 was the record 
breaker in buffalo killing, it being estimated 
that 250,000 were killed in Custer county dur¬ 
ing that year. In the spring of 1882 about 
180,000 hides were shipped out of Custer 
county and this was supposed to represent 
only about 75 per cent of the number killed, 
the rest being lost through careless handling. 
When the fact is taken into consideration that 
this killing had been going on for several 





HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


335 


years previously and that it was continued for 
a year or two after this, we must grant that 
this locality did its full share in the extermina¬ 
tion of the noble animal. With the exception 
of a few captives, the buffalo is now extinct. 

The advent of the Northern Pacific rail¬ 
road which built its line through Custer 
county in 1881 and 1882, brought about a com¬ 
plete change in the commercial conditions then 
existing here and opened up new lines of in¬ 
dustry. Many new settlers began to arrive 
and many farms along the creeks and rivers 
in the interior of the county were located upon. 

It was in the year 1881 that the people of 
Custer county first became aware of the fact 
that this section was peculiarly adapted for 
range purposes. It was because of a peculiar 
experience of a “bull train” belonging to the 
“Diamond R,” that suggested the idea of the 
value of this section as a winter range. This 
train, enroute from Fort Buford to Fort Custer 
and heqvily laden, became snow bound near 
the Crow reservation, and was abandoned by 
the “whackers” who turned the oxen loose 
to rustle. The poor animals, almost too weak 
to stand, were expected to go off somewhere 
and die. The snow was three feet deep and 
nothing but sage brush and greasewood in 
sight. Greatly to the surprise of their owners, 
almost the entire band of sixty were seen a 
few months later in the very pink of condition. 
This story spread quickly and widely and be¬ 
fore the people of this section were hardly 
aware of the fact, the cowboy of the south' 
west and Texas had displaced the buffalo 
hunter. The change was sudden and complete, 
and during the years between 1881 and 1885 
great wealth was dumped into Custer county 
in the shape of range cattle. Not only were 
the experienced cowmen of the southwest tak¬ 
ing advantage of this rich, virgin range, but 
also the wealthy men of the eastern states were 
making a rush to get into the business. 

The sheep industry preceded the cattle in¬ 
dustry in Custer county by several years. The 


first were brought into what is now Custer 
county by a Mr. Burgess, who started from 
California with a bunch of 1,400 sheep in the 
fall of 1876. They were a cross between the 
Merino and Cotswold breeds. He arrived 
here about the end of September, having con¬ 
sumed two seasons on the trip, and located on 
Tongue river on the site of the present Miles 
City. In the following fall the band was pur¬ 
chased by George Miles and moved to a range 
higher up the river. • 

In 1879, a band of Indians killed a man 
named Lynch on Powder river. They were 
caught, and brought to Miles City, the county 
seat, and tried for the offense. Three of 
them were found guilty and sentenced to be 
hung. The gallows were erected and every¬ 
thing in readiness for the hanging. But the 
Indians, who believe that hanging in public, 
is the worst possible form of death, defeated 
the ends of justice by hanging themselves in 
the jail. They took the belts from their breech 
clouts and fastened them together. One hung 
himself to the steel door of the cell and when 
he was dead he was taken down by the other, 
and he then proceeded to hang himself in 
the same way. The other Indian who was in 
a separate cell, a few nights after took the 
string from his moccasin and tied it around 
his neck so tightly that he choked to death. 
Thus, by their own hands three of'them be¬ 
came good Indians. 

In 1880 settlements had advanced so rap¬ 
idly along the Yellowstone and Tongue rivers, 
that the Indians, because of their raids on 
stock and their stealing proclivities, became 
a nuisance to the settlers. A petition was cir¬ 
culated through the valley, praying com 
gress to remove the Crow Indians from their 
present reservation to some locality more eligi¬ 
ble for the Crows and less inconvenient for ad¬ 
vancing civilization. The Yellowstone Journal 
of that year said: “As the matter stands the 
Crow Indians occupy the finest portion of the 
Yellowstone valley, and while owning only one 




336 


HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


shore of the river, they practically exclude the 
white settler from peaceful occupation of the 
other shore also. The probability of valua¬ 
ble mines being discovered on the reservation 
makes it important on behalf of the Indians 
themselves that they be removed while it is 
possible for the measure to be peacefully ef¬ 
fected, and the present time seems peculiarly 
propitious for the purpose. They have al¬ 
ready signified a willingness to sell out and re¬ 
move farther north. Perhaps, however, the 
best settlement of the whole Indian problem 
would be Secretary Schurz’s proposition to 
convert them into settlers by forcing them to 
enter upon and cultivate the land on the same 
footing with whites. That would finish them.” 

In August, 1880, a man by the name of 
Catfish Sandy and a partner were attacked by 
a band of raiding Indians on the Mizpah. 
Sandy wounded two of the Indians and made 
his escape, but his partner was'not so fortunate 
and was killed by the Indians. Sandy at 
once notified the commanding officer at Fort 
' Keogh, and under the guidance of Sandy they 
at once started for the scene of the disturb¬ 
ance. Arriving there they found the Indians 
■ in a ravine near by where they had retreated 
for safety. Upon the approach of the sol¬ 
diers, they opened fire, killing one man and 
wounding another seriously. The officer in 
charge seeing that the Indians were well armed 
and had plenty of ammunition, sent a runner 
back to the fort for reinforcements and in the 
meantime placed a strong guard around the 
Indians to they could not escape. A company 
was at once sent to their assistance, taking 
with them a three-inch field piece. Upon the 
arrival of the company a scout was sent for¬ 
ward to demand the surrender of the guilty 
Indians, telling them that they were sur¬ 
rounded and could not escape. Accordingly, 
they came out and gave themselves up, and 
were taken to the post where two of them 
were placed in the guard house and the 
wounded were taken to the hospital. They 


were never made to suffer for their murderous 
assault. 

A commemorative monument was placed 
at Fort Keogh in 1883 in memory of those who 
fell fighting the Sioux in Montana and em¬ 
braces the Bear Paw, Big Hole, and other 
fields as well as Custer. The sides of the mon¬ 
ument are highly polished and on one side is 
the following inscription: “To the officers 

and men killed, or who died of wounds re¬ 
ceived in action in the Territory of Montana, 
while clearing the district of the Yellowstone 
of hostile Indians.” On the other three sides 
are cut the names of thirty-nine officers and 
privates, with regiment and company to which 
each belonged, and the place and date of the 
action resulting in their deaths. 

In 1883, in August, it was reported that 
the Indians were on the warpath and the Yel¬ 
lowstone Journal of that date, said, “There are 
numerous reports of Indian troubles among 
the cattle and sheep men along the Tongue and 
Powder rivers, it being asserted that a hunter 
on Ash creek, a tributary of Powder river, was 
found dead in his cabin. It was surmised that 
he had been giving the Indians a square meal 
from the appearance of the cabin and received 
a bullet in the back that cost him his life as a 
reward for his hospitality. The Cheyennes 
have mostly left the Keogh reserve and have 
set out for the head of the Tongue river to join 
the balance of the tribe. They muster about 
800 fighting men and can do great damage 
before they are forced to lay down their arms. 
There is an evident determination among the 
ranchers and stockmen to take the law in their 
own hands should the trouble wax greater, and 
extermination at the hands of these hardy pio¬ 
neers will be about what these hostiles will get. 
The river Crows have joined forces with the 
Cheyennes, and daily reports are promulgated 
of the depredations they have committed. Ex¬ 
termination, root and branch, is the only set¬ 
tlement of the Indian question.” No ac¬ 
tion was taken in regard to the dep- 




HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


337 


redactions of the Indians but public feel¬ 
ing ran very high. In 1884, the in¬ 

terior department listened to the reports 
and complaints of the settlers of the 

Tongue and Yellowstone valleys and estab¬ 
lished a new agency for the Cheyennes be¬ 
tween Lame Deer and the Little Muddy and 
removed these thieving Indians to that locality. 
But, even this did not stop them from killing 
the settlers’ cattle and sheep whenever they 
felt in need of fresh meat, and sometimes a 
herder was killed while protecting his herd. 

In the early part of 1884, Bishop Brondel, 
of Helena, established a mission among the 
Cheyennes on Otter creek. The Yellowstone 
Journal, in speaking of that mission in 1885, 
said: “A resident priest and three Ursuline 
Nuns of Toledo, Ohio, took charge of the work 
of civilization and education. During a short 
space of time a good deal of work has been 1 
accomplished. The school numbers over fifty 
children. The present buildings were entirely 
too small and not adapted for the purpose and 
therefore a new and spacious mission school 
is in course of erection. The main part is 40 
by 35 feet, the additional part 22 by 16 feet 
and both are two stories high. A contract has 
been made with the government to educate 
forty Indian children at the mission; they will 
get their board, clothing and education at the 
school. The day is not far distant when the 
Cheyennes on the Tongue and surrounding 
country will be Christianized and civ¬ 
ilized, and have their own ranches, 
stock, gardens, and finally become good, 
law-abiding citizens and useful members 
of society. All this will be the fruit of educa¬ 
tion.” This prediction, made twenty-one years 
ago, is now verified and the Cheyennes are 
peaceful, industrious and law-abiding citizens. 

' They realize the value of education and their 
children, whenever possible, are sent to the 
mission schools, where they receive a thorough 
training in all the essential branches, and many 
are sent east to finish their educations. 

22 


In 1883, the dismembering of Custer coun¬ 
ty was commenced when the territory now 
comprising the county of Yellowstone-was cut 
off. Considerable trouble was experienced be¬ 
fore an amicable settlement was reached in 
regard to the amount that Yellowstone county 
was to pay the county of Custer. Custer coun¬ 
ty claimed about $54,000 as her just 
dues from Yellowstone county, and af¬ 
ter taking the matter to the courts 
where it was argued and discussed for 
over three years, it was finally settled 
in July, 1886, and Yellowstone paid over 
to Custer county the amount decided upon by 
the courts of $45,793.81 as full and final set¬ 
tlement. 

The year 1883 also marks the darkest page 
in the management of the affairs of Custer 
county. It was during this year that the board 
of county commissioners was discharged from 
office by the legislature for misappropriation 
of funds and other irregularities in office. 
The board of county commissioners, the coun¬ 
ty clerk and county treasurer were indicted by 
the grand jury. The county treasurer had 
taken several thousand dollars to go east and 
buy furniture for the new court house. He 
was last heard of in St. Paul, but from there 
all trace of the treasurer and the money was 
lost. The county clerk skipped out of the 
country, but was later apprehended in Texas 
and brought back and lodged in jail. A trial 
was held, but owing to the fact that the sym¬ 
pathizers of the men were in control of the 
powers of justice, it was found to be impossi¬ 
ble to convict them for the offenses charged. 
The Custer county court house was in course 
of construction that year and was finished in 
1884. The actual cost of the building was 
estimated at about $30,000, but it cost the 
county of Custer $100,000, but as the cost of 
material and labor was much higher in those 
days than at present, it may have cost the con¬ 
tractor $50,000 to finish the building. This 
was the greatest steal ever perpetrated in the 




338 


HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


county, and from forty to fifty thousand dol¬ 
lars of the county’s money went into the pock¬ 
ets of the powers “that were” at that time. 
Since that time the records of Custer county 
have been clean and the people of the county 
have been wise in their selection of men to 
manage the affairs of the county. 

The winter of 1886-7 is a memorable one 
in the history of Custer county, as it was in 
that year they suffered such tremendous 
losses in the stock business.. The county’did 
not get over the results of that winter for a 
number of years, and a great industry shrunk 
to almost nothing. It was the latter end of the 
winter that did such telling work on the stock, 
as it came when the cattle were weak and un¬ 
able to stand the terrible storms and cold 
weather. The big outfits, owned by eastern 
capitalists, were usually in charge of a cowboy 
who had no business ability or a man from the 
east who knew nothing of the cattle business. 
They, wanting to make a good showing with 
the owners, often reported a very light loss in 
the spring, probably one per cent, when it was 
usually about ten per cent. In the spring of 
1887, to make good their former reports, they 
charged up abnormal losses and thereby saved 
their reputations. The actual loss for that 
winter was estimated at sixty per cent. The 
little fellows, the “nesters,” or grange ranch¬ 
ers as they were called, suffered much less 
than the big outfits, as they had only small 
bunches of stock, and were able to feed them. 
The idea of winter feeding had never been 
practiced by the large owners, but after that 
they saw the advantages of it and there are 
now but few of them who do not' make provi¬ 
sions for feeding in winter if it is found nec¬ 
essary. Of course, winter feeding is not to 
be thought of if the stock can live on the range, 
as free grass is the basis of the profits. Win¬ 
ter ranging is not inhuman as one might sup¬ 
pose because the range steer will usually find 
a better shelter in the “bad land” breaks than 
can be constructed by man and the feed in its 


natural state is surely more toothsome and nu¬ 
tritious than when made into hay. As dem¬ 
onstrated by the buffalo, it is alright for stock 
bred on the range, but it is hard on eastern cat¬ 
tle brought in the first year. 

After the hard winter, things ran smoothly 
in Custer county for several years, the stock- 
men recuperated from their loses, the county 
grew rapidly in wealth and population, and 
everyone prospered. 

In 1890, the Indians, becoming more bold 
in their depredations, killed a sheepherder 
named Ferguson and a man named 
Gaffney. The murderers were caught, 
tried and convicted, but as was usually the 
case, the Indian Protective Association, an or¬ 
ganization formed in the east, came to their 
aid and saved them from paying the just pen¬ 
alty for their crime. 

Indian raids were kept up for a number of 
years and thousands of dollars worth of stock 
was killed which was the property of the set¬ 
tlers on the Rosebud and Tongue rivers. Con¬ 
ditions reached such a state that Captain J. T. 
Brown formed a company of militia among the 
settlers for the protection of their property. 
In 1897 this company was mustered into the 
service of the state and christened “Co. C, 
First Reg. N. G. M.” The roster of the 
company was as follows: Captain, Joseph T. 
Brown; First lieutenant, George W. Brew¬ 
ster; second lieutenant, John McKay; ser¬ 
geants, D. M. Hogan, Mat Winters, Florence 
Ford, Julian Schwadle and James King; Cor¬ 
porals, L. A. Alderson, Lincoln Robinette, Lee 
Tucker and Theo. Salkerson; buglers, Her¬ 
man Wehler and Lewis McLauchlin; privates, 
Clay W. Bailey, Arthur H. Crowell, Z. T. Cox, 
Theo. P. Danby, Edward Daw, Frank Gardi¬ 
ner, Frank Griffin, P. E. Groffman, J. C. Hope, 
G. W. Humphries, Myron W. Hunt, Arch 
Kelly, John Craft, W. H. Lyndes, W. D. Lin- 
nille, Frank Lambert, R. T. Larsen, Ben Mc¬ 
Kinney, Ed McGeehee, Chas. E. Miller, Ray¬ 
mond Mitchell, John Mahoney, Jos. B. Moore, 






HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


339 


W. Pennoyer, J. C. Ratcliffe, A. Robinette, 
H. Stevens, Swen Swenson, G. Stanley, To¬ 
bias Silverson, R. H. Taliaferro, M. A. Wolfe, 
Thos. Worman. 

The troop was “mounted infantry” and its 
arms and ammunition was furnished by the 
state. The object of having the company 
mustered into the state’s service was twofold. 
First to secure prestige among the Indians and 
second, to obtain the necessary arms and am¬ 
munition to make the organization effective. 
While the company was never called upon to 
quell any Indian trouble, they were always 
anxious to be, in order to atone for past of¬ 
fenses and losses at the hands of the Indians. 

Captain Brown’s troop was in April, 1898, 
transferred to the cavalry as Troop C, and rep¬ 
resented Custer county’s contribution to the 
state’s quota of soldiers called to serve in the 
war with Spain. Captain Brown's orders were 
as follows: “Your company has been trans¬ 
ferred to the cavalry as Troop C. You will 
increase your command to 100 men, which 
with the commissioned officers, will make 
103. You are liable to be called out at any 
moment, with three other troops of cavalry. 
Enlist the best men you can; 419 cavalrymen 
will leave the state. I do not think it will be 
for any great length of time. The men will 
take their own horses along. See that they are 
a good lot. If you have 100 men like those I 
saw at Ashland your troops will not be beaten 
in the United States. Do the best you can and 
hurry up. Try and have the horses all one 
color. Yours very truly, James W. Drennan, 
Adj. Gen., Helena, Montana." 

This troop was called out and went to 
Chickamaugua, where they spent several 
months of inaction, which did not suit the boys 
of the Custer county troop, as they were an 
active lot and used to the life on the plains. 
They were greatly disappointed in not being 
sent to the front. 

Considerable excitement was stirred up in 
Custer county in 1898 by the report that In¬ 


dians were on the warpath, and for a time 
things looked squally. A man named Hoover 
had been killed by the Indians and upon the 
refusal of the Indians to give up the murderers, 
the troops were sent there to take them by 
force. A few of the Indians refused to sur¬ 
render and held out until their leader was 
killed, when they came in and gave up the mur¬ 
derers. It was some time before the Indians 
resumed their former occupations and the set¬ 
tlers again felt safe Many of the settlers had 
left their homes and gone to Miles City be¬ 
cause of the threatening attitude of the In¬ 
dians. The murderers were tried and one con¬ 
victed and sentenced to be hung, but he was 
reprieved and now lanquishes in the state’s 
prison at Deer Lodge. This was the last of 
the Indian troubles in Custer county and since 
that the red men have applied themselves to 
the more peaceful pursuit of tilling the soil 
and advancing in the scale of civilization. 

In Custer county, within whose borders 
lies the historic spot where Custer and brave 
men fell, it has been the custom for many years 
for both whites and Indians to pay a loving 
tribute to the memory of the brave men who 
fell there. In 1899, the people of two states' 
met here to honor the memory of the brave 
Custer and his soldiers and below we give the 
glowing account published in the Yellowstone 
Journal of June 9, 1899: 

As if mindful of the awful scenes enacted on the 
spot almost quarter of a century before, nature was 
in her most savage mood last Tuesday when the crowds 
began to gather at the Custer battlefield to observe 
Memorial day and pay tribute to the memory of the 
heroic dead who are sleeping so peacefully on the 
rolling hills overlooking the Little Big Horn. Lowering 
clouds overcast the sky and hid the genial face of the 
sun, which vainly strove to break though the veil of 
sombre hued darkness and lend a gleam of brightness 
to the picture of sadness. The song of the birds was 
hushed and only the hum of the many voices could 
be heard. A strong wind blew from the west and made 
mournful music among the trees that line the banks 
of the little stream which flows in picturesque curves 
through the valley and like a thin band of 





340 


HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


silver wends its way to the north where it 
joins the Big Horn. Nature’s tears were ready to 
fall, but as if considerate of those who had come so far 
to reverently lay the emblem of peace and love on the 
sacred ground which holds in lasting embrace the dust 
of those who fell on that fateful 25th of June, the 
clouds slowly rolled away and the sky gradually as¬ 
sumed a brighter hue until at last the sun shone in all 
its splendor, and though the wind still continued to 
sing among the trees and bushes and occasionally give 
way to wails that at times sounded like the shrieks 
of the dying, the scene became less gloomy and the 
picture more animated. The crowds that ’had arrived 
from two states for whose peace and security the bat¬ 
tle had been fought, began to scatter and while some 
prepared to picnic and eat their dinner, others climbed 
the long hill that leads to the highest part of the field 
where stands the monument that marks the place where 
the last stand was made by Custer and the few men 
who still remained after the main body of his little 
army had been annihilated by the savage foe. Inside 
the enclosure where stands the monument under which 
the bodies of the slain lie, hundreds of flowers were 
placed and the dry parched ground was covered with 
them. Flowers also reposed at the foot of the little 
wooden cross that tells the exact spot where Custer 
fell, and in hushed tones the story of his death and 
that of his men who found a glorious end on that 
blood drenched knoll was repeated. 

At last the hour had come when the formal exer- 1 
cises of the day were to begin and the crowds drifted 
in the direction of the little canopied stand that had 
been erected about 200 yards from the monument from 
which the speaker was to address them. In front was 
the battlefield with its little white headstones dotting 
the landscape, and the long rows of other headstones 
placed over the graves of the dead who had fallen on 
other fields where the white man and the savage had 
contended for supremacy in the many wars that have 
been fought in the years gone by and which have made 
it possible for the people of today, to dwell in peace 
and security in one of the richest and most beautiful 
regions of this vast and beautiful land, for the battle¬ 
field is now a national cemetery and the dead from 
many places in Montana and Wyoming have found 
final sepulchre there. Back of the stand and in front 
of the audier :e lay the valley of the Little Big Horn 
and while listening to the stirring speech of Colonel 
Sanders, their eyes could travel over the place where 
the first signs of the Indians had been beheld by the 
white man who were so soon to fall victims to the 
implacable hatred of the red men. Like on that day 
made famous in song and prose the tepees of the red 
men dotted the plain and gently sloping hillsides, but 
these were of a friendly tribe and added to the com¬ 
pleteness of the picture nature so kindly painted. 
Standing at “parade rest” to the left of the platform 
was a company of the national guard of Wyoming 


and on the right the Billings band. The address by 
Colonel Sanders was undoubtedly one of the most elo¬ 
quent listened to by any body of people on memorial 
day in the entire county. At its conclusion, the sol¬ 
diers formed into a body of fours and with the band 
and citizens marched up the hill where the tall flag¬ 
staff stands from which the stars and stripes floated. 
A dirge was played and then the ceremony of decorat¬ 
ing the graves was commenced. A company of boys 
from the Indian school at the Crow agency in gray 
uniforms, were given flags and with deft fingers they 
soon planted one over each grave and the serried rows 
of mounds looked like a field of red, white and blue. 
The band played again, a bugler sounded “taps,” a 
volley was fired by a squad of soldiers and the cere¬ 
monies were over. 

In 1900, an order was promulgated by 
President McKinley by which the Northern 
Cheyennes Indian reservation was definitely 
and permanently defined, the new boundaries 
being given so as to include all the land on the 
west side of Tongue river between Cook creek 
and Stebbins creek, or to be more technical, 
parts of townships 2, 3 and 4 south, ranges 43 
and 44, east, being parts of six townships or 
about 100,000 acres. 

An agreement was negotiated in 1899 by 
which the Crow Indians ceded all that por¬ 
tion of the reservation north of the Fort Cus¬ 
ter Military reservation, aggregating one mill¬ 
ion acres, for which they were to be paid 
$1,150,000, of which $300,000 is to be applied 
to an enlargement of the irrigation system on 
the reservation, $50,000 for fencing the In¬ 
dian cattle range, $150,000 for the purchase 
of cattle, $50,000 for the purchase of sheep, 
$25,000 for the new school buildings, and 
$10,000 to be applied to miscellaneous pur¬ 
poses. The remainder, aggregating $500,000, 
was to be held by the government at 4 per cent 
interest and a ten dollar cash annuity paid out 
of the increment to each Indian. This cession 
still left the Crows with 2,000,000 acres of 
land to make future deals with. This treaty 
opened up a tract of land that has long been 
known to be very desirable for farming and 
grazing. By legislative enactment that por¬ 
tion of the tract lying west of the Big Horn 






HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


34i 


became a part of Yellowstone county and that 
portion lying east a part of the county of Cus¬ 
ter. The division was nearly equal, about a 
half a million acres on each side of the river. 

This tract was thrown open for settlement 
in 1906 and the registration commenced at 
Billings, Miles City and Sheridan, Wyoming, 
on the 14th of June, and the drawing was 
made at Billings during the first days of July. 

The county of Rosebud, in which is located 
all that part of the Crow reservation which 
was recently thrown open for settlement, was 
cut off from Custer county in 1901 and the 
west line of Custer county made to follow the 
eleventh guide meridian due south to the Wyo¬ 
ming line. Thus Custer county, the mother 
of counties, with the creation of Rosebud 
county, lost the distinction of being the largest 
county in the United States. The area of the 
county is even now larger than some of the 
eastern states, having an area of 11,592 square 
miles. 

The assessed valuation of Custer county 
as far back as could be ascertained' has been 
as follows: 1877, $100,197; 1890, $4,661,- 
251; 1891, $5,950,251; 1892. $7,815,139; 
1893; $7,816,569; 1894, $6,888,349; 1895, 
$5437,248; 1896, $5,907,018; 1897, $6,757,- 
441; 1898, $5,906,666; 1899, $6,118,703; 
1900, $6,463,194; 1901, $4,571,012; 1902, 
$ 5 , 842 , 434 ; I 9°3’ $6,646,872; 1904, $6,035,- 
655; 1905, $6,680,850; estimated for 1906, 
over $7,000,000. The falling off between 1892 
and 1896 is due to the hard times, and in 1902 
the cutting off of Rosebud county is responsi¬ 
ble for the decrease in valuation. 

The financial statement of the county clerk 
for the fiscal year ending November 30, 1905. 
shows that county was in excellent shape finan¬ 
cially with a balance of $161,549.73. The to¬ 
tal bonded indebtedness was decreased $90,000 
and the net indebtedness decreased $3,186.46. 
Total amount of taxes collected was $115,- 
008.16 and a total delinquency shown of 
$9,997.03. The tax levy for the year 1905 


was 22.5 mills for county and state purposes. 
The total value of the property owned by the 
county amounted to $125,900, which was a 
very conservative estimate. 

The range industry for which Custer coun¬ 
ty has long been noted is generally understood 
to refer to cattle, but after years of depressing 
conditions the sheep and horse business has 
revived with surprising energy and is now as 
important a factor in Custer county as the cat¬ 
tle business. For a number of years prior to 
1898 horses were a drug on the market and 
could not be disposed of at any price, but with 
the breaking out of the war, the demand in¬ 
creased and prices have been steadily going up 
since that time. The same conditions pre¬ 
vailed in the sheep business but an increased 
demand and higher prices has placed the sheep 
man on the same footing as the cattle and horse 
raisers and together they are moving along 
and growing more prosperous and wealthy 
with each advancing year. 

The superiority of Montana horses and cat¬ 
tle has only in the last few years been recog- . 
nized throughout the eastern states, but now 
the number of stock buyers that congregate at 
the sales, held several times a year at Miles 
City, increases each year and thousands of 
horses and cattle are purchased here and 
shipped to the eastern markets. From 25,000 
to 30,000 head of horses *and cattle are shipped 
from Custer county each year and about 
60,000 head of sheep and seven or eight mill¬ 
ion pounds of wool. 

While the stock industry is at the present 
time the principal asset of Custer county, one 
must not overlook the rapidly increasing agri¬ 
cultural possibilities of this section, as 
in all stock counties the agricultural 
possibilities have had their light hid 
under a bushel; but the time has now come 
when the farmer is gaining a foothold and the 
large holdings of grazing lands are being cut 
up into small farms, and, aided by an adequate 
system of irrigation, are producing wonderful 








342 


HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


crops of fruit, vegetables, grain and alfalfa. 
The valleys of the Yellowstone, Tongue and 
Powder rivers as well as every small creek that 
empties into these streams is dotted with 
farms that have been brought up to a high 
state of cultivation. This is all due to irriga¬ 
tion. Owing to the limited rainy season farm¬ 
ing is prohibited in Custer county unless irri¬ 
gation schemes are utilized. 

The first irrigation enterprise was started 
at Miles City in 1882, when Joseph Leighton 
and W. B. Jordan conceived the idea of taking 
water out of the Tongue river about fourteen 
miles above Miles City for the purpose of re¬ 
claiming the arid valley between those points. 
In 1882 the canal was surveyed, a portion of 
it excavated and a dam constructed. Owing 
to faulty construction the first dam was carried 
out in the spring of 1883, but the company 
again rebuilt it that year. In the spring of 
1884 this dam was also wrecked. Many of 
the original stockholders became discouraged, 
financial difficulties arose and the company 
went into the hands of a receiver. As fast as 
funds could be raised the work was carried 
on and soon the original fourteen miles was 
completed. It was reincorporated in 1890 un¬ 
der the name of the Miles City Canal and Irri¬ 
gating company. The canal is now twenty-five 
miles long and has cost about $150,000. There 
are 25,000 acres of land tributary to the canal 
that are susceptible of irrigation but not more 
than one-fifth is being utilized for farming pur¬ 
poses. Land that went begging at $2.50 per 
acre before the canal was built, is now worth 
$100 per acre. There are a large number of 
smaller irrigation enterprises scattered through 
the county and every one is being worked with 
gratifying results. 

In the matter of fuel, the county is es¬ 
pecially well favored, the whole country being 
underlaid with immense deposits of lignite 
coal. Very little is known of this coal out¬ 
side of the Yellowstone valley, because it is 
yet in an immature state and will not admit of 


export. It makes an excellent fuel and in a 
sparsely timbered country like this it is a boon 
to the inhabitants. It crops out everywhere, 
in “cut banks” bad and land buttes, in veins 
of from two feet to six feet in thickness and 
the exposed coal can be mined with but little 
labor. The denser and more mature coal is 
found at a depth of about twenty-five feet be¬ 
low the surface. When freshly mined, it is as 
black and glossy as cannel coal, but exposure to 
the air causes it to slack and fall to pieces and 
prohibits export. It is sold to local consumers 
at $2.50 per ton and is much cleaner to use 
than the common bituminous product of other 
parts of the state. During the past few years; 
experiments have been made with considerable 
success to find a way to stop this coal from 
slacking, and, as nothing is impossible to 
science, the time is not far away when Custer 
county will be the coal depot of the western 
states. 

The climatic conditions of the Yellowstone 
valley are all that could be wished for. It 
would be hard to find any country in the world 
where the climate is of such invigorating and 
healthful quality as in this section. It is a land 
of sunshine and pure air which is so essential 
to the health of every human being. But it is 
a land of extremes and the thermometer has 
been known to range 200 degrees up and down 
the scale, from 60 below in winter to 135 above 
in the summer. But, these extremes are very 
uncommon and it seldom gets below twenty 
degrees in winter or over 100 in the summer. 
On account of the thin, dry atmosphere, ex¬ 
treme heat or cold arq not felt nearly as much 
as in more humid climes. A sunstroke has 
never yet been heard of in the Yellowstone val¬ 
ley according to the accounts of all old timers. 
The healthful qualities of this section are well 
attested by the numbers of bright, healthy, 
rosy cheeked men and women who live in this 
country of sunshine where out door life is pos¬ 
sible, and where bacteria and microbes do not 
flourish. 






CHAPTER II 


CITIES AN 

MILES CITY. 

The city of Miles, started in 1877, owes 
its origin to the establishment of Fort Keogh 
on the Tongue river in 1876. Fort Keogh 
was established by General, then Colonel. 
Nelson A. Miles in 1876 and was first located 
about two miles from its present site at the 
west side of the Tongue river where it empties 
into the Yellowstone. It was then known as 
the “Cantonment,” and the buildings were only 
temporary affairs thrown together for shelter 
until the buildings could be constructed at the 
present site, which were completed during the 
years 1877 and 1878. The site on which Miles 
City is built was at that time a part of the mili¬ 
tary reservation which extended for two miles 
down the Yellowstone river. Here on the very 
edge of the reservation, a small town was 
started in the year 1877. In less than one 
year the town, which was called Miles City in 
honor of Colonel Miles, who was then the com¬ 
manding officer at the post, boasted of a popu¬ 
lation of over two hundred souls. 

The first merchant in what is now called 
the “Old Town” was Mr. C. W. Savage, who 
had come here in the year 1876 as post trader 
for the army. He at once saw the opportunity 
for a profitable business and got in on the 
ground floor. He was soon followed by Maur¬ 
ice Conn and Bassinski Bros., all of whom ar¬ 
rived here and went into business in the year 
1877. As is usual with all new communities, 
dance halls and saloons were plentiful and did 
a thriving business. Transportation in those 
days was dependent upon the condition of the 
waters of the Yellowstone for steam-boating, 
the stream being navigable for loaded boats 
only during the season of high water, which 


D TOWNS. 

usually occurred in June when the snows were 
melting in the mountains. Other freighting 
was done by wagon train in the summer, fall 
and winter, overland from Bismarck, but this 
mode of transportation was very expensive and 
usually, only luxuries that could stand the high 
tariff, were sent in in this way. A semi-weekly 
mail service was enjoyed by the inhabitants of 
Miles City, which came overland with a sched¬ 
ule of four days from Bismarck, the distance 
being about 300 miles. Day and night travel 
was included in the schedule, but at this time it 
was more night than day on 'account of the 
danger from small war parties of Indians, who 
on several occasions made their presence 
known and once ambushed a stage driver and 
left his bones to whiten on the plains. 

The post being nearly completed, late in 

1877, the troops occupied it, and their removal 
left a distance of four miles between Miles 
City and the source of its greatest trade. This 
was too far away for convenience both to the 
troops and the townspeople, and in March, 

1878, the military authorities issued an order 
throwing open that part of the Fort Keogh 
reservation lying east of the Tongue river. The 
people of the old Miles City at once arose, al¬ 
most en masse, and hurriedly moved westward 
two miles, to the very edge of the Tongue river 
where the military had established a ferry a,nd 
opened an official gateway to the post. 

A townsite company was formed which 
laid out the new town, put nominal prices on 
lots and apportioned the business locations in 
a way that was satisfactory to all. The tem¬ 
porary log shacks with dirt roofs that had 
filled the temporary wants of the residents of 
the old town were not considered in keeping 
with the growing importance of the new town, 





344 


HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


and many of the new buildings, which were 
nearly all frame, were quite fastidiously 
adorned. 

The change of location made no change in 
the name of the town and in 1878, Miles City 
began to have the appearance of a lively up- 
to-date town. A garrison full of soldiers and 
the usual complement of followers and citi¬ 
zen employes made a good payroll. I his was 
enlarged by the earnings of a small army of 
government contractors’ men, high salaried 
clerks in the stores and the continued influx of 
the inevitable tenderfoot who always has, and 
who will always continue, to flock to frontier 
towns and there be relieved of his surplus. The 
first store in the new town was started by 
James B. Hubbell & Co., and was sooi\ fol¬ 
lowed by C. W. Savage and Maurice Conn, 
who moved up from the old town in the sum¬ 
mer of 1878. It was during this year that 
many of the residents considered it safe to 
have their families come to this place and 
many women and children came up on the 
early boats and some later came overland. 

The first Fourth of July celebration held 
in this section of Montana was held at Miles 
City, in 1879. General Nelson A- Miles was 
made chairman of the day and delivered a 
patriotic address. A good program was ren¬ 
dered throughout and the old timers to this 
day lovingly remember the first Fourth ever 
held in the Yellowstone valley. 

Miles City now enjoyed great prosperity, 
beneficial improvements were going on every 
day and it was beginning to realize its im¬ 
portance as a factor in the settlement of the 
Yellowstone valley. A live, weekly newspaper 
was established in July, 1879, an d the many 
advantages of the town were spread through 
“the states.” 

The value of a live, wide awake newspaper 
to a town which has a good “booster” at the 
helm, is shown in the following excerpt from 
the Yellowstone Journal of February 7, 1880: 


Miles City is in Custer county, in a portion of Mon¬ 
tana territory, rather more than one-third larger in 
area than the whole state of Pennsylvania. It is a 
lively, bustling, successful town. * * * There are 
300 buildings in the place and somewhere in the neigh¬ 
borhood of 750 inhabitants. * * * The town is 
rapidly growing and in view if the fact that it was 
started only a little over a year ago, it may with con¬ 
fidence be regarded as destined in time to justify its 
name of “city.” We have carpenters, blacksmiths, 
painters, dining halls, saloons of every grade, the 
higher grades predominating, excellent drug stores, 
depots of fancy notions, theater, school, court house, 
jail, and ill fact everything requisite to maintain a 
town of an independent footing, excepting, indeed, 
a firstclass hotel suitable for the accommodation of 
tourists and business men temporarily sojourning here, 
which would be a paying investment from the start. 
Add to the above that Miles City is an orderly place in 
which riotous demonstrations, should they be attempted, 
would be promptly and inflexibly repressed, where the 
presentation of a pistol in a threatening manner sub¬ 
jects the offender to a heavy fine, and even the wanton 
discharge of fire arms in the streets is a punishable of¬ 
fense, and the eastern reader will be able to gain an 
idea of the community.” 

In spite of the optismistic view of the 
writer of the above, Miles City, during the 
years 1879-80 and part of 1881 was consid¬ 
ered a tough place and harbored a number of 
road agents, cattle and horse rustlers, and 
other desperate characters, such as “Calamity 
Jane,” “Cayuse Laura,” “Big Nose George” 
and his gang, and many others who were the 
followers of those mentioned above. Society at 
this time demanded that all men should meet 
on the same level and absolutely no comment 
was made when a prominent citizen was seen 
playing against the “bank” or setting up the 
drinks at one of the many soirees of the demi¬ 
monde. 

In the spring of 1881, the town of Miles 
was almost entirely submerged by water. The 
ice in the Yellowstone and Tongue rivers 
broke up about the same time, and, gorging at 
the mouth of the Tongue, caused the water 
of the Tongue river to back up and inundate the 
town. The flood lasted two days and all cel¬ 
lars and first floors of the buildings were un¬ 
der water. The merchants wore rubber boots 





HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


345 


when waiting on their customers and the only 
means of getting about the city was by boat. 
There being no wash or current, the damage 
was slight. 

In May, 1880, notice was received that 
the bill had passed providing for the establish¬ 
ment of a United States Land Office at Miles 
City and the ratification of the appointments 
of Major T. P. McElrath as register, and E. 
A. Kreidler as receiver. It was in June of this 
year that it was definitely known that the 
Northern Pacific railroad would build through 
Miles City. 

In November, 1881, the railroad reached 
Miles City and brought about a complete 
change in the methods and manners of the 
people. The Yellowstone Journal in speaking 
of this change, said: “That the railroad 

brought the community at once in touch with 
the more concise and narrower life of ‘The 
States,’ the ‘nickel’ displaced the ‘quarter’ 
as the smallest coin in use, and prices shrunk 
accordingly. For, whereas, it was competent 
in the old days for a merchant to offer as an 
excuse for the exorbitant price asked- by him 
for a package of needles, that the freight rate 
was excessive, the coming of the railroad 
robbed this argument of its honored plausibil¬ 
ity and in many other ways compelled such a 
revision of previously inculcated ideas that the 
classes that had enjoyed life under the high 
pressure and abnormal conditions of the earlier 
period found existence flat, stale and unprofit¬ 
able under the new and more normal regime, 
and, folding their tents, they stole silently 
away to garnish and adorn other fields, so that, 
during the next few years, it was not possible 
for a Miles City man to visit any of the towns 
or cities of the state without getting the grand 
hailing sign—mostly of distress—from some 
shipwrecked voyageur on life’s troubled tide, 
who had, in the old days of Milestown, en¬ 
joyed the rating of a continuous meal ticket, 
two suits of clothes and a shave every other 
day; more than which none of the happy-go- 


lucky wayfarers of those halycon days coveted. 

“This exodus, though receiving its first im¬ 
petus from the advancing railroad, was not 
immediate. The army of labor that precedes 
and is coincident with the building of a rail¬ 
road into a new country offered a field of em¬ 
ployment for the talent of the sporting ele¬ 
ment. Previous to this the producers had 
been the ‘swacldy’ or private soldier. The 
‘bull-whacker,’ the buffalo hunter and the 
tenderfoot. With the coming of the railroad 
the ‘bull trains’ were eliminated and the 
‘whacker’ faded away into a mere recollec¬ 
tion', but his place was promptly filled at the 
various resorts by the ‘hoi polloi’ that came in 
with the iron horse. It was a cheap crowd 
though, wholly unused to the princely style 
that had been the vogue in Milestown before 
its arrival, and stubbornly insistent for a while 
on the acceptance of a nickel as- an adequate 
recompense for a glass of beer. This proposed 
innovation was hotly contested for awhile by 
the adherents of the two-bit theory, resulting 
finally in a compromise that established the 
‘two for a quarter’ as the going rate. * * 

* .Still things boomed, and of evenings the 
mixed crowd ‘milled around’ the two or three 
blocks that composed the center of town, rival¬ 
ing both in numbers and excitement the prin¬ 
cipal thoroughfares of the most populous cities. 
Three variety theaters purveyed nightly, wild 
and garish entertainments.’’ 

In 1881 Miles City had a population of 
about 1,500 people and many stores with large 
stocks of goods. Three or four merchants did 
a business of nearly $300,000 per year, while 
several smaller ones reached from $75,000 to 
$150,000. The buffalo hide and robe business 
put in circulation that year nearly a quarter of 
a million dollars. It is well to note here that 
the hunting of buffalo was now almost a thing 
of the past as the vast herds that once roamed 
over the plains of Custer county were now al¬ 
most extinct. Since the starting of the town, 
the hunting of the buffalo and the ready mar- 







346 


HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


ket for their hides had been the principal source 
of income for a large number of hunters and 
had been the cause of a large volume of trade 
coming to Miles City, but now that was cut 
off and Miles City was to experience a quiet 
period for several years until the raising of 
stock became a great industry. 

There is a time in the history of every 
frontier town, and Miles City was no excep¬ 
tion to the general rule, when the respect for 
law and order rests lightly upon the shoulders 
of a large part of the population. It sometimes 
happens that this class .not .only furnish can¬ 
didates for office, but often .elect them, and 
under such conditions, one can hardly expect 
a rigid enforcement of all the statutes. Drink¬ 
ing and fighting were at that time the usual 
order of the day, but the police force and jail 
facilities being limited, they were always al¬ 
lowed to settle their differences as best they 
might. There came a time though—possibly 
as a result of this lax administration—when 
law and order had to assert itself. It was in 
the summer of 1883, during the period of 
evolution from the old time days to the new 
and changed conditions brought about by the 
advent of the railroad, and the incoming of a 
gang of thugs and desperadoes with it. They 
were ugly and malicious, and decent women 
were not free from insult—something new in 
the experience of the people who had lived 
here in the earlier days. Attempts at incendiar¬ 
ism had been frequent and a feeling of antag¬ 
onism to the hoodlums was aroused among the 
better class of citizens which resulted in or¬ 
ganization of a vigilance committee. 

On Saturday morning, July 21, 1883, at 
an early breakfast hour a tough named Rigney 
and a boon companion, whose name is lost to 
history, turned up in the residence portion 
after an all-night’s carouse, both ugly drunk. 
In this condition they forced themselves into 
a respectable house while the family were at 
breakfast, and, when ordered out, refused to 
go,, and when forced out, filled the air with 


foul language and with fouler allusions to the 
family on whose privacy they had intruded. 
A neighbor who was cognizant of the outrage 
the ruffians had perpetrated, counselled them 
to waste no time in getting out of the com¬ 
munity, and receiving for his good advice an 
unquotable retort, promptly dealt Rigney a 
blow with a club that stretched him senseless, 
and the other hobo at once took to his heels. 
Rigney was taken to jail, but the story of his 
morning adventure was told and retold during 
the day. The fact that the ladies of the house¬ 
hold upon whom he put so foul an insult 
were general favorites gave the incident addi¬ 
tional importance, and the mysterious gath¬ 
erings here and there on the streets of small 
knots of people gave the idea that something 
out of the ordinary was about to happen. 
Events had been tending toward a lawless state 
of affairs for some time because of the free¬ 
dom of public sentiment, but the Rigney inci¬ 
dent was felt to be the last straw by the law 
and order element. They knew that unless 
these acts of license and invasion of their 
homes and the insults offered to the inmates 
were checked promptly and effectively, life 
and property would be at the mercy of the mob. 
That night, July 21, about twelve o’clock, 
Jailer Jim Conley was awakened and upon go¬ 
ing to the door, was held up at the business end 
of a six shooter, and forced to give up the 
keys. The testimony givert at the inquest is 
as follows: 

In the matter of the inquest held on Wil¬ 
liam Rigney, July 22, 1883, at three o’clock, p. 
m., James Conley being duly sworn, testified 
as follows: 

Somebody came over to my house and 
woke me up about 12:30 a. m.,-of July 21, 
and said that they had a prisoner to put in. I 
went over to the court house. Just as I got 
inside the door a lot of six shooters were pulled 
down on me. Some one said, “Hold up your 
hands,” or something that way. Just then they 
caught me under the arms and shoved my 







HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


347 


hands up, carried me down the hall twenty or 
thirty feet, put me up against the wall, took 
off my belt containing my keys, opened the 
jail door and several of them went inside. 
They staid there about a minute or so. All 
passed through, except four or five. The 
four or five left behind shoved me into the jail 
and locked the door. I was in there about 
twenty or twenty-five minutes before I said 
anything, and then I tried to wake up the boys 
who were sleeping in an adjoining room. 1 
couldn’t get them up and I called for Pike. I 
got Pike up and told him to go after Kelley. 
He didn’t go after Kelley, but woke the two 
boys in the adjoining rooms. One of them went 
after Kelley and got him down there. A lit¬ 
tle before Kelley arrived I told Pike to look 
around and see if he could see anything. He 
found the key. I don’t know whether it was 
in the hall or on the step. Wash and the oth¬ 
ers came and let me out. I don’t remember 
them asking for anybody. I think they said, 
“get up.” I didn’t see any prisoner get out of 
the jail; nothing was said by anyone at all, 
only somebody said when they went in, “Oh, 
God damn it,” or something like that. 

John M. Pike, being duly sworn, testified: 

Somebody came to the door and called for 
Conley. They said the name, but I don't 
know what it was, and afterwards I heard 
them walking on the sidewalk to the court 
house. By and by, I heard some hard talking 
in the court house. By and by, Conley called 
me and told me some men put him in there. I 
asked him what he had done to be put in, and 
he told me nothing. Then he told me to go 
after Kelley and then after the janitor. I went 
and got him up. He came to Conley. Conley 
told him to go after Kelley, and while he was 
gone Conley told me to look after the keys 
outside of the door. I did look and found 
them. He told me to let him out and I told 
him that if he did not do anything I would let 
him out. I was trying to open the door with 
the keys but I couldn’t. 


Thomas Conway, being duly sworn, testi¬ 
fied as follows: 

Between 12:00 and 1:00 o'clock I heard 
the report that a man was hung down at the 
railroad bridge. Some men started down there 
to get the body. I saw the masks, but I didn’t 
recognize the body. The body in the next 
room is the same as swung from the bridge. 

Francis Diamond, being duly sworn, testi¬ 
fied as follows: 

It happened last night. Rigney slept in 
the same cell with me, I on the inside. I won¬ 
dered when I heard the noise. When I looked 
up I heard one man say to another, “strike a 
light,” and they did. Two men walked into 
the cell. They had either knives or pistols 
in their hands. I couldn’t see their faces. 
They called this man by name and he answered 
them. They told him to get up and he jumped 
out, and then went with them without hesita¬ 
tion or without surprise. They didn’t give him 
time to dress but took him out. I was sound 
asleep before they came in; couldn't recognize 
the parties who came in. The body in the next 
room is the same as was in the cell with me last 
night. 

D. B. Staples, being duly sworn, testified 
as follows: 

I was sitting with Mr. King last night. 
About one o’clock some parties came in and 
told him that a man was hanging down at the 
bridge. I went down with him and saw the 
body hanging. I recognized the body as be¬ 
ing William Rigney. I didn’t see any parties 
except those I went down with. 

After a short deliberation the jury re¬ 
turned the following verdict: 

An inquisition holden at Miles City, Mon¬ 
tana, in the county of Custer, on the 22nd day 
of July, A. D., 1883, before Dr. R. G. Redd, 
coroner of said county, upon the body of Wil¬ 
liam Rigney, there lying dead, by the jurors 
whose names are hereunto subscribed, the said 
jurors upon their oaths, do say he came to his 
death by strangulation from a rope at the 





348 


HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


hands of parties unknown to them. Signed. 
John H. Strader, John Clark, J. E. Williams, 
D. A. Bishop, M. K. Field, and E. L. Jones, 
foreman. 

Events happened quickly during the night 
and day following the hanging of Rigney. On 
the same night an act of incendiarism hap¬ 
pened that threatened to destroy the entire 
town and did damage to property amounting 
to $54,800. The losses and the persons on 
whom they fell are as follows: Cosmopolitan 
theater and saloon, owned by H. E. Wolf, 
$7,000; Eating stand, $200; S. Simons,' gun 
store, $2,000; Bassinski Bros., merchandise 
store, $25,000; W. E. Savage, $14,000; Chris 
Hehli, $500; Dr. Dodge, $500; C. P. Bishop, 
$4,000; Sideboard saloon, $600; Hineman & 
McTierman, $1,000. 

It was supposed that some of Rigney’s 
pals had been loafing around the jail and saw 
him taken out, and fearing the outcome, had 
incited these acts of incendiarism. The story 
of Rigney’s fate did not gain general circula¬ 
tion until the fire had burned itself out and a 
fevered and angry community, made up of two 
antagonistic elements, was on the verge of 
serious trouble. To the law and order people 
the connection seemed plain and was accepted 
as an act of retaliation, and a committee of 
public safety was at once organized which or¬ 
dained the departure of all suspicious charac¬ 
ters. The unusual occurrences of the past 
twenty-four hours had wrought everyone up to 
a high pitch of excitement, and the chances 
were ten to one that there would be no Miles 
City the next morning, but the lawless element 
had a great deal of respect for men who would 
calmly walk up to their acknowledged bad men 
and coolly give them twenty-four hours in 
which to leave town. Sunday night passed 
without further trouble. John Chinnick, a 
reputed bad man who had a theater and saloon 
here at that time and who was the leader of 
a gang-of roughs, was one of the men ordered 
to depart. He had intended coming up town 


on Sunday afternoon and bring his gun with 
him. His wife endeavored to dissuade him 
and in the scuffle the gun accidentally dis¬ 
charged, the bullet taking eflfect in Chinnick’s 
abdomen, which proved fatal after a lapse of 
four weeks. He was a man that was brave and 
determined and had decided that he would not 
obey the command of the committee. He had 
a large and devoted following. The commit¬ 
tee was also made up men of determination 
and nerve and a battle would certainly have been 
fought had it not been for the fatal shot. As 
soon as it was known that Chinnick was done 
for, his followers could not get out of town 
fast enough, and by Tuesday morning all was 
peaceable and quiet. It does not seem possible 
that such a state of things could have existed in 
this now orderly community. 

The first artesian well was sunk in 1883 
and flowing water was struck October 26, at 
a depth of 160 feet. 

Another disastrous fire occurred October 
26, 1883. When it was first discovered it 
was within the control of a few buckets of 
water, but water was not to be had, and the 
flames in a few minutes spread beyond con¬ 
trol. In less time than it takes to tell it the 
rear of the Criterion building was in flames 
from the ground to the ridge pole, and the in¬ 
tense heat soon communicated fire to the pile 
of rubbish in the rear of adjoining buildings. 
By this time, although no alarm had been 
turned in, the whole town was alive to the 
situation and willing hands were at work at 
the pumps and with buckets. It was apparent 
from the start that the Park street front was 
doomed. All along this front from Coleman’s 
to Flick & Louis’ place, energetic workers lent 
their aid to remove everything that was mova¬ 
ble. From the rear of the Criterion building 
the fire quickly spread to Bishop & Hill’s, 
Ritter & Co.’s and Bach’s buildings, and thence 
along the line. The ruthless flames swept on 
and soon enveloped Sam O’Connell’s fine build¬ 
ing. About this time a keg of powder was 





HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


349 


placed in Flick & Hineman’s saloon, which, as 
subsequently proved, was the salvation of 
Schmalsle’s corner and the buildings beyond. 
The First National bank building received its 
second baptism of fire and stood it nobly, al¬ 
though good work had to be, and was, done, 
to keep the fire from communicating through 
the wood work. It was done, however, and 
by 12 130 everyone breathed easier and felt that 
the danger to the bank and other buildings 
was past. 

A building boom was experienced in the 
year 1883 and buildings were erected to the 
cost of $136,300. 

In May, 1885, Miles City was again the 
victim of a disastrous fire that entailed a loss 
of about $100,000. The fire broke out in the 
rear of the Merchants’ hotel and spread rap¬ 
idly until it seemed as if the business, portion 
of the town would be entirely swept away. But 
the benefit of brick walls came in and stopped 
the fire. All the buildings from Sherburne’s 
to Leighton’s stores on the north side of Main 
street, and from Bach’s restaurant on the east 
side of Park street to the old United States 
Land Office and the west side of Park street to 
the Grand Central hotel, and on the south side 
of Main street to the First National bank were 
totally destroyed. Among the losers were the 
following: 

King & Ward’s saloon, Orschel’s store, 
Miles & Strevell hardware, Cotton & Kenne¬ 
dy’s saloon, the old Broadwater and Hubbells’ 
building, the vacant Grand Central hotel, 
and a large number of other buildings. The 
fire swept away all of the north side of Main 
street, except Savage’s store, and the Leigh¬ 
ton brick block, that was left by the fire two 
years ago. It was a serious blow and the loss 
fell heavily upon Miles City. 

On the evening of June 30, 1886, the quiet 
of the town was again disturbed by the cry of 
“fire.” The fire was a short one., but in its 
durance it spoiled much property. The ill- 
fated buildings were those owned by W. A. 


Burleigh, Jr., Theodore Bruback and Mr. An¬ 
derson. The loss on Burleigh’s property is 
estimated at from nine to ten thousand dol¬ 
lars, nearly covered by insurance; the building 
was insured for $1,500, stock $4,100, and fix¬ 
tures $1,000, total $6,600. T. Bruback’s 
building was used as a restaurant and was in¬ 
sured for $1,500. The loss on Anderson’s 
houses footed up about $800. One of them was 
occupied by Judge Staehle and he lost his fur¬ 
niture valued at $500. The total loss on all 
property was estimated at about $15,000. The 
origin of the fire was unknown. 

Early in the morning, July 4, 1886, the 
large packing house recently built was burned 
to the ground with a loss of thirty thousand 
dollars. A policy entitling the company to 
fifteen thousand dollars insurance had expired 
only a few days previously. This was a seri¬ 
ous blow to the town, as it would undoubtedly 
have become a great shipping point for dressed 
meats had it not been for this disaster. 

The town was again visited by a dreadful 
holocaust August 7, 1886. About one o’clock 
a. m. an alarm of fire was given and a sheet of 
flame was seen issuing from the rear of the 
Graham block. The fire originated in the old 
three story building owned by the Graham es¬ 
tate, a building unoccupied and unconnected 
with either of the two buildings that backed 
up against it. How it caught has always been 
a mystery. But little was saved from this fire, 
it being almost useless to attempt to move the 
heavy fixtures and furnishings of the houses 
and stores. The statement of the losses and 
insurance as nearly as can be ascertained are 
as follows: P. H. Gallagher, loss, $4,000, in¬ 
surance, $2,500; Schmalsle & Ullman, loss, 
$1,500, insurance, $1,000; Major E. Butler, 
loss, $1,800, insurance, $1,280; W. F. Schmal¬ 
sle, loss, $4,500, insurance, $3,700; James 
Coleman, loss, $2,000, insurance, $1,600; H. 
White, loss, $500, no insurance; Cotter & Ken¬ 
nedy, loss, $1,500, insurance, $1,800; Mrs. C. 
Brown, loss, $300, no insurance; Konrad 





350 


HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


Schmid, loss, $4,000, insurance, $3,500; Sipes 
Bros., loss, $1,000, no insurance; P. Dugan, 
loss, $300, insurance, $300; Heavener, loss, 
$2,000, insurance, $1,000; C. W. Seyde, loss, 
$200, insurance, $200; L. Payette, loss, $400, 
insurance, $400; Connie Huffman, loss 
$1,000, insurance, $2,500; Chas. Brown, loss 
$900, insurance, $ 75 °! Owen Doud, loss, 
$400, no insurance; Graham estate, loss, $4,000, 
insurance, $3,500; George Silverberg, loss, 
$1,500, insurance, $1,410; E. Marshall, loss, 
unknown, insurance, $1,100. The estimated 
loss was $31,800; covered by insurance to the 
amount of $29,490. Damage to adjacent 
buildings, $5,275. 

February 12,' 1887, the town suffered a 
$9,500 fire. The losses on buildings were: 
Butler, $1,800; Gibbs, $1,500; Savage, $1,600. 
Losses on stocks and fixtures; Birkle, 
$1,200; Wright, $1,000; Smith, $2,000; 
Ward, $250; Young, $250. On February 26, 
a second fire on Main street did a damage of 
ten thousand dollars. 

From 1878 to 1887, the town had moved 
along and grown apace, and there came peri¬ 
odically an agitation for incorporation. It was 
strongly urged for the first time in 1883, after 
the hanging of Rigney and the disturbances 
that followed, but popular opinion ruled at 
that time and it was thought that the vigilantes 
were the proper thing for an emergency and 
that they might just as well let things run 
along as they were. As the town grew in area 
and population and began to build homes, they 
longed for some of the comforts of civiliza¬ 
tion that could not be obtained under the old 
system. Sidewalks were needed, graded 
streets, fire protection, a water system and 
street lights were wanted. In the summer of 
1887 the preliminary steps were taken through 
the board of county commissioners and a 
special election, held on the question of incor¬ 
poration, September 9, 1887, resulted in a vic¬ 
tory for incorporation by a large majority. 

Park street was visited by a ten thousand 


dollar fire on July 1, 1889, but as has been the 
case in Miles City fires, it was nearly covered 
by insurance. The insurance amounted to 
$8,300. 

In the earlier days of the town the popula¬ 
tion fluctuated more or less, but before 1890 
we find that it had settled down to a steady 
growth, and at that time the census was 1,017. 

After an intervention of three years with¬ 
out a disastrous blaze, the town was once 
more visited by the terrible destroyer. On Sep¬ 
tember 30, 1892, the alarm was given and the 
next morning only a few embers and the brick 
walls of the Conrad building were left to mark 
the spot where on the previous day had stood 
eight buildings. The origin of the fire is sup¬ 
posed to have been incendiary. The losses 
were as follows: 

Mrs. D. N. Gaylord, loss $1,200, insurance 
$750; W. B. Stebbins, loss $10,000, insurance 
$4,5Po; Miss Ross, loss $1,500, insurance 
$500; Col. Bryant, loss $2,000, insurance, $1,- 
200; W. D. Knight, loss $1,000, insurance, 
$500; Col. Casey, loss $3,000, insurance $1,- 
500; Scott sisters, loss $1,000, insurance $600; 
Ryan & Merrill, loss $5,000, insurance $3,500; 
E. H. Johnson, loss $1,506; Alfred Myers, loss 
$3,000; John Flynn, loss $1,500; Fred Frank¬ 
lin, loss $500; W. H. Ross, loss $150; Phillip 
Mayo, loss $250; Gymnasium, loss $400; City, 
loss $200. The entire loss amounted to $22,- 
200, and the amount of insurance $13,050. 

In February, 1893, a bill passed the state 
legislature providing for the establishment and 
maintenance of a state reform school at Miles 
City. In August the board of trustees let the 
contract for the building of the reform school 
to Larson & Smith, of this city, for the sum 
of $17,010. In 1894 the building was occu¬ 
pied and has now become one of the most im¬ 
portant institutions of the state, where many 
boys and girls are taught to become good and 
useful citizens of the commonwealth. 

The Custer county wool warehouse and all 
its contents was entirely destroyed by fire Sat- 






HISTORY of CUSTER COUNTY. 


urday night, June 28, 1900. The alarm was 
sounded as quick as possible, but the fire 
burned so rapidly that all they could do when 
they arrived was to use their efforts to save 
adjoining property. In this,way they were 
not wholly successful and two residences on 
the south, the property of Mrs. Harn and Mrs. 
Burgess were destroyed. It is known that the 
fire originated from the sparks from a passing 
engine. Fortunately the warehouse and its 
contents, with the exception of a couple of lots, 
was well insured. The aggregate of the amount 
of wool stored in the warehouse at the time is 
estimated at 800.346 pounds and was insured 
for $160,307. The building was insured for 
$8,000. 

The warehouse of Lakin-Westfall & Co., 
and the Montana Hardware Co., was burned 
with all its contents Thursday evening, No¬ 
vember 22, 1905. The origin of the fire is un¬ 
known but it evidently started on the inside of 
the building. The losses were as follows : 

Montana Hardware Co., loss $12,000, in¬ 
surance $5,000; Lakin-Westfall & Co., loss 
$6,000, insurance $3,500; G. M. Miles and 
Montana Hardware Co., loss, building, $800, 
insurance $250; Robert Gruwell, loss on 
household furniture, $500, no insurance. 

The history of the town of Miles City, 
would be incomplete without mention of the 
Miles City Water and Electric Light Co. This 
company installed its lighting plant in the year 
1886, and the water system was put in in 1889. 
The investment of the original company was 
about $60,000. From the very beginning of 
the enterprise, and ever since, the problem has 
been to obtain an unfailing water supply and 
much money has been spent in the attempt. 
The first attempt was to bore six artesian wells 
from 200 to 490 feet in depth, the flow from 
which was stored in a reservoir well. This 
proved to be a failure, the reservoir well in 
reality furnishing more water from surface 
seepage than the artesian flows. In 1894, the 
plant was hopelessly involved in debt and the 


35 1 


Stockgrowers National bank held its paper to 
the amount of about $45,000. The plant was 
put in the hands of a receiver and things went 
from bad to worse. The plant was offered to 
the city for $17,000 and in May, 1895, an elec¬ 
tion was held which resulted in a vote of 344 
in favor of bonds and 148 against the proposi¬ 
tion of municipal, responsibility. The bonds 
were sold and the $17,000 paid over to the 
receiver, and the city took possession April 1, 
1896. A new dynamo was bought for the 
lighting plant at a cost of $1,600. A well was 
dug 150 feet long, 30 feet wide and 15 feet 
deep, timbered with three inch plank and cov¬ 
ered with corrugated iron. It seemed for the 
next two years that the problem had been solved. 
In the second season the water dwindled and 
prompt action was necessary. An eight inch 
main was laid 1,500 feet to Tongue river and 
water was conducted to the well with a gravity 
fall. So much clay ran into the well from the 
Tongue river that the outlet was covered and 
several hundred dollars were spent each year to 
clean the well. At an election held on the 7th 
of April, 1902, further bonds were voted to 
the amount of $15,000 for the purpose of mov¬ 
ing the plant to the Tongue river and since 
that time Miles City has had an ample water 
supply of good quality. While the city has been 
to a great deal of expense in getting a suitable 
supply of water it has at the same time saved 
a great deal of money to the consumers of 
light and water, and the acquisition of the 
water works and lighting plant are now con¬ 
sidered the ablest piece of city business ever 
transacted by the city fathers. 

The Carnegie Public Library was estab¬ 
lished in Miles City in 1902. When Mr. Car¬ 
negie began his library gifts, Miles City was 
one of the early aspirants and was soon recog¬ 
nized. The gift of $10,000 became operative 
in October, 1901, by the acceptance of the city 
council and its pledges to furnish a mainten¬ 
ance fund of $1,000 per year for all time. A 
fine location for the building was donated and 










35 2 


HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


on March 25, 1903, the library was dedicated 
by appropriate ceremonies. At the start only a 
few hundred books were possessed by the li¬ 
brary, but in about three years that number has 
grown and now there are over 2,000 books on 
the shelves besides about 350 pamphlets and 
over . 50 standard periodicals. This remark¬ 
able growth is due to the lady members of the 
association who have been untiring in their ef¬ 
forts to increase the number of works in the 
library. The borrowing patronage now ag¬ 
gregate over fifty books exchanged every day 
and the reading room is taxed to its fullest 
capacity. The executive board is composed 
of the following ladies: Mesdames M. G. 
Maples, R. H. Butler, H. W. Mclntire, H. C. 
Smith, Kate Warner, Laura Zook, T. J. Por¬ 
ter, J. S. Truscott and C. S. Whitney. Mrs. 
Laura Zook is the librarian. 

Miles City is well supplied with places of 
worship, having four churches where regular 
services are held with a large attendance. The 
first church ever held here was held in a log 
building on Main street in 1879 an( f the 
Sunday school was organized the same year. 
This held its sessions in a small log school 
house. The first church erected was built by 
the Catholic denomination in 1881 and was 
soon followed by the Methodists who com¬ 
pleted their edifice in the early part of 1882. 
The Presbyterian church was built in 1883 and 
the Baptist in 1884, but this denomination 
gave up their church organization in 1895 and 
affiliated with the other churches of the town. 
The Episcopal church was erected in 1886. A 
new Presbyterian church edifice will be erected 
this year (1906) at a cost of $20,000. 

The postmasters who have had charge of 
the mail facilities in Miles City since 1877, 
have been: Louis Payette, C. W. Savage, N. 
Borchardt, John McAusland, Charles Seyde, 
E. S. Beeman, Miss Ada Bennett and the pre¬ 
sent occupant of the office, John Towers. 

It is worthy of note in the history of Miles 
City that in all the elections held here, "that 


there never has been a political contest and 
very rarely more than one ticket in the field. 
This can be explained by the statement that 
the people of Miles City care more for the 
general welfare of the community than for 
the temporary supremacy of any political party 
in city affairs. The people of this town have 
always been very fortunate in the selection of 
their city officers and there is no blot on the 
official record of this town. 

The officers of the town since it was in¬ 
corporated have been: 9 

1887— Mayor, E. H. Johnson; aldermen, 
C. E. Brown, C. B. Towers, W. H. Bullard 
and W. L. Lansing; city clerk, Sam Gordon. 

1888— Mayor, George Scheetz; aldermen, 
A. E. Flagler, B. K. Holt, W. H. Bullard and 
C. E. Brown; clerk, Sam Gordon. 

1889— Mayor, R. G. Redd; aldermen, H. 
Moran, J. C. Callahan; Ed. Campbell, and L. 
Bach; clerk, Sam Gordon. 

1890— Mayor, -F. M. Kreidler; aldermen, 
R. I. Stuart, D. J. Crowley, J. S. Truscott, and 
H. Moran; clerk, Sam Gordon. 

1891— Mayor, J. W. Watson; aldermen, 
E. F. Fish, W. H. Bullard, D. J. Crowley and 

R. I. Stuart; clerk, Sam Gordon. 

1892— Mayor, H. B. Wiley; aldermen, W. 
H. Bullard, E. F. Fish, N. P. Sorenson and 
Thos. Gibb; clerk,'Sam Gordon. 

1893— Mayor, Jeptha Ryan; aldermen, W. 
H. Bullard, Thos. Gibb, H. W. Mclntire and 
N. P. Sorenson; clerk, Sam Gordon. 

1894— Mayor, Jeptha Ryan; aldermen, W. 
H. Bullard, H. W. Mclntire, C. S. Whitney 
and Chas. O’Neil; clerk, Sam Gordon. 

1895— Mayor, C. W. Savage; aldermen, 
W. H. Bullard, Chas. O’Neil, H. W. Mclntire, 
and C. S. Whitney; clerk, Sam Gordon. 

1896— Mayor, C. W. Savage; aldermen, 
W. H. Bullard, Thos. Gibb, W. P. Waters and 
C. S. Whitney; clerk, Sam Gordon. 

1897— Mayor, E. T. Carr; aldermen, W. 
H. Bullard, W. W. Andrus, Thos. Gibb and C. 

S. Whitney; clerk Sam Gordon. 








HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


353 


1898—Mayor, E. T. Carr; aldermen, W. 
H. Bullard, W. W. Andrus, Thos. Gibb and 
J. E. de Carle; clerk, Sam Gordon. 

r & 99 —Mayor, W. W. Andrus; aldermen, 
F. J. Wilson, J. E. de Carle, Thos. Gibb and 
W. S. Snell; clerk, Sam Gordon. 

1900— Mayor, W. W. Andrus; aldermen, 
J. E. de Carle, F. J. Wilson, Thos. Gibb and 
W. S. Snell; clerk, Sam Gordon. 

1901— Mayor, W. W. Andrus; aldermen, 
J. E. de Carle, F. J. Wilson, Thos. Gibb and 
Wm. Gerhart; clerk, Sam Gordon. 

1902— Mayor, W. W. Andrus; aldermen, 
J. E. de Carle, F. J. Wilson, Thos. Gibb and 
Wm. Gerhart; clerk, Sam Gordon. 

I 9 ° 3 —Mayor, W. W. Andrus; aldermen, 
J. E. de Carle, F. J. Wilson, Thos. Gibb and 
L. C. Bruning; clerk, Sam Gordon. 

1904—Mayor, W. W. Andrus; aldermen, 
L. C. Bruning, W. H. Bullard, J. E. de Carle 
and Benj. Levalley; clerk, T. A. Maples. 

I 9 ° 5 —Mayor, W. W. Andrus; aldermen, 
W. H. Bullard, Geo. W. Farr, W. A. Jordon 
and J. E. de Carle; clerk, J. E. Farnum. 

1906—Mayor, W. W. Andrus; aldermen, 
W. H. Bullard, Geo. W. Farr, W. A. Jordon 
and R. H. Butler; clerk, J. E. Farnum. 

Miles City is well supplied with lodge or¬ 
ganizations, having thirteen flourishing orders 
here. They are: Yellowstone Lodge No. 26, 
A. F. & A. M. Miles City Chapter, R. A. M. 
Miles Commandery, No. 11, K. T. Custer 
Chapter No. 25, Order of Eastern Star. Miles 
City Lodge, No. 537, B. P. O. E. Custer 
Lodge No. 13, I. O. O. F. Yellowstone Re- 
bekah Lodge No. 27. Custer Camp No. 354. 
W. O. W. Crusader Lodge No. 7, K. P. 
Tongue River Lodge No. 35, A. O. U. W. 
Morning Star Lodge No. 36, D. of H. Mod¬ 
ern Woodmen of America and Miles City 
Aerie, No. 885, F. O. E. 

As a shipping point, Miles City has always 
been in the lead and the shipments of horses, 
cattle, sheep and wool amount to many mil¬ 
lions of pounds. During the year 1905, over 
23 


11,000 head of horses were shipped and over 
13,000 head of cattle, also more than 50,000 
head of sheep and over 6,000,000 pounds of 
wool. Annually several horse and cattle sales 
are held in Miles City and large numbers of 
horses and cattle are sold. Buyers come here 
from all parts of the United States and train 
loads are sold here and sent to the eastern 
markets, thus bringing a large sum of money 
to Miles City each year. 

In the early part of the year 1906, it was 
definitely known that the Chicago, St. Paul & 
Milwaukee railroad would build through this 
section of Montana. The Miles City Chamber 
of Commerce, as ever, wide-awake and alert 
for any advantages that the city might acquire, 
at once took steps to have the railroad build 
through the town. Although almost unsur- 
mountable objects barred their progress, yet 
they kept at it and finally through the generous 
contributions of the citizens and business men 
they secured the necessary amount to buy the 
right-of-way through the city. In their ne¬ 
gotiations with the railroad company, they 
offered them the right-of-way free if they 
would pass through the town. After several 
months of anxious waiting, the railroad com¬ 
pany, in the early part of June, informed the 
chamber of commerce that their offer had been 
accepted and that the road would build its line 
through the north part of town, on Ohio street. 
This means much to the future of Miles City, 
as it will bring in new business enterprises, 
new business methods, new blood and more 
capital, and will undoubtedly make Miles City 
the most thriving town in Eastern Montana. 

Since it has been definitely known that the 
Milwaukee is to pass through this city, many 
new business enterprises are promulgated and 
the year 1906 will show greater building and 
business activity than has ever been experi¬ 
enced in the city of Miles. 

Miles City is, and has always been, a city 
of metropolitan tendencies. It is a city of 







354 


HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


labout three thousand population with excellent 
schools, churches, public buildings, graded 
streets with paved curbs and gutters, electric 
lights, an effective water system—both fire, 
domestic and irrigating, and a good sewerage 
system. The people of Miles City are enter¬ 
prising and have always kept abreast of the rest 
of the world in securing those comforts and 
pleasurers that are beyond the reach of many 
localities. They take a great deal of pride in 
their city, which is well attested to in the num¬ 
ber of finely kept lawns, beautiful shade trees 
and shrubbery that surrounds almost every 
dwelling in the city. The visitor’s first excla¬ 
mation, when he arrives in sight of the town, 
is, “Oh, look at all the beautiful trees.” Mile¬ 
sians have just cause to feel proud of their 
well kept and beautiful city. 

OTHER TOWNS. 

The village of Terry is a thriving little 
town 39 miles northeast of Miles City on 
the Northern Pacific railroad and Yellowstone 
river. This town was established in 1880 and 
now boasts of a population of about 175. 
Miles City is the county seat and banking 
point. Terry is one of the shipping points of 
Custer county and has a daily mail, telegraph 
and express office. Stages run from this 


point to Whitney and Sandstone semi-weekly. 
Terry has two general merchandise stores, 
two hardware stores, two livery stables, two 
saloons, a lumber yard, confectionery store, 
repair shop, photographer, hotel, and a Union 
church has just been organized and arrange¬ 
ments made for the erection of a church edi¬ 
fice in the near future. 

Ekalaka is a growing interior town in the 
midst of a rich farming and stock settlement 
about 85 miles southeast of Miles City, the 
county seat, banking and shipping point. The 
town was started in 1884 and has a population 
of about 125. A tri-weekly stage funs from this 
place to Miles City and Belle Fourche, S. D. 
It boasts of a church,' district school, general 
store, hardware store, drug store, two hotels, 
blacksmith shop, two livery stables, stage 
office, three saloons, a lawyer and a physician. 

The postoffices of Custer county are: 
Alzada, Beebe, Blatchford, Broadus, Capitol, 
Cedar, Ekalaka, Ericson, Etna, Ewalt, Excie, 
Fallon, Fivemile, Fort Keogh, Garland, Gra¬ 
ham, Hockett, Kingsley, Kinsey, Knowlton, 
Midland, Miles City, Mizpah, Moorhead, Ot¬ 
ter, Powderville, Preston, Ridge, Sadie, Sand¬ 
stone, Selway, Shirley, Stacy, Stone Shack, 
Teedee, and Terry, 36 in all. At some of these 
postoffices a general store is located, but the 
majority of the offices are at ranch houses. 


CHAPTER 111 


DESCRIPTIVE. 


‘•Here in the land of Herds. 

The cattle of ten thousand vales 
Trail to the Yellowstone; 

Great bands of sheep skip gaily 
O’er the bad land buttes. 

And fatten on their rich exhaustless verdure.” 

The territory embraced by Custer county is 
larger than many states of the Union. It is 


larger than the state of Massachusetts and 
were it as densely populated, it would have a 
population of over four million instead of six 
thousand. 

In regard to the climate of Custer county 
it may be said that at least for four-fifths of 
the year the skies are cloudless, with occasional 









HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


355 


rains from April until July. During the 
“heated term,” July and August, the temper¬ 
ature ranges from 90 to 120, but because of the 
thin, dry atmosphere it does not have the de¬ 
pressing effect noticeable in more humid sec¬ 
tions. In winter it sometimes gets to be very 
cold, but usually only a short cold spell is ex¬ 
perienced and cattle a^d horses run the range 
during the entire winter, and are seldom, if 
ever, fed unless a great quantity of snow falls. 

Everywhere along the Yellowstone valley 
the soil is a thick gumbo which during wet 
weather makes traveling very disagreeable,, but 
when irrigated produces wonderful crops of 
alfalfa and vegetables. 

The county is very thinly populated and 
less than half the territory embraced within 
this county is yet unsurveyed. The settlements 
are along the rivers and creeks. When one 
considers that Miles City contains about half 
the population of the county, it is very evident 
that the homes in this vast scope of of territory 
are few and far between. The Tongue river 
and its tributaries is the most thickly settled 
and many fine homes are found along its 
banks. 

The principal streams are the Tongue and 
Powder and Little Missouri rivers, Pumpkin, 
O’Fallon, Beaver and Big Box Elder creeks, 
which, with the exception of Tongue and Pow¬ 
der rivers rise in the Big Horn mountains in 
lands” and broken country in the southern 
part of the county. The Tongue and Pow¬ 
der rivers rise in the Big Horn mountains in 
Wyoming. The soil in the narrow river and 
creek bottoms produces abundant crops when 
irrigated. The country between the streams is 
so broken that it will not permit of irrigation 
and can never be used for anything but range 
purposes. The hills are Covered with a pro¬ 
lific growth of bunch grass which starts to 
grow early in the spring, and, though it dries 
up early, it is very nutritious food for stock 
and they keep fat the year round. 

In the vicinity of Ekalaka, about 85 miles 


from Miles City, is a rich strip of farming 
land where excellent crops of all kinds are 
raised. It is a high plateau at the head of 
Beaver creek and irrigation is almost unneces¬ 
sary as the water is close to the surface and 
the soil is a black sandy loam. This is prac¬ 
tically the only section of Custer county where 
crops are raised without irrigation. 

The development of the agricultural possi¬ 
bilities of the valleys of Custer county is yet 
in its infancy and few people realize the possi¬ 
bilities and advantages of this section. It will 
not be long, however, before this great domain 
will be transformed as if by magic from a bunch 
grass plain into waving fields of grain, homes 
will be erected at near intervals and groves 
and orchards planted and agriculture will be¬ 
come king in this county. Many who had for 
years followed the less staple pursuit of range 
industry have adopted the semi-range plan anil 
are farming in earnest with good results, and 
there are now in this section some of the 
model farms of the state. 

On the north side of the Yellowstone val¬ 
ley is a high, dry, broken country where farm¬ 
ing can never be practiced successfully, but it 
is an excellent range and thousands of head of 
stock are pastured there every year. The ab¬ 
sence of streams and the narrowness of the 
creek bottoms of the streams that run through 
this section, preclude the possibility of home 
building. But on the south side of the Yellow¬ 
stone, no such condition exists. The streams 
are plentiful, the valleys wider, the soil richer, 
and the agricultural possibilities when once un¬ 
dertaken will ' be almost unlimited. Hay, 
grain, fruit and vegetables thrive along these 
streams and give a prolific yield. 

While there is a great deal of rich and fer¬ 
tile soil in Custer county, there is so much of 
the territory that can never be utilized for 
agricultural purposes, that this section will 
continue to be a great stock country and its 
chief wealth will come from stock husbandry. 
Since the fact became known, about 1880, that 





356 


HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


this was a good stock ranging country 
this county has been among the fore¬ 
most as a stock producer. Since 
the hard winter of 1886-7, the stock 
business has rapidly forged ahead, and, owing 
to the increased prices of stock during the past 
few years, the stockmen have become wealthy. 
The principal revenue of the county is from the 
assessments on stock. 

Custer county has the reputation all over 
the United States of raising the best horses 
and cattle that are put on the market, and 
stock buyers from all parts of the country 
gather at Miles City several times a year when 
the horse and cattle sales are in progress and 
purchase thousands of horses and cattle whicn 
are shipped to every market in the United 
States where they again find a ready sale at 


good prices. It is estimated that about 30,- 
000 head of horses and cattle, 60,000 head of 
sheep and about 8,000,000 pounds of wool are 
shipped from Custer county every year. 

The people of Custer county are energetic, 
broad minded and law-abiding citizens. They 
take a deep interest in political and educational 
matters. They have always been very careful 
in the selection of men to fill,the different 
offices of the county who have the manage¬ 
ment of county affairs, and only recently voted 
to build and equip a $35,000 county high 
school where their children may get the bene¬ 
fits of a good education by which they will be 
better fitted to enjoy the higher things of life 
and better able to battle against the hardships 
and struggles that they must contend with in 
later life. 


CHAPTER IV 


POLITICAL. 


The political history of the county of Cus¬ 
ter, at one time the largest county in the 
United States, dates back farther than any of 
;he other counties in Eastern Montana, and 
reads something like a romance. The territory 
which was named Custer county in 1877 was 
set apart in 1865, when this state was a part of 
Idaho territory, as Big Horn county, but there 
being no settlements in any part of it, no county 
organization was ever effected. The bill creat¬ 
ing the county of Custer passed the territorial 
legislature February 16, 1877, and was ap¬ 
proved by Governor B. F. Potts on the same 
day. The governor named as county commis¬ 
sioners of the new county, N. Borchardt, D. A. 
Ringer and John Smith, with instructions to 
meet and organize the county by appointing 
county officers and selecting a county seat. 

The board held its first session on June 14, 


1877, and its first official act after naming Mr. 
Borchardt as chairman, was to designate the 
town of Miles City as the seat of government 
for the new county. This was followed by the 
appointment of A. Carmichael as probate 
judge; John McCormick, county clerk; Mat. 
Carroll, treasurer; Hugh Hoppe, sheriff; 
Charles Johnson, assessor, and A. B. Hicks as 
coroner. For the Miles City precinct Russell 
Briggs was named as the first justice of the 
peace and M. T. Hall as the first constable. 

On November 5, 1878, the first county elec¬ 
tion was held and the vote was as follows: 

For Congressman, Sample Orr, rep., 10; 
Martin Maginnis, dem., 342. 

Delegate to Legislative Assembly, P. W. 
McAdow, dem., 89; Paul McCormick, rep , 
258. 








357 


HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


For District Attorney, R. P. Irwin, dem,, 
54; James Calloway, rep., 29. 

The record of the votes for county officers 
during this year is not obtainable, but we 
have the names of the officers who were elected 
to the several county offices. They are : Wm. 
Van Gasken, D. F. McMillan and J. C. Guy 
as county commissioners; Thomas H. Irvine, 
as sheriff; C. W. Savage, as treasurer, and T. 

B. Wilson as county clerk. 

At the next general election held in 1880 
nearly 1,000 votes were cast, a very large in¬ 
crease over the vote of 1878. The vote for 
the congressional and district tickets was as 
follows: 

For Congress, Martin Maginnis, dem., 
763; W. F. Sanders, rep., 433. 

For Legislative Assembly, James B. Hub- 
bell, dem., 616; Ed Cardwell, rep., 665 ; W. O. 
P. Hays, dem., 669; W. W. Morris, dem., 
674; Paul McCormick, rep., 548; P. V. Jack- 
son, rep., 181; L. M. Black, dem., 347; W. W. 
Alderson, rep., 338; W. H. Grover, dem., 10; 
A. M. Ball, rep., 72. 

For Representatives, James H. Garlock, 
dem., 740; W. D. O’Toole, rep., 429. 

For Joint Representatives, Curtis L. Har¬ 
rington, dem., 626; J. W. Allen, rep., 398; J 
J. Graham, rep., 126. 

For District Attorney, James E. Calloway, 
rep., 408; F. K. Armstrong, dem., 12. 

For County Commissioners, Josiah Nich¬ 
ols, dem., 675; Edward Fawkes, rep., 420; 
Alonzo McNeil, dem., 74; J. W. Smith, rep., 
497- 

For Sheriff and Assessor, T. H. Irvine, 
dem., 566; A. P. Flanagan, rep., 120. 

For Treasurer and Superintendent of 
Schools, L. Payette, dem., 398; C. W. Savage, 
rep., 507; Ed Flynn, ind., 274. 

For County Clerk and Probate Judge, C. 
G. Cox, dem., 394; Charles Walker, rep., 567; 
W. H. Ross, ind., 214. 

Coroner, T. A. Davie, dem., 597; A. H. 
Hersev, rep., 467; J. B. Prince, ind., 112. 


For County Surveyor, Martin Kelly, 
dem., 675; H. A. Combs, rep., 225. 

C. W. Savage held the office of treasurer 
until June 7, 1882, when he resigned and W. 
W. Carland was appointed by the county com¬ 
missioners to fill the vacancy. 

At the general election held in November, 
1882, a large increase in the number of votes 
cast is shown. This election is indelibly 
marked upon the memories of all old times 
in this section, because it was at this time that 
several men were elected who besmirched the 
fair political record of Custer county. The re¬ 
sult of the vote was as follows: 

For Congress, Martin Maginnis, dem., 
1 ’937 J A. C. Botkin, rep., 953. 

For Legislative Council, Charles G. Cox, 
dem., 1,430; Walter A. Burleigh, rep., 783; 
W. A. Burleigh, rep., 540. 

For Representatives, P. W. McAdow, 
dem., 1,784; John J. Alderson, - rep., 1,322; 
S. Erwin, rep., 1,443; Fred N. Foster, dem., 
1,082. 

For District Attorney, A. F. Burleigh, 
rep., 849; T. R. Edwards, dem., 1,552; An¬ 
drew F. Burleigh, rep., 372. 

For Sheriff, Phillip Brady, rep., 1,028; J. 
W. Johnson, dem., 1,826. 

For Treasurer, Albert B. Curry, rep., 
1,005; W. W. Carland, dem., 1,854. 

For Clerk and Recorder, Sam O’Connell, 
rep., 1,019; L. S. Taylor, dem., 1,853. 

Assessor, C. C. Gates, dem., 1,470; Wm. 
Woods, rep., 782; A. P. Glanagan, ind., 305; 
John Chinnick, ind., 285. 

For Probate Judge, Charles Walker, dem., 
1,552; W. C. Staehle, rep., 810; Arthur H. 
O’Conner, ind., 463; Chas. Brown, ind., 35. 

County Commissioners, Joseph Leighton, 
rep., 1,233; James B. Hubbell, dem., 1,357; 

D. A. Robertson, dem., 1,390; John M. Tink¬ 
ler, rep., 1,270; Alonzo McNeil, dem., 1,224; 
Caleb Rich, rep., 1,435! W. H. Bullard, dem., 
427. 








358 


HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


For County Surveyor, W. B. Gaw, rep., 
2,482. 

Coroner, R. G. Redd, dem., 2 , 824 - 

Superintendent of Schools, A. C. Logan, 
dem., 1,744; C. B. Thomas, rep., 1,040. 

The county commissioners, Russell Briggs, 
J. B. Hubbell and D. A. Robertson, and County 
Clerk L. S. Taylor were ousted from office by 
an act of the Legislature in 1883 for alleged 
misappropriation of county funds and other 
irregularities in their respective offices. It is 
estimated that Custer county lost from thirty 
to fifty thousand dollars during their short re¬ 
gime. It was at this time that Russell Briggs,' 
chairman of the board of county commissioners, 
took several thousand dollars and went east to 
purchase furniture for the new courthouse. 
Neither Mr. Briggs nor the money has ever 
been seen or heard of since that time. Indict¬ 
ments were brought by the grand jury against 
the county commissioners and the county clerk, 
but owing to the fact that their faction con¬ 
trolled the powers of justice at that time 
in Custer county the case terminated shortly 
in favor of the defendants. From that date 
to the present the affairs of the county have 
run along without particular incident and the 
county has enjoyed a good business manage¬ 
ment of its affairs. After the commissioners 
and county clerk were removed from office by 
the Legislature in 1883, Wm. Van Gasken, 
T. J- Bryan and George M. Miles were ap¬ 
pointed commissioners and J. H. Garlock, 
clerk and recorder. 

A special election was held April 16, 1883, 
for the election of a new board of county com¬ 
missioners which resulted as follows: 

Alonzo McNeil, dem., 149; T. J. Bryan, 
rep., 830; W. H. Bullard, dem., 745; C. W. 
Anderson, rep., 845. 

A second special election was held Novem¬ 
ber 6, 1883, for the purpose of electing dele¬ 
gates and delegates at large to the constitu¬ 
tional convention with the following result: 

C. W. Savage, rep., 449; C. H. Gould, 


rep., 237; A. T. Campbell, rep., 241; James H. 
Garlock, dem., 226; Wm. Van Gasken, dem., 
292; S. R. Douglas, rep., 281; R. L. Edwards, 
rep., 269; C. G. Cox, dem., 180; Andrew F. 
Burleigh, rep., 396; Walter Cooper, dem., 

3 2 4 - 

The result of the general election held 
November 4, 1884, was as follows: 

Congress—Hiram Knowles, rep., 686; J. 
K. Toole, dem., 720. 

Council—W. H. Cotant, rep., 1,366. 
Representatives—J. M. Holt, dem., 759; 
S. F. B. Biddle, dem., 710; John E. Kennedy* 
rep., 633; W. A. Burleigh, Jr., rep., 676.. 

District Attorney—Henry N. Blake, rep., 
727; Robert P. Vivian, dem., 691. 

Sheriff—Thomas H. Irvine, dem., 612; 
C. W. Savage, rep., 795. 

Clerk and Recorder—L. C. Deer, dem., 
781; E. A. Kreidler, rep., 528; R. C. Web¬ 
ster, Ind., hi. . 

Treasurer—M. Brandenberg, dem., 845; 

' B. W. Ladd, rep., 551. 

Assessor—Sam. O’Connell, dem., 731; 
Robert Aitchison, rep., 634. 

County Commissioners—Vito L. Cross, 
Ind., 39; George Myers, dem., 587; L. J. 
Whitney, rep., 643; C. B. Towers, Ind., 149. 
Probate Judge—W. C. Staehle, rep., 605; W. 

E. Cotter, dem., 520; Charles Walker, Ind., 
274 - 

Public Administrator—A. H. Bertrand, 
dem., 611; W. H. Ross, rep., 612. 

County Surveyor—C. B. Tabor, rep., 724; 
A. Hall, dem., 670. 

Superintendent of Schools—A. C. Logan, 
dem., 1,378. 

Coroner—R. G. Redd, dem., 851; J. J. 
Wood, rep., 551. 

The election of November 8, 1886, resulted 
as follows: 

Congress—J. K. Toole, dem., 1,002; W. 

F. Sanders, rep., 624. 

Council—J. J. Thompson, dem., 1,052; J. 
W. Strevell, rep., 551. 










359 


HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


Representatives—E. H. Johnson, deni., 
1 ,067; J. M. Holt, dem., 1,038; Win. Harmon, 
rep., 547; T. J. Bryan, rep., 531. 

County Commissioners—George Rhode, 
dem., 652; Charles Daly, dem., 516; George 
W. Allerton, rep., 1,053; L - A. Huffman, rep., 
921. 

County Attorney—George R. Milburn. 
dem., 663; }V. H. Ross, rep., 575; C. R. Mid¬ 
dleton, ind., 371. 

Probate Judge—F. M. Schwartz, dem., 
750; Wm. C. Staehle, rep., 868. 

Treasurer—M. Brandenberg, dem., 950: 
F. E. Hammond, rep., 656. 

Clerk and Recorder—L. C. Deer, dem., 
1,055; A. M. Leroy, rep., 567. 

Sheriff—T. H. Irvine, dem., 918; C. W. 
Savage, rep., 702. 

Assessor—T. J. Thompson, dem., 882; N. 
Borchardt, rep., 709. 

County Surveyor—George Scheetz, dem., 
921; C. B. Tabor, rep., 696. 

Superintendent of Schools—Mamie R. 
Southmayd, dem., 776; Louisa Cooley, rep., 
838. 

Coroner—R. G. Redd, dem., 1,008; W. F. 
Green, rep., 601. 

Public Administrator—W. E. Buckman, 
dem., 752; H. Mclntire, rep., 636. 

A special election was held August 25, 

1887, for the election of delegates to the terri¬ 
torial council which resulted as follows: 

W. A.. Burleigh, rep., 192; J. H. Garlock, 
dem., 108. 

At the general election held November 6, 

1888, the vote was as follows: 

Congress—W. A. Clark, dem., 616; T. H. 
Carter, rep., 650. 

Council—C. R. Middleton, dem., 652; J 
B. Kempton, rep., 594. 

Representatives—E. H. Johnson, dem., 
627; Thomas Alexander, dem., 624; L. B. 
Rea, rep., 649; F. M. Kreidler, rep., 615. 

Sheriff—T. H. Irvine, dem., 778; John 
Tully, rep., 495. 


Treasurer—C. L. Merrill, dem., 778; H. 

F. Bachelor, rep., 602. 

Clerk and Recorder—L. C. Deer, dem. 
760; A. T. Campbell, rep., 511. 

County Attorney—G. R. Milburn, dem., 
514; W. A. Burleigh, rep., 749. 

Assessor—T. J. Thompson, dem., 781; J 
E. Farnum, rep., 491. 

County Commissioners—George Scheetz, 
dem., 721; N. Hockett, rep., 541. 

Probate Judge—F. M. Schwartz, dem., 
717; W. C. Staehle, rep., 552. 

County Surveyor—E. P. H. Harrison, 
dem., 658; C. B. Tabor, rep., 612. 

Coroner—L. Payette, dem., 648; John 
Gibbs, rep., 612. 

Superintendent of Schools—Mrs. E. C. 
Carpenter, dem., 548; Louisa Cooley, rep., 
719 - 

Public Administrator—J. H. Ware, dem., 
649; Charles S. Young, rep., 611. 

On account of the admission of Montana 
to statehood an election was necessary and was 
held October 1, 1889, which resulted as fol¬ 
lows : 

Congress—T. H. Carter, rep., 653; Mar¬ 
tin Maginnis, dem., 489. 

District Judge—W. A. Burleigh, rep., 506; 

G. R. Milburn, dem., 632. 

Senator—Wm. Ferdon, rep., 530; R. G. 
Redd, dem., 601. 

Representatives—Wm. Courtenay, dem., 
499; E. H. Johnson, dem., 460; C. H. Loud, 
rep., 627; H. M. Moran, rep., 628. 

Clerk of District Court—F. M. Schwartz, 
dem., 573; C. W. Seyde, rep., 563. 

Sheriff—T. H. Irvine, dem., 569; E. J. 
Jones, rep., 595. 

Clerk and Recorder—L. C. Deer, dem., 
528: A. A. Swerdfiger, rep., 635. 

Assessor—C. B. Tabor, rep., 552; T. J. 
Thompson, dem., 604. 

Treasurer—J. M. Holt, dem., 428; W. E. 
Savage, rep., 756. 








360 


HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


County Attorney—John Fairfield, dem., 
557; W. H. Ross, rep., 600. 

Public Administrator—A. D. McAusland, 
rep., 658; R. G. Wear, dem., 483. 

Surveyor—E. P. H. Harrison, dem., 835. 
Superintendent of Schools—Louisa Coo¬ 
ley, rep., 614; Mrs. E. V. Lewis, dem., 543. 

County Commissioners—W. N. Haynes, 
rep., 662; T. J. Graham, dem., 517; J. R. 
McKay, rep., 661; George G. Rhode, dem., 
481; Jepp Ryan, dem., 389; W. S. Snell, rep., 
576 . 

Coroner—W. A. Goff, dem., 457; C. S. 
Young, rep., 628. 

For Constitution, 801; Against Constitu¬ 
tion, 59. 

All comity and district officers elected in 

1889 hold their offices for three years. 

The result of the election of November 4, 

1890 for the purpose of electing a delegate to 
Congress was as follows: 

T. H. Carter, rep., 340; W. W. Dickson, 
dem., 279; Andrew L. Corblay, ind., 26; W. 
T. Field, Ind., 4. 

The second general election since the ad¬ 
mission of the state was held November 8, 
1892, with the following results : 

Congress—Benjamin R. Atkins, pro., 15; 
W. W. Dickson, dem., 541; Caldwell Ed¬ 
wards, peo. p., 74; C. S. Hartman, rep., 642. 

State Senator—Reno Swift, rep., 648 
George Scheetz, dem., 602. 

Representatives—E. S. Becker, dem., 532; 
W. A. Cameron, peo. p., 93; L. A. Huffman, 
rep., 637; George W. Meyers, dem., 465; J. R 
McKay, rep., 701; A. F. Wilson, peo. p., 52. 

District Judge—George R. Milburn, dem., 
612; J. W. Stevell, rep., 655. 

Clerk District Court—F. M. Schwartz, 
dem. and peo. p., 522; W. J. Zimmerman, rep., 
739 - 

County Commissioners—J. T. Brown, 
dem., 536; Frank Emerson, dem., 523; W. R. 
Graham, peo. p., 104; Wm. Harmon, rep., 
654; T. E. Hammond, rep., 680; L. M. King, 


dem., 376; James Simpson, peo. p., 114; J. W. 
Watson, rep., 715. 

County Attorney—C. H. Loud, rep., 957 - 
Clerk and Recorder—A. Hall, peo. p., 223; 
A. H. Swerdfiger, rep., 964. 

Sheriff—W. H. Bullard, dem., 381; J. B. 
Hawkins, Ind., 494; E. J. Jones, rep., 436. 

Treasurer—A. P. Flanagan, peo. p., 181; 
W. E. Savage, rep. and dem., 1,054. 

Assessor—H. E. Bourdette, dem., 587; C. 

H. Lansing, peo. p., 107; G. E. Newman, rep., 
608. 

Public Administrator—Alonzo McNeil, 
dem., 607; Henry Nave rep., 629. 

Coroner—J. H. Austin, rep., 596; C. B. 
Lebcher, dem., 656^ 

Superintendent of Schools—Mrs. J. E. 
Light, rep., 670; Kate McKenzie, dem., 508; 
Mary E. McKay, peo. p., 124. 

County Surveyor—C. E. Sexton, rep., 

I, 020. 

The election of November 6, 1894, shows 
the county to be divided politically with the 
People’s party gaining. The results are as 
follows: 

Congress—H. S. Corbett, dem., 397; C. S. 
Hartman, rep., 718; B. F. Maiden, soc., 16; 

R. B. Smith, peo. p., 176. 

Representatives—J. T. Brown, dem., 513; 

S. Gordon, rep., 594; Thomas Gibb, peo. p., 
212; James S. Hopkins, dem., 573; T. B. Kel¬ 
sey, peo. p., 107; B. Waddingham, rep., 496. 

Joint Representative with Dawson County 
—J. C. Auld, rep., 636; James R. Conditt, 
dem., 489; A. P. Flanagan, peo. p., 171. 

Clerk and Recorder—J. W. Laney, peo. p., 
144; C. F. Smith, dem., 362; A. H. Swerd¬ 
figer, rep., 828. 

Sheriff—J. B. Hawkins, ind., 619; W. F. 
Jordon, dem., 253; S. A. Pepper, rep., 505. 

Treasurer—L. C. Currier, peo. p., 196; 
H. M. Moran, rep., 503; J. S. Truscott, dem , 
639 - 

County Attorney—C. H. Loud, rep., 901; 
G. W. Myers, dem., 403. 








HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


361 


Assessor—George F, Sharp, Ind., 214; W. 
S. Snell, rep., 521; A. B. Snow, peo. p., 71; 
John I. Zook, dem., 538. 

Superintendent of Schools—Louisa Coo¬ 
ley, rep., 672; Kate McKenzie, dem., 658. 

Public Administrator—Louis Bach, rep., 
621; Alonzo McNeil, dem., 425; W. C. Ward, 
peo. p., 243. 

Coroner—P. G. Whited, rep., 762. 

County Surveyor—George Scheetz, dem., 
614; C. E. Sexton, rep., 680. 

At the election held November 6, 1896, a 
strong Republican gain is shown and the Peo¬ 
ple’s party losing ground. Results were as fol¬ 
lows : 

Congress—O. F. Goddard, rep., 711; C. S. 
Hartman, dem., 405. 

State Senator—J. R. McKay, rep., 741; 
Jepp Ryan, dem., 664. 

Representatives—H. W. Mclntire, rep., 
781; J. C. Lyons, rep., 526; J. T. Brown, dem., 
691; T. W. Longely, dem., 547. 

Judge District Court—C. H. Loud, rep., 
857; C. R. Middleton, dem., 512. 

Clerk District Court—A. T. McAusland, 
rep., 795; Sam O’Connell, dem., 526! 

County Commissioners—J. E. Farnum, 
rep., 765; A. Beidle, rep., 700; S. B. Shaffer, 
rep., 495; Thomas Gibb, dem., 456; W. H. 
Bullard, dem, 482; R. G. Wear, dem., 522; 
Louis Bach, ind., 344. 

County Attorney—T. J. Porter, rep., 756; 
Ed Butler, dem., 589. 

Clerk and Recorder—H. B. Darnall, rep., 
585; F. M. Schwartz, dem., 737; J. E. What¬ 
ley, pp., 42. 

Sheriff—John Gibb, rep., 580; J. W. Drum¬ 
mond, dem., 481; J. W. Laney, pp., 141; S. D.- 
Long, ind., 163., D. C. Kelty, ind., 72. 

Treasurer—John S. Towers, rep., 615; 
John S. Truscott, dem., 730; B. T. Smith, pp., 
46. 

Assessor—James Hunter, rep.. 785; A. H. 
Terry, dem., 545; W. M. Ward, pp., 46. 


Public Administrator—A. Kircher, rep., 
784; A. McNeil, dem., 503. 

Coroner—Joseph Bateman, rep., 680; L. 
C. Burning, dem., 578; W. H. Harmon, pp., 
64. 

Superintendent of Schools—Ada M. Ben- 
net, rep., 664; Mrs. Laura Zook, dem., 738. 

County Surveyor—F. B. Canard, rep., 594; 
George Scheetz, dem., 678; A. Hall, pp., 73. 

The election of November 8, 1898 resulted 
as follows: 

Congress—A. J. Campbell, dem., 398; T. 
C. Marshall, rep., 662; T. S. Hogan, pp., 100. 

Representatives—J ? T. Brown, dem., 536; 
F. W. Finch, dem., 448; H. R. Marceyes, rep., 
630; G. T. Ingersoll, rep., 662. 

Sheriff—O. C. Cato, dem., 454; John Gibb, 
rep., 440; J. B. Hawkins, ind., 380. 

Treasurer—F. M. Schwartz, dem., 659; C. 
E. Coggshall, rep., 440. 

Clerk and Recorder—W. H. Frank, dem., 
468; A. H. Swerdfiger, rep., 741. 

Assessor—B. S. Crawshaw, dem., 505; 
James Hunter, rep., 733. 

County Attorney—C. L. Merrill, dem., 
404; T. J. Porter, rep., 823. 

Superintendent of Schools—Mrs. Laura 
Zook, dem., 582; Catherine Wilson, rep., 694. 

Coroner—E. S. Beeman, dem., 545; Jos. 
Bateman, rep., 657. 

Public Administrator—John Davidson, 
rep., 835. 

County Surveyor—George Scheetz, dem., 
504; W. P. Flynn, rep., 718. 

At the election held November 4, 1900, the 
entire Republican ticket was elected with the 
exception of the surveyor and superintendent 
of schools. The results were as follows: 

Congress—Sam G. Murray, rep., 961; 
Caldwell Edwards, dem., 636. 

Judge District Court—C. H. Loud, rep., 
1,569- 

State Senator—Kenneth McLean, rep., 
942; E. H. Johnson, dem., 656. 






362 


HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


Representatives—E. S. Becker, rep., 864; 
C. D. Newberry, rep., 854; James S. Hopkins, 
dem., 710; Frank D. O’Neil, dem., 685. 

Clerk District Court—A. T. McAusland, 
rep., 1,074; H. V. Beeman, dem., 545. 

County Commissioners—M. G. Maples, 
rep., 885; J. W. Stith, rep., 865; Charles S. 
Bull, rep., 923; R. G. Wear, dem., 739; 
Thomas Gibb, dem., 642; Geo. S. Mendenhall, 
dem., 607. 

County Attorney—J. H. Johnson, rep., 
921; Sidney Sanders, dem., 695. 

Clerk and Recorder—A. H. Swerdfiger, 
rep., 989; J. F. Deckert, dem., 621. 

Sheriff—W. E. Savage, rep., 881; O. C. 
Cato., dem., 789. 

Treasurer—J. R. McKay, rep., 894; F. M. 
Schwartz, dem., 735. 

Assessor—E. F. Crosby, rep., 920; J. H. 
Burgess, dem., 714. 

Public Administrator—H. B. Twombly, 
rep., 925; John Smith, dem., 644. 

Coroner—Jos. Bateman, rep., 955; T. J. 
Newman, dem., 640. 

Superintendent of Schools—Mrs. K. W. 
Smith, rep., 701; Mrs. Laura Zook, dem., 951. 

County Surveyor—W. P. Flynn, rep., 
749; George Scheetz, dem., 870. 

The results of the general election of No¬ 
vember 6, 1902, are-as follows: 

Congress—Joseph M. Dixon, rep., 559, 
John N. Evans, dem., 300; George B. Sproule, 
pro., 12; Martin Dee, soc., 22. 

Representatives—Z. W. Burt, rep., 562; 
H. N. Sykes, rep., 540; J. S. Truscott, dem, 
416; G. W. Myers, dem., 246. 

Sheriff—W. E. Savage, rep., 641; C. E. 
Tozier, dem., 356. 

Treasurer—G. E. Robbins, rep., 576; G. 
W. Gerhart, dem., 395. 

Clerk and Recorder—H. B. Darnall, rep., 
510; John McAusland, dem., 461. 


Assessor—E. F. Crosby, rep., 722; S. G. 
Hotchkiss, dem., 236. 

County Attorney—J. H. Johnson, rep., 
531; Sydney Sanders, dem., 441. 

Superintendent of Schools—Ida E. M. 
Wiley, rep., 546; Laura Zook, dem., 430. 
Coroner—Joseph Bateman, rep., 572; W. 

F. Millard, dem., 370. 

Public Administrator—J. B. Hawkins, 
rep., 619; Steven Forseth, dem., 326. 

County Surveyor—W. P. Flynn, rep., 428; 
George Scheetz, dem., 530. 

At the general election held November 8, 
1904, the entire Republican ticket was elected 
with safe majorities. The results are as fol¬ 
lows: 

Congress—A. C. Gormley, dem., 354; J. 
M. Dixon, rep., 809; J. H. Walsh, soc., 19. 

State Senator—K. McLean, rep., 618; O. 
C. Cato, dem., 575. 

Representatives—H. N. Sykes, rep., 713; 

G. W. Burt, rep., 564; Sydney Sanner, dem., 
503; R. H. Beasley, dem., 271. 

Sheriff—W. E. Savage, rep., 821; Lee 
Tucker, dem., 414. 

Treasurer—G. E. Robbins, rep., 765; 
Thomas Gibb, dem., 433. 

Assessor—G. E. Crosby, rep., 848; C. 

H. Emerson, dem., 344. 

Clerk and Recorder—H, B. Darnall, rep., 
764; J. F. Deckert, dem., 423. 

County Attorney—T. J. Porter, rep., 618; 
Jos. C. Smith, dem., 574. 

Clerk District Court—A. T. McAusland, 
rep., 721; Emil Knutson, dem., 477. 

Superintendent of Schools—Ida E. M. 
Wiley, rep., 1,170. 

Public Administrator—J. S. Towers, rep., 
881. 

County Surveyor—B. M. Melum, rep., 
642; George Scheetz, dem., 534. 

Coroner—Joseph Bateman, rep., 795; T. 
J. Newman, dem., 397. 




CHAPTER V 


EDUCATIONAL. 


Custer county is in no way behind the other 
counties of Montana in educational matters 
and in some cases is far in advance of them. 
The population of this county has always been 
wide awake to the necessities of educational 
facilities for her sons and daughters, and 
steady progress has been made since the day of 
the first primitive school house to the present 
time when many commodious buildings dot the 
hillsides in charge of a corps of teachers up-to- 
date and capable. 

The county of Custer and the town of 
Miles City both came into existence in the year 
1877. School district number one formed that 
year, extended from the Dakota line west to 
Gallatin county and from the Wyoming line 
on the south to the Canadian line on the north 
and was undoubtedly the largest school dis¬ 
trict in the United States. During the first 
year of the county's existence no school was 
held, but in 1878, Miles City realizing the need 
of an educational institution for its children, 
at once took steps to start a school. A two- 
room frame building was secured which stood 
near the site of the old Grand Central hotel 
and here it was with a Mrs. Harris as teacher 
that the first school in Custer county saw the 
light. At this first school seven pupils attended, 
who were: May Maxwell, Flora Brown, Em¬ 
ma Brown, Laura Brown, Kittie Burke, Essie 
Bishop and a colored boy by the name of 
George Mercer. Here, in the small frame 
school house with only the most primitive 
necessities, educational matters were given an 
impetus that has lasted until the present and 
now Custer county stands among the first in 
the state in this line. 

Miss Nettie Rogan was the second teacher 
in this school and under the supervision of 


Miss Rogan the pupils had an easy time. The 
teacher was in love with a lieutenant at the 
fort and whenever he came to see her during 
school hours, the school was dismissed much 
to the delight of the pupils. 

On June 1, 1879, there being a vacancy in 
the office, C. W. Savage, county treasurer, was 
by the board of county commissioners, de¬ 
clared to be, by virtue of his office, county sup¬ 
erintendent of common schools, and on that 
day assumed his office. On the same day the 
county commissioners created a school district 
to be known as school district number two, em¬ 
bracing all that part of Custer county lying 
w r est of a line drawn north and south through 
the town of Huntley. 

During the year 1879, three teachers were 
granted certificates to teach in Custer county, 
they were: W. B. Givens, Miss Anna Ailing 
and Miss Ella Sheridan. 

The Yellowstone Journal of October 2. 
1879, said: “We take pleasure in announcing 
that the Miles City school will open on Mon¬ 
day next, the 6th inst. The district trustees 
have rented a building from Mrs. Whitney on 
the road to the old town, a few minutes’ walk 
from the court house, and have engaged Miss 
Ella Sheridan as teacher. She will enter upon 
her duties with a roll of twenty to twenty-five 
pupils. The school bell is one that was taken 
from the wrecked steamer Yellowstone.’’ 

The school report for the year 1879 was as 
follows: 

Number of persons of school age, 37; private 
schools, taught at military posts, 3; average pay of 
teachers, male, $70, female, $50; amount of per capita, 
$19.23: amount unapportioned, $271.42; total amount 
raised by county tax for schools, $711.76; number of 
teachers employed, 3. On account of lack of teachers’ 
reports, the average attendance, and number of days 




364 


HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


school taught cannot be given. C. W. Savage, county 
superintendent. 

On December 6, 1879, school district num¬ 
ber three was created to comprise Pease Bot¬ 
tom. 

The school report for the year 1880 is 
rather meager. The persons of school age for 
that year is given as males, 130, females, 150, 
and the total amount of money collected from 
all sources was $961.90. 

In 1881 school district number four was 
created to include all that portion of the county 
lying west of the east line of range 24 east of 
the principal meridian of Montana. The dis¬ 
tricts of the county were rebounded and the 
boundaries as fixed in this year are as follows: 

District number one—Bounded on the east 
by O'Fallon creek and on the west by Big 
Porcupine. 

District number two—Bounded on the east 
by Big Porcupine and on the west by Pompeys 
Pillar. 

District number three—Bounded on the 
east by Pompeys Pillar and on the west by 
Canyon creek. 

District number four—Bounded on the 
east of Canyon creek and on the west by Galla¬ 
tin county. 

District number five—Bounded on the west 
by O’Fallon creek and on the east by Dawson 
county and Dakota territory. 

School report by superintendent of schools 
C. W. Savage for the year 1881 was as fol¬ 
lows : 

Persons of school age. male 200. female 158; 
average attendance, 91; private schools, 2; average pay 
of teachers, $56.66; value of school houses, $700; amount 
raised by tax for schools, $1,376.93; amount appor¬ 
tioned, $1,627.93. 

June 28, 1881, the citizens of Miles City 
voted on the school house question. Forty- 
three votes were cast for the school house and 
forty-two against, a majority of one in favor 
of building a suitable structure. 


February 17, 1883, the bill authorizing a 
new school house at Miles City passed the 
Territorial Council. 

The school report by superintendent of 
schools, A. C. Log-an for the year 1883 was as 
follows: 

School census, 722;*number attending, 318; num¬ 
ber of teachers, 12; number of school houses, 5; num¬ 
ber graded schools, 1 at Miles City; average pay of 
teachers, male, $87.50, female, $62.50; value of school 
houses $1,200; amount raised by tax, $4,397.90; amount 
per capita, $6.54. 

The first teachers’ institute held in Custer 
county was held at Miles City October 28, 
1883 and marks an epoch in the educational 
affairs of Custer county. It was largely at¬ 
tended and great interest was manifested by 
all present. 

The following is the school report for the 
year 1884 by A. C. Logan, superintendent of 
schools: 

School census, 802; number attending, 282; num¬ 
ber of teachers, 10; school houses, 6; graded schools, 
1 ; private schools, 2; pupils, 42; average pay of teach¬ 
ers, male, $70. female, $62.50; average value of school 
houses, $3,000; total value of school houses, $18,000; 
amount raised by county tax, $8,628.06; per capita, 
$10.78; total amount apportioned, $8,854.06. 

The school reports for the next few years 
are rather vague and hard to get accurately, 
but the schools of Custer county progressed 
rapidly and great advancement was made in 
every district and especially in the city schools 
of Miles City. . 

A review of the Miles City schools pub¬ 
lished in the Yellowstone Journal of Septem¬ 
ber 17, 1887, is appropriate here and we quote 
frqm that journal: 

“The history of the public schools of Miles City is 
a matter worthy of careful record and in order that 
future residents may not be without information as 
to the growth of the educational. facilities in our city, 
we have gathered the most important facts in regard 
to the schools from their inception to the present time. 
The first session of public schools ever held in Miles 
City was taught by a Miss Schofency (should be Mrs. 





HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


365 


Harris) in a frame building on Park street opposite 
the Grand Central hotel. The next building occupied 
by the school is a log house on Main street opposite 
Conrad s store. This building is now used for a 
Chinese laundry. The next school found shelter in the 
Grand Central from which it moved to a frame build¬ 
ing—once a hospital—on the corner of Pleasant and 
Ninth streets. From the hospital building which was 
burned in 1883, the school returned to the Grand Cen¬ 
tral and thence to their present quarters in the hand¬ 
some brick building which stands on a half block on 
Palmer street between Eighth and Ninth streets. This 
building which cost $15,000, is two stories high with a 
large basement underground. The upper story contains 
a hall with a seating capacity for 200, a school room and 
a library. Through the center of the building on both 
floors extends a spacious hallway. The upper floor 
has no stairways communicating with other doors. The 
basement has ample storerooms for wood and coal and 
also contains two large Ruttan furnaces which supply 
every room of the building with pure, warm air, thus 
combining ventilation and heating in a successful man¬ 
ner. The building is a substantial brick structure, well 
finished, furnished and lighted. The yard, which is 
surrounded by a neat iron fence, contains about forty 
growing cottonwood trees, that will one day make the 
school house square a place of beauty to the eyes of all 
beholders.” 

The advancement of the schools of Custer 
county is very apparent when we compare the 
report of 1884 and report of 1901, which 
was as follows: 

Persons of school age, male, 697, female, 642, 
number of teachers, male, 35, female, 34; private 
schools, 1; number attending private schools, 31; num¬ 
ber of days attendance, 82,061; average daily atten¬ 
dance, 556; school houses, 17; value of school houses 
and grounds, $47,995; school house's built, 2; amount 
raised by tax, $47,664.27. Mrs. Laura Zook, Supt. 

The school report for 1902, shows a slight 
decrease caused by the organization of Rose¬ 
bud county. The report was as follows : 

Persons of school age, male 702, female 
685 ; one private school with eight pupils at¬ 
tending; school houses built 4; daily attend¬ 
ance 92.157; school houses in county 21 ; value 
of school houses and grounds $36,570; amount 
collected by tax $33,770.16. Mrs. Laura 
Zook, superintendent. 

The report for 1904 by superintendent of 


schools, Mrs. Ida E. M. Wiley, shows a small 
increase over that of 1902. Below is the re¬ 
port : 

Persons of school age, male 815, female 
725; number of teachers employed, male 5, 
female 30; two private schools in county with 
an attendance of 7 pupils; number of days at¬ 
tendance, 102.651; number of school houses, 
26; value of school houses and grounds, 
$ 4 I - 33 I ; total school money collected, $38,- 
703.26. 

School report for the year 1905 was as fol¬ 
lows : 

Census, male 876, female 761; average sal¬ 
ary paid teachers, male $60, female $50; num¬ 
ber of teachers, male 8, female 35; number of 
private schools, one with 20 pupils attending; 
average attendance in county schools 960; 
value of school houses and grounds, $37,660; 
amount expended for text books, $911.20; 
number of volumes in libraries, 4,645; value 
of libraries, $3,194; number of school houses 
owned by districts, 28; cash on hand August 
4, 1904, $11,999.39; amount applied to dis¬ 
tricts, $17,070.72; total amount raised and on 
hand, $41,731.72; disbursements $30,185.24. 
Mrs. Ida E. M. Wiley, Superintendent of 
Schools. 

The school report for the year 1906 is not 
yet completed but will show an increase in at¬ 
tendance, value of school property, and more 
advanced lines of study. 

A county high school was established at 
Miles City in 1902 and a part of the city 
school building was secured in which to hold 
school. An election was held in December 1905 
for the purpose of voting on the question of 
bonding the county for $35,000 to build and 
equip a free county high school. The bond 
issue carried by a majority of 227. 

The high school course in Custer county is 
as follows: 

First year—Algebra, physical geography, 
botany, English, composition and declamation; 
must elect one of the following: Latin, Eng- 






366 


HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


lish words and American masterpieces. 

Second year—Algebra, geometry, zoology, 
civics, ancient history, composition and de¬ 
clamation. Must elect one: Caesar, English. 

Third year—Geometry, English, English 
classics, mediaeval history, modern history, 
composition and debate. Must elect one: 
Cicero, German, chemistry. 

Fourth year—American history,' arithmetic, 
physics, English literature, composition and 
debate. Must elect one: Virgil, German, Eng¬ 
lish history, French history, and assigned read¬ 
ings. 

The board of trustees are: Kenneth Mc¬ 
Lean, pres.; Mrs. Ida E. M.Wiley, sec.; J. H. 
Truscott, Sydney Sanner, W. E. Savage, J. 
E. Farnum and Albert Kircher. 

The force of teachers for the ensuing year 
are: R. H. Daniels, principal; Miss Zoe Bel- 
lew, Miss Winifred Wilson and Mrs. Eva 
Crane Farnum. 

URSULINE CONVENT. 

The educational history of Custer county 
would be incomplete without mention of the 
Ursuline Convent located at Miles City. This 
is an institution of which the residents of this 
county justly feel very proud. 

Miles City claims the honor of having the 
first Ursuline convent in the Rocky mountains. 
In the year 1877 the town was founded and 
the winter of 1884 beheld the Ursuline Nuns 
with characteristic energy and enterprise 
pushing forward the higher education of the 
children in the embryo municipality. 

The Nuns who made the foundation here 
were from the Ursuline convent of Toledo, 
Ohio. The Rev. Father Lindesmith, chaplain 
of the United States army post at Fort Keogh 
—that gallant soldier priest whose memory is 
held so dear by all the old timers in this town 
—wrote the Nuns in reference to their pro¬ 
posed foundation in Miles City, saying that “it 


was no use for them to come to Montana un¬ 
less they could rustle.” But pioneer life in 
unsettled communities was no new experi¬ 
ence to the Nuns and had for them no terrors. 
They arrived in Miles City, January 18, 1884, 
and the hearty welcome extended to them 
that day was bill the- herald of the warrnth, 
appreciation* and generosity which has ever 
been the share allotted to them by the citizens 
of Miles City. Nevertheless, the prophetic 
words of their good friend, Father Linde¬ 
smith, were verified and they had to “rustle.” 

The first school opened by the Nuns was 
in temporary quarters, a five-room cottage on 
Palmer street, secured for that purpose at a 
rental of thirty dollars a month. It was not 
long, however, before the Nuns had raised a 
structure of their own and teachers and pupils 
with joyful hearts moved into the little white 
building on the south side of the track, com¬ 
monly known and lovingly remembered as 
“the old convent.” 

There the work was carried on successfully 
until 1895. In November of that year the convent 
caught fire. The alarm being duly given, was 
responded to by the Miles City fire department, 
but owing to an unfortunate accident the city 
water was not available in sufficient quantities 
and the convent was burned to the ground. 
The Nuns and pupils, thus rudely thrust out 
into the winter snow, found refuge and wel¬ 
come in the houses of their many friends until 
such time as the Nuns were recalled to their 
Mother House at St. Peter, Montana, and the 
children in sadness returned to their homes. 

Many prominent citizens thereupon sent a 
delegation to the Bishop of Helena requesting 
the return of the Nuns to Miles City, and 
promising liberal aid for the building of the 
school. In fulfillment of this promise, these 
kind friends donated a new and more desirable 
site for the convent. The Nuns then began 
the erection of the handsome structure whose 
portals were thrown open on October 5, 1902. 





HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. 


367 


The people once more showed their apprecia¬ 
tion by a welcome warm and true. 

Classes were organized at once. Terms— 
$200 per year for board, laundry and tuition. 
Embroidery and plain sewing, drawing, paint¬ 


ing. pyrography, elocution and physical cul¬ 
ture are taught free of charge to all pupils of 
the institution. Instruction in music, piano, 
organ, violin and other stringed instruments, 
$40 per year. 






PART VIII 

DAWSON COUNTY 


CHAPTER I 


CURRENT EVENTS. 


That part of the great state of Montana 
witn which this work has to deal was at an- 
early period a part of the Territory of Louis¬ 
iana, the history of which has been given in a 
previous chapter. Later this was successively 
a portion of the Territories of Nebraska, Da¬ 
kota and Idaho and lastly, in 1864, became a 
part of the Territory of Montana. Of the many 
counties formed in 1864, soon after the terri¬ 
tory was organized, Dawson county was one of 
the first created and the boundaries were as 
follows : 

Commencing at the intersecting point of 
parallel of latitude 47 degrees north with the 
meridian of longitude 108 degrees west and 
thence along said parallel 47 degrees to merid¬ 
ian of longitude 104 degrees; thence along said 
meridian north to latitude 49 degrees; thence 
along said parallel 49 degrees to meridian of 
longitude 108 degrees; thence south along said 
meridian of longitude to place of beginning; 
and the county seat of said county of Dawson 
be and the same is hereby located at Fort An¬ 
drew. 

There were no settlers in the county at this 
time, though there were a number of soldiers 
24 


at the fort, and a county organization was 
not effected. 

The county of Dawson was again created 
in 1869 and the county seat as named in the 
enabling act was located at Fort Peck. The 
boundaries remained the same as in 1864. No 
organization was effected at this time and the 
county of Dawson was attached to the county 
of Choteau for judicial and other purposes. 

For countless ages this vast territory had 
been the hunting ground and stronghold of the 
various Indian tribes and its fertile plains and 
bunch-grass hills had been the feeding ground 
of innumerable herds of buffalo and great 
bands of elk, antelope and deer. 

With the occupation of this virgin terri¬ 
tory by the military in 1876-7 and the scatter¬ 
ing of the great bands of Indians that had 
heretofore made this their stronghold, the 
white settlers soon became cognizant of the 
wonderful richness and fertility of this section 
and immediately moved westward and started 
settlement in this new domain. In 1877, a 
number of cantonments or temporary posts 
were established along the Yellowstone valley, 
and in the vicinity of these cantonments where 
they would be under the protection of the sol- 








370 


HISTORY OF DAWSON COUNTY. 


diers, settlements were started. After a time, 
as the Indians became more peaceable and 
the settlers became more daring and confident, 
settlements were established at greater dis¬ 
tances from the posts and in a short time this 
great territory which had been the homes of 
the Indians and wild animals, was dotted with 
settlements of white men, and the Indian tep¬ 
ees of former years were displaced by the log 
cabins and painted houses of the white men. 

Among the first to settle in what is now the 
county of Dawson, were George Grant and J. 
L. Burns on what is known as Burns Creek, 
William Crane on Crane Creek and a man col- 
•loquially known as “French Joe,” who settled 
on Fox creek. These men located here in 1878 
and it was nearly two years before more set¬ 
tlers moved to this great county. About 1880, 
a number of settlers braved the dangers of the 
frontier and made settlements here, and among 
them were, Emmett Dunlap, George McCone, 
*N. R. Brown, Henry Harpster, William 
Brake, Frank Fletcher and Warren Surrine. 

When the route of the Northern Pacific 
railroad had been determined upon and it be¬ 
gan its march westward, the town of Glendive 
was started and the first influx of settlers came 
in. In 1881 when the railroad was completed 
to the town of Glendive, and this town had 
reached the proportions of a small city, the set¬ 
tlement became rapid and in a short time the 
population and . wealth of this section had 
grown to such an extent that county division 
and organization became a paramount ques¬ 
tion. 

While the county had been created for a 
great many years, no county organization was 
ever effected and it had been attached to Cus¬ 
ter county for judicial and other purposes. 

In September 1883, a bill was passed by the 
Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Mon¬ 
tana, recreating the county of Dawson, ex¬ 
tending the southern boundary line ten miles 
south of the original line, and provided for 


its organization by naming the county officers, 
and made Glendive the county seat. 

In 1884, the building used as a^ourt house 
was found to be too small and inadequate for 
the growing business of the new county and a 
contract was let by the commissioners for the 
building of a new court house to cost $25,000. 
This substantial brick structure with jail ac¬ 
commodations was completed in 1885 and was 
at that time one of the best court houses in the 
state. 

The year 1883 marks the passing of the 
buffalo in this section and the trade in buffalo 
hides and meat which had heretofore been one 
of the chief industries in this section, had gone 
forever, and the raising of stock became the 
paramount industry in this county. The fer¬ 
tile plains which had formerly l^een dotted with 
herds of buffalo and antelope, became the feed- 
ing ground for thousands of head of cattle and 
sheep. Large droves of cattle were driven 
here each year from the southern ranges or 
from the ranges farther east, which had be¬ 
come overstocked. Almost before the settlers 
here realized it the Yellowstone valley and 
Dawson county in particular had become noted 
as a feeding ground and hundreds of eastern 
capitalists invested in cattle and sheep and sent 
them to this fertile range where they increased 
and waxed fat. .The stock industry suffered 
a set back in the winter of 1886 and 1887, 
when thousands of head of stock perished on 
the ranges, and this section did not recover 
from the bad effects of that winter for several 
years. Up to that time no thought had been 
given the proposition of winter feeding and 
few were in a position to feed their cattle dur¬ 
ing the winter. The large owners suffered 
more severely than the “Granger” or small 
rancher, as he had a few acres of ground 
from which he cut hay and in that way was 
able to save many head of stock that would 
otherwise have perished. This was a valu¬ 
able lesson to the stockmen and since that time 







HISTORY OF DAWSON COUNTY. 


37 1 


they have made provision for feeding their 
stock in the winter if necessary, although it is 
seldom necessary in this section where the 
winters are comparatively short and not se¬ 
verely cold. It also had the effect of cutting 
down the size of the herds, and, while the 
number of head of stock in this county is as 
great as it ever was, they are owned by a larger 
number of people and the county has benefited 
by it. 

1 he husbandry of sheep has become one of 
the most important industries of this section 
of the state and there are at this time nearly 
400.000 head of sheep in this county valued 
at a million and a quarter of dollars. From 
five to eight million pounds of wool are an¬ 
nually shipped from this county, and with the 
increased prices of mutton and wool during the 
past few years, the sheepmen have become 
wealthy. 

The affairs of Dawson county have always 
run along smoothly and there have been but 
few happenings worthy of historical record 
since the formation of the county. 

In February 1893, the county of Dawson 
lost' about half of its territory when all that 
portion of Dawson county north of the mid 
channel of the Missouri river was cut off and 
created into a hew county named Valley coun¬ 
ty. This still left Dawson county with 13,- 
227 square miles of territory and it is yet one 
of the largest counties in the state, being nearly 
as large as the combined area of Rhode Island, 
Connecticut and New Jersey. 

During the year 1894, the desire for im¬ 
proved facilities for crossing the Yellowstone 
river took public expression as an issue in the 
November election of that year. The people 
desired that the county should own the bridge 
and the question of issuing bonds was decided 
by a vote of 336 for, to 125 against the propo¬ 
sition. Bonds were issued in the sum of $39,- 
000 and the contract let for the construction 
of the bridge which was completed in Febru¬ 
ary, 1896. The bridge is 1,236 feet from 


bank to bank with a draw span 326 feet long. 
In 1899, the ice gorged above the town and 
when the gorge broke the ice rushed down the 
river with terrific force and carried away the 
middle span of the bridge. The board of 
county commissioners at once advertised for 
bids for the construction of a new bridge and 
in 1900 the present bridge was completed at 
a further cost of $25,000. The new bridge 
was built eight feet higher above the water 
than the former one and now Dawson county 
boasts of having the best and largest bridge 
across the Yellowstone river. 

While many of the small valleys of this 
county had been utilized for raising hay and 
grain for many years, the great agricultural 
possibilities of this section has recently been 
brought to the notice of the settlers and rapid 
strides are being made in the matter of re¬ 
claiming and utilizing the fertile soil. Num¬ 
erous small irrigation ditches have been built 
and the result has been so encouraging that 
more land is being tilled each year and the 
yields are enormous. The government has re¬ 
cently let contracts for the reclamation of 
about 80,000 acres of semi-arid land in the 
Yellowstone valley. A dam is being built 
across the Yellowstone seventeen miles below 
Glendive and the water will be taken frorq that 
stream at the mouth of Thirteen Mile creek. 
The ditch will be forty feet wide at the bot¬ 
tom, about eighty miles long, and will water 
that section known as the wishbone of the 
Missouri. The water will cost the settlers from 
twenty to twenty-five dollars per acre to be 
paid in ten annual installments and the gov¬ 
ernment agrees to maintain the dam and head 
gates permanently. The dam is of the over¬ 
flow design and will always retain sufficient 
water to supply the canal at the lowest stages 
of the river. Of course, navigation above this 
point will be intercepted, but the progress of 
natural conditions, as regards modern trans¬ 
portation methods, will serve to offset any ob¬ 
jections against the construction of the dam. 









372 


HISTORY OF DAWSON COUNTY. 


With railroads and electric lines in close pros¬ 
pect, there will be no necessity for steamboat 
navigation. 

A strip of territory forty-six miles east 
and west and about seventy miles north and 
south is now being surveyed by United States 
surveyors in the eastern part of Dawson 
county which will be of inestimable value to 
the rapidly incoming population, as this terri¬ 
tory has never been surveyed. 

A company has been formed for the pur¬ 
pose of colonizing that portion of the county 
known as the Redwater divide which contains 
about 900 square miles of territory, of which 
more than half can be farmed without irri¬ 
gation. 

The assessed valuation of all property in 
Dawson county since its organization in 1883, 
has been as follows: 

1883, $840,034; 1884, $1,236,754; 1885, 
$1,350,000, approximate; 1886, $1,500,000, ap¬ 
proximate; 1887, $1,089,350; 1888, $1,464,- 


326; 1889, $1,743,797; 1890, $2,406,481; 
1891, $3,058,719; 1892, $3,396,341; 1893, 
$2,207,256; 1894, $2,086,751; 1895, $2,075,- 
414; 1896, $1,719,013; 1897, $1,994,299; 
1898, $2,183,831; 1899, $2,152,459; 1900, 
$2,548,279; 1901, $2,945,942; 1902, $3,973,- 
5351 I 9°3. $5,066,818; 1904, $4,863,498; 
1905, $4,934,728; 1906, $5,159,598, an in¬ 
crease over 1905 of a quarter of a million 
dollars. 

With all the incontrovertible advantages 
that Dawson county offers for the selection and 
establishment of permanent homes and for the 
successful pursuits of diverse industries, its 
inherent and visible wealth, the salubrity of 
its climate, the superior characteristics of its 
people, moral, intellectual and refined, with 
the beneficial influences of splendid schools, 
and religious institutions, there is no place in 
the state that presents greater opportunities 
for the accumulation of wealth than are to be 
found within its borders. 


CHAPTER 11 


CITIES AND TOWNS. 


Glendive has been aptly named the “Gate¬ 
way of Montana,” or “Pearl of the Yellow¬ 
stone,” and its location and commercial en¬ 
vironments entitle it to either of these cogno¬ 
mens. Nestling in a natural amphitheatre, 
surrounded on almost every side by pictur¬ 
esquely rugged hills, through which the broad, 
majestic Yellowstone river sweeps its way, the 
charming little city of Glendive appears to the 
traveler from east or west like a veritable oasis. 
In its miniature valley location, the famous 
river skirts the western limits of the town, and 
presents a feature of interesting change with 
the seasons of the year. In the summer time, 


when the beauties of nature are at their best, 
the scene from some neighboring elevation as 
the sun sinks to rest beyond the undulating 
horizon, is enchanting in its kaleidoscopic hues, 
while in the autumn the tints that fall on crag 
and hill are as soft as nature’s painting on a 
shell. 

The idea of building a town at the present 
site of Glendive was conceived by Major 
Lewis Merrill, U. S. A., H. F. Douglas and 
others in the year 1880, when the Northern 
Pacific railroad commenced to stretch itself 
in this direction. The prairie a short distance 
east of town was first selected and a small set- 








HISTORY OF DAWSON COUNTY. 


tlement was started there in 1880, but the 
railroad swung - around and came out on the 
flat where the town now stands. When the 
Yellowstone Land and Colonization Company 
laid out the present townsite in the summer 
of 1880, the old town was deserted and its few 
inhabitants immediately took up their abode 
in the new town. 

In 1880, Douglas Mead & Company, who 
had been running a sutler store along the 
right-of-way of the railroad while it was 
building, started the first mercantile establish¬ 
ment in the new town, and were soon fol¬ 
lowed by Weeks and Prescott, and Jones and 
Schaefer, who also engaged in the mercantile 
business. 

The railroad was completed to the town 
of Glendive in the spring of 1881 and a large 
influx of settlers followed its advent. New 
business enterprises were launched and the 
town soon assumed the proportions of a small 
city. Douglas Mead & Company, the first 
merchants, erected the first substantial business 
block in the city in 1881. Among the new 
business enterprises started in that year were: 
Hardware store by Hurst & Company; hard¬ 
ware store by Wm. Lowe; drug store opened 
by H. S. Davis, and a number of wet goods 
emporiums. In 1882 the first church, the 
Methodist, was erected in the growing town. 

Up to and during the year 1883, the prin¬ 
cipal industry in this section was the killing of 
the buffalo for its hide and meat, and the vol¬ 
ume of business from this industry alone • 
amounted to several hundred thousand dollars 
per year. In 1883 the population of the thriv¬ 
ing town was estimated at 1,500 people, but 
quite a large percentage of these were, how¬ 
ever, people-who floated around and worked a 
short time in a place. 

The stock industry, which has started in 
i’88i. had been constantly growing, and in 
1884 had assumed gigantic proportions. The 
place of the ’buffalo hunter had been filled by 
the cowboy, and large herds of cattle and 


373 


sheep fed on the nutritious grasses where for¬ 
merly the buffalo and antelope held full sway. 
The town of Glendive being situated in the 
center of one of the largest grazing sections of 
the west, became the outfitting point for thou¬ 
sands of stock men and the volume of busi¬ 
ness amounted to several hundreds of thou¬ 
sands of dollars per year. 

The first disastrous fire in Glendive oc¬ 
curred on the 24th day of March, 1887. The 
fire was discovered about two o’clock in the 
morning between Gassman’s jewelry store and 
the barber shop, and an alarm was immediately 
given. A strong wind was blowing at the time 
and before assistance arrived the fire had 
gained great headway. The barber shop and 
jewelry store were consumed in a short time 
and the flames spread rapidly, the citizens be¬ 
ing unable to confine them to- the burning 
buildings. The structures being mostly frame, 
burned rapidly and fiercely, and the heat was 
so intense that water could only be thrown 
from a distance, without any material effect. 
The fire was undoubtedly the work of an in¬ 
cendiary. The losses were as follows: 

Richmond, $500; barber shop, $100; 
Gassman, jewelry store, $1,000; Merchants 
Hotel, house and fixtures, $6,000; H. S. Davis, 
drug stock, $1,500, no insurance; A. J. Davis, 
four buildings, $3,000; Henry Dion, $500; 
Oswald & Co., building, $2,000; Lee Bros., 
$1,500; Harry Helms, $2,000; M. Farrell, 
$ 3 °°; Ed. Butler, building, $1,000; Wm. 
Lyons, fixtures, $100; Poutet & Gallagher, 
building, $500; stock, 1,500; clothing stock 
fully insured. 

This was a serious blow to the growing 
town, coming as it did, just on the eve of the 
hard winter of 1886-7, but the people of 
Glendive were possessed of a large amount of 
energy and integrity, and instead of becoming 
discouraged, they put their shoulders to the 
wheel and in a short time had overcome all ob¬ 
stacles and were again enjoying the prosper¬ 
ity of the old days. 








374 


HISTORY OF DAWSON COUNTY. 


For a number of years prior to 1896, the 
Yellowstone Land and Colonization Company 
had had considerable dispute in regard to the 
title to the townsite which they had laid off 
and sold in 1880 and 1881. The Northern Pa¬ 
cific Railroad Company claimed the land as 
being a part of their grant and the following- 
gleaned from the records of the county clerk 
of Dawson county will be of interest: 

“From memoranda and information at 
hand it appears that the Yellowstone Land and , 
Colonization Company, in the years 1881 and 
1882, claimed all that portion of section 35, 
township 16, north of range 55, east principal 
meridian, lying east of the Yellowstone river, 
by prior right and occupancy, and while lands 
adjoining were claimed by this company by 
purchase from individuals filing upon the same 
under the act of congress of July 17, 1854, 
granting lands to persons under and by virtue 
of Sioux Half Breed script, it does not appear 
from the records or information at hand that 
the Yellowstone Land and Colonization Com¬ 
pany received any deed, grant or otherwise, 
either from the government or any per¬ 
son claiming the same, any right to said sec¬ 
tion 35, whatsoever. 

“Nevertheless, deeds were issued by the 
Yellowstone Land and Colonization Company 
to subdivisions of section 35. township 16, 
north of range 55, east M. P. M. until a pat¬ 
ent was issued by the United States to the 
Northern Pacific Railroad company, January 
15, 1896, after which time all parties holding 
deeds from said Yellowstone Land and Coloni¬ 
zation Company were obliged to repurchase 
said lands from the Northern Pacific Railroad 
Company, or its grantees, or forfeit all right 
and title thereto.” 

In October, 1902, the proposition of incor¬ 
poration which had been agitated by the resi¬ 
dents for some time, was voted upon and car¬ 
ried by a large majority. Prior to this time it 
was thought that the county government was 
sufficient for all needs, but the town had 


reached that point where it was necessary for 
local improvements which could not be secured 
under the old system. Sidewalks, graded 
streets, «fire protection, and water system were 
needed. Since incorporation many changes 
have taken place, many new and handsome res¬ 
idences have been built, lawns improved, 
streets have been graded and many blocks of 
cement walks have been laid, and many new 
business blocks erected. 

In December, 1902, the Glendive Fire De¬ 
partment was organized with the following 
members: Jerry Cain, chief; Frank J. Lucas, 
assistant chief; Eugene Crotean, foreman hook 
and ladder company; Frank Parrott, assistant 
foreman of hook and ladder company; J. H. 
Pennington, foreman hose company; Ray 
Lowe, assistant foreman of hose company; Otto 
Carlson, steward; members: Steve Brittner, 
W. D. Nuens, H. A. Sample, C. A. Parcher, 
J. S. Gillis, F. H. Hudson, Clark Brooks, C. A. 
McIntyre, J. F. Dawe, E. P. Hockinbeamer, 
C. A. Banker, George Quilling, Frank Spar¬ 
ger, H. B. Read, H. J. Case, A. E. Anderson, 
John Hagan, Wm. Hurst, Dr. Donahue, Har¬ 
ry Stubbs, Stanley Guy, Gabriel Ruff and 
Donald Mack. 

The town experienced a sixty thousand 
dollar fire in February, 1903. The fire started 
about two o’clock'in the morning and the or¬ 
igin was unknown. On account of the scarc¬ 
ity of water little could be done to stop the 
spread of the fire and in a short time only the 
ruins were left. 

The losses were as follows: T. F. Hagan, 
owner of buildings, $25,000, insurance, $11,- 
500; G. D. Hollecker, merchandise, $30,000, 
insurance, $16,000; C. F. Bean, postoffice fix¬ 
tures, $600, no insurance; A. S. Foss, photog¬ 
raphers’ supplies, $1,000, no insurance; G. F. 
Goodhue, household furniture, $600, no insur¬ 
ance; I. O. O. F. and other secret societies, 
$1,000, no insurance; Davis & Farnum, drugs, 
$700. 

The fire department is entitled to great 








HISTORY OF DAWSON COUNTY. 


375 


credit for their heroic effort to stop the spread 
of the flames, and had it not been for their or¬ 
ganized assistance, many more buildings 
would have been destroyed and the loss would 
have been much greater. 

Because of the poor quality of the drinking 
water that was secured from the wells and the 
inadequate fire protection, the proposition of a 
water system had been agitated for some time, 
but it was not until the present year that it ma¬ 
tured. In January an election was held to vote 
on the proposition of bonding the town for 
$50,000 to install an adequate water system. 
At this election 132 votes were cast, 123 for 
and 9 against the proposition. The city council 
immediately let the contract for the work and 
the system is now more t-han half completed. 
The water is to be taken from the Yellowstone 
river and t\yo large settling tanks have been 
constructed. The tank at the river bank will 
have a capacity of 200,000 gallons and the 
tank.located on the hill above the town will 
have a capacity of 300,000 gallons. This will 
insure a supply of clean water for domestic 
and other purposes free from the sedimentary 
contamination which now prevails. The pump 
has a capacity of 750 gallons per minute with 
two intake pipes of twelve inches in diameter. 
The plant will be turned over to the city early 
in September and Glendive will have a water 
system second to none in the state. 

A sewerage system is to be built in the near 
future and the plans have been drawn, and bids 
asked for. The plans as drawn by the city en¬ 
gineer provided for a twelve-inch waste pipe 
to the river, but the Northern Pacific Railroad 
Company, which will soon install its machine 
shops here, offered to pay half the cost of the 
system if a twenty-four-inch waste pipe was 
used. 

In April, 1906, the Dawson County So¬ 
cial Club was organized with a membership 
of seventy and club rooms have been secured 
in the spacious block now being erected by 
Harry Helms. If the present plans are carried 


out Glendive will have one of the best equipped 
club rooms in eastern Montana. The officers 
of the club are: Dr. A. A. Baker, president; 
Theo. Lentz, vice president; H. N. Dion, sec¬ 
retary; E. S. Haskell, treasurer; G. D. Hol- 
lecker, T. F. Hagan and L. R. Barnett, di¬ 
rectors. 

Glendive has a well drilled and well disci¬ 
plined militia company which was organized 
in 1905, and now has a membership of sixty. 
1 his company has among its members some of 
the best rifle shots in the northwest and each 
year a number of these are chosen to represent 
Montana at the national shooting tournament 
held at Seagirt. 

There are three religious denominations 
which have church edifices, the Episcopal, 
Catholic and Methodist. They each have a 
large and devoted membership and their aux¬ 
iliary societies of young men and women are 
in a flourishing condition. There are several 
other denominations which have organizations 
here but no regular church services. 

There is probably no city of the size of 
Glendive, anywhere, that boasts of such an ar¬ 
ray of fraternal societies, with their convenient 
auxiliaries as can be found here. Brothers and 
sisters of almost every order and degree com¬ 
pose the majority of the adult inhabitants and 
this has much to do with the charming social 
characteristics of the town. The Masonic 
fraternity, which embraces the following 
lodges: Blue lodge, Commandery, Chapter 
and Eastern Star, is in a flourishing condition, 
and owns the Masonic Temple at the corner of 
Merrill avenue and Bell street. Other lodges 
are: Knights of Pythias, I. O. O. F., and Re- 
bekahs, A. O. U. W. and Degree of Honor, 
B. P. O. E., F. O. E., Orients, M. W. A., 
Royal Neighbors, Brotherhood of Locomotive 
Engineers, Brotherhood of Locomotive Fire¬ 
men, Brotherhood of Railway Conductors and 
A. R. U. 

The officers of the town since its incorpora¬ 
tion have been: 






376 


HISTORY OF DAWSON COUNTY. 


1902—Mayor, J. H. Miskimin; council- 
men, A. S. Foss, C. E. Bell, W. F. Jordan and 
E. P. Baldwin; clerk and attorney, H. J. Hal- 
vorsen; police judge, J. C. Sorenson; treas¬ 
urer, C. A. Banker. 

I 9°3 ; —Mayor, Henry Dion; councilmen, 
Joel Gleason, W. B. Foster, C. E. Bell and 
Guy R. Lowe; clerk and attorney, H. J. Hal- 
vorsen; police judge, J. C. Sorenson; treas¬ 
urer, C. A. Banker. 

1904—Mayor, Henry Dion; councilmen, 
Guy R. Lowe, J. M. Rapelje, Joel Gleason and 
C. E. Bell; clerk and attorney, H. J. Halvor- 
sen; police judge, J. C. Sorenson; treasurer, 
C. A. Banker. 

I 9°5—Mayor, D. R. Mead; councilmen, 
W. F. Jordan, J. C. Taylor, J. M. Rapelje and 
Guy R. Lowe; clerk and attorney, H. J. Hal- 
vorsen; police judge, J. C. Sorenson; treasurer, 
C. A. Banker. 

1906—Mayor, D. R. Mead; councilmen, 
J. M. Rapelje, D. J. Donahue, W. F. Jordan 
and J. C. Taylcr; clerk and attorney, H. I. 
Halvorsen; police judge, J. C. Sorenson; 
treasurer, C. A. Banker. 

Glendive is making a very satisfactory 
growth this season, both in the increase of 
population (which is now more than 3,000), 
the number of new residences and business 
blocks built or under construction, and the 
greatly augmented volume of business in all 
lines. It has partaken in a liberal measure of 
the brimming cup of prosperity passed around 
so generously over the entire northwest during 
this year. The indications are also, that the 
bright prospects for this city and county have 
only begun to appear; that a steadily increasing 
progress will be recorded as the vast ranges are 
peopled with new settlers and new lines of 
railways built. The present outlook for Glen- 
dive and eastern Montana is indeed optimistic 
in a most marked degree. 

Wibaux, the second town in point of size 
and importance in Dawson county, was started 
in 1881. The first name given the new town 


was Beaver, but this name did not last long 
and it was soon changed to Mingusville. In 
1887, the name of the town was again changed 
to Wibaux, named after Pierre Wibaux, the 
rich stockman who has lived there for the past 
twenty-six years. This town is located in the 
famous Beaver creek valley, on the Northern 
Pacific railroad, six miles from the Dakota 
state line and thirty-one miles east of Glendive. 
Being situated on a broad, fertile plain, its 
advantages soon became known, and with the 
increasing settlement of the surrounding coun¬ 
try, the commercial importance of the town 
was assured. The town has grown from a 
dug-out in 1881 to a. flourishing little city of 
about 700 people. 

The town was platted in May, 1896, by 
Morris Nolan and wife, but it has never been 
incorporated. 

In May of last year, Wibaux was visited 
by a $26,000 blaze, which swept away the prin- 
ciual business block of the town. The losses 
were as follows: Orgain Co., $15,000; Cor¬ 
nell & Smith, rooming house, $3,500; C. B. 
Lantis, barber shop, $500; Mrs. O’Neil, house, 
$1,000; Mrs. Pickering, hotel, $5,000; Gar¬ 
land Kidd, household furniture, $1,000. 

The town sustains three churches, the 
Catholic. Episcopal and Congregational. It 
also contains the usual complement of business 
houses found in towns of this size. It is a great 
shipping point and thousands of head of cattle 
and sheep are shipped from it each year. 

Wibaux has a splendid future; its inhab¬ 
itants are enterprising, progressive and ambi¬ 
tious, and its church and school facilities are 
equal to every need. The people are wrapped 
up in their little city, eager to promote its 
progress, and extend a welcome to all desirable 
citizens to join them in the work of develop¬ 
ment of their rich and enterprising community. 

Sidney is a village on the Yellowstone 
river, in Newlon township, first settled in 1887, 
and is fifty-five miles northeast of Glendive, 
the county seat, and twenty-five miles south- 




HISTORY OF DAWSON COUNTY. 


377 


west of Fort Buford, the shipping point on the 
Great Northern railway. It has a bank, saw¬ 
mill, and a Methodist church. It also has daily 
stages to Mondak and Glendive. The popu¬ 
lation of the -town is about 2QO and being lo¬ 
cated in the center of the most fertile section 
of eastern Montana, its prospects for becom¬ 
ing a thriving town are exceptionally bright. 
With the completion of the government irri¬ 
gation ditch which is now under construction 
a large influx of settlers are expected in this 
section and a railroad line down the Yellow¬ 
stone valley will undoubtedly be constructed in 
the near future. 


Tokna, a postoffice in Dawson county 
with a population of seventy-five, is located on 
the Yellowstone river, in Newlon township, 
first settled in 1881, thirty-six miles east of 
Glendive, the county seat and shipping station, 
and twenty miles southwest of Sidney, the 
banking point. Tri-weekly stages to Glen¬ 
dive, Sidney and Ridgelawn, and telephone 
connections. 

Other postoffices in Dawson county are: 
Adams, Circle, Cohagan, Enid, Fairview, Gos¬ 
sett, Hodges, Jordan, Kismet, McMillan, Mos- 
by, Newlon, .. Norvelia, Ridgelawn, Three 
Buttes and Viall. 


CHAPTER m 


POLITICAL. 


The political history of Dawson county 
covers a period of twenty-four years. Al¬ 
though the county was first created in 1864 
and again in 1869, no attempt was made to 
form a county organization until 1882. Prior 
to this time it had been attached to Custer 
county for judicial and other purposes, but 
with the coming of the railroad and the rapid 
settlement in 'this section, it was found neces¬ 
sary to have a separate organization to take 
care of the rapidly increasing business. Ac¬ 
cordingly, in September, 1882, the county of 
Dawson was organized with Glendive as the 
county seat. 

The first officers of the new county were 
as follows: E. K. Weeks, Ebon Slawson and 
Robert Poutet, county commisioners; J. F. 
Maloney, probate judge; George R. Tingle, 
clerk and recorder; Henry Dion, sheriff; D. 
R. Mead, treasurer; John P. Nolan, assessor. 
Mr. Nolan resigned the office of assessor and 


on November 23, 1882, D. S. Prescott was ap¬ 
pointed to fill the unexpired term. 

The first act of the county commissioners 
after the organization was to establish voting 
precincts throughout the county. Four pre¬ 
cincts were established, number one at Glen¬ 
dive, number two at Burns House, number 
three at Newlon school house and number four 
at Keith station house. ' The appointment of 
election judges for the election to be held No¬ 
vember 7, 1883, was the next act of the com¬ 
missioners and the following judges were ap¬ 
pointed for the precincts following their 
names: W. M. Coleman, J. E. Walton and 
H. E. Tuttle, judges precinct No. 1; J. L. 
Burns, E. Dunlap and G. F. Grant, judges pre¬ 
cinct No. 2; John O’Brien, David Stewart and 
W. W. Newlon, judges precinct No. 3; Morris 
Nolan, N. F. Fountain and Andrew Smith, 
judges precinct No. 4. The township of 
Newlon was next created and set apart and 







378 


HISTORY OF DAWSON COUNTY. 


composed all that portion of the county lying- 
west of the Yellowstone river and north of 
Burns creek, which territory comprised nearly 
half of the present county of Dawscn and all 
of the present county of Valley. 

The political record for the year 1883 is 
lost to history, as is also the vote of the elec¬ 
tion held November 4, 1884. The names of 
the candidates for office for the year 1884 are 
a matter of record and the name of the can¬ 
didate who was successful is given first, as 
below: 

For Congress—Hiram K. Knowles, rep., 
J. K. Toole, dem. 

For Representative—George R. Tingle, 
dem.; Gus Grisy, rep. 

For* County Commissioners—Andrew Mc¬ 
Lain, rep.; George McCone, rep.; John Lee, 
dem.; D. Cavanaugh, dem. 

For Probate Judge—James McCormick, 
rep.; H. J. Haskell, rep.; Wm. E. Lonnegan, 
dem.; Alex. Gillespie, dem. 

For Treasurer—Allen J. McMillan, dem.; 
Hope S. Davis, rep. 

For Clerk and Recorder—W. H. Ray¬ 
mond, rep.; F. N. Brown, dem. 

For Sheriff—H. C. Tuttle, rep.; N.. W. 
Comford, dem. 

For Assessor—N. R. Brown, pp.; M. N. 
Brown, dem.; J. L. Burns, rep. 

For Surveyor—W. W. Newlon, rep.; Ira 
Hall, pp.; Wm. Lonnegan, dem. 

For Supt. of Schools—J. N. Ray, rep.; 
Dr. Daniel McIntosh, dem. 

For Coroner—Dr. A. R. Duncan, rep., 
E. W. Narry, dem. 

In the election of November 2, 1886, the 
Republican party was generally successful in 
electing its candidates, though some of the 
Democratic candidates were elected. The re¬ 
sult of the vote was as follows: 

For Congress—J. K. Toole, dem., 217; 
W. F. Sanders, rep., 202. 

For Representative—Alex. S. Gillespie, 
dem., 171; C. R. Scobey, rep., 241. 


For County Attorney—H. J. Haskell, rep., 
254; James Ramsey, dem., 1; John Trumbull, 
dem., 152. 

For County Commissioners—Wm. L. Sin¬ 
gleton, dem., 184; Emmet Dunlap, rep., 211; 
Peter Gallagher, dem., 163; S. L. Bean, rep., 
235; Ebon Slawson, dem., 188. 

For Probate Judge—Fred C. Klein, dem., 
153; James McCormick, rep., 264. 

For Treasurer—A. J. McMillan, dem., 
204; Joseph C. Auld, rep., 209. 

For Clerk and Recorder—G. N. Chun, 
dem., 162; W. H. Raymond, rep., 248. 

For Sheriff—Thomas Matthews, dem., 
194; H. C. Tuttle, rep., 217. 

For Assessor—Jesse Reeves, dem., 192; 
M. M. Carson, rep., 219. 

For Supt. of Schools—A. R. Duncan, 
rep., 206; E. W. Narry, dem., 206.. 

For Surveyor—N. E. Young, dem., 186; 
W. W. Newlon, rep., 224. 

For Coroner—A. J. Hogg, rep., 404. 

For Administrator—J. B. Kelly, dem., 
177; A. L. Smith, rep., 235. 

At the election held November 6, 1888, 
442 votes were cast for the respective candi¬ 
dates for office. The Republican candidates 
were again generally successful but some of 
the Democratic candidates were elected. The 
result of the vote was as follows: 

For Congress—W. A. Clark, dem., 213; 
T. H. Carter, rep., 229. 

For Representatives—Chas. Bowers, dem., 
171; H. J. Haskell, rep., 247. 

For County Commissioners—A. W. Sny¬ 
der, dem., 206; George F. Grant, dem., 227; 
Henry E. Day, rep., 198; George McCone, 
rep., 223. 

For County Attorney—John Trumbull, 
dem., 171; Thomas C. Holmes, rep., 253. 

For Sheriff—Morris Cain, dem., 204; 
Joel Gleason, rep., 223. 

For Treasurer—Joseph C. Auld, rep., 399. 

For Clerk and Recorder—A. N. Savage, 
dem., 159; James McCormick, rep., 267. 




HISTORY OF DAWSON COUNTY. 


379 


For Assessor—D. Cavanaugh, dem., 289; 

M. M. Carson, rep., 137. 

For Probate Judge—Taylor John, dem., 
229; J. M. Ray, rep., 194. 

For Administrator—A. L. Smith, rep., 

425. 

For Coroner—F. C. Klein, dem., 224; 
Wm. Lowe, rep., 202. 

For Supt. of Schools—Alice Cavanaugh, 
dem., 271; Mrs. Nan. Little, rep., 156. 

For Surveyor—C. C. Staples, rep., 215; 

N. L. Miller, dem., 213. 

A special election was held May 14, 1889, 
for the purpose of electing delegates to the 
state constitutional convention, which resulted 
as follows: 

H. J. Haskell, rep., 212; Alfred Myers, 
rep., 141; O. F. Goddard, dem., 140; D. O. 
Cowan, dem., 122. 

After the organization of the state and the 
adoption of the constitution, it was necessary 
to hold another election for the election of 
county officers. Accordingly an election was 
held in Dawson county on October 1, 1889, 
which resulted as follows: 

For Congress—Thos. H. Carter, rep., 281; 
Martin Maginnis, dem., 242. 

For Governor—Thom. C. Powers, rep., 
289; J. K. Toole, dem., .256. 

For Constitution, 364. Against Constitu¬ 
tion, 25. 

For Senator—W. S. Becker, dem., 290; 
D. R. Mead, rep., 249. 

For Clerk of District Court—J. G. Ram¬ 
sey, dem., 316; Frank McIntyre, rep., 197. 

For County Attorney—Thomas C. 
Holmes, rep., 377. 

For County Commissioners—Angus 
Brown, rep., 235; Emmett Dunlap, dem.. 82; 
George F. Grant, dem., 257; Charles Krug, 
dem., 270; Edward Marron, rep., 224; George 
McCone, rep., 247; C. A. Thurston, dem., 230. 

For Clerk and Recorder—James McCor¬ 
mick, rep., 339; John W. Whaley, dem., 194. 


For Sheriff—Joel Gleason, rep., 342; Tay¬ 
lor John, dem., 195. 

For Treasurer—Joseph C. Auld, rep., 290; 
J. R. Widmyer, dem., 248. 

For Assessor—D. Cavanaugh, dem., 312; 
M. M. Carson, rep., 227. 

For Administrator—Chas. F. Little, rep., 
275; John Dejong, dem., 252. 

For Coroner—N. W. Comford, dem., 282; 
S. E. Grinall, rep., 235. 

For Supt. of Schools—Alice Cavanaugh, 
dem., 301; Gertrude G. Hooper, rep., 237. 

For Surveyor—H. L. Miller, rep., 300; 
B. F. Peer, dem., 227. 

Only the record of the vote for the con¬ 
gressman is available for the election held No¬ 
vember 4, 1890, which was as follows: 

For Congress—Thomas H. Carter, rep., 
161; A. L. Corbley, lab., 11; W. W. Dixon, 
dem., 139; W. F. Field, pro., 8. 

The result of the vote cast at the election 
of November 8, 1892, was as follows: 

Democratic electors, 268; Republican elect¬ 
ors, 343. 

For Governor—T. E. Collins, dem., 276; 
Wm. Kennedy, pp., 30; John E. Rickards, 
rep., 309; J. M. Waters, pro., 15. 

For Senator—Thos. P. Cullen, dem., 315; 
IT. Hodgson, rep., 302; E. W. Harvey, pp., 9. 

For Congress—W. W. Dixon, dem., 259; 
Caldwell Edwards, pp., 29; Charles S. Hart¬ 
man, rep., 328. 

For Location of State Capital—Anaconda, 
3; Boulder, 3; Bozeman, 222; Deer Lodge, 8; 
Butte, 7; Great Falls, 132; Helena, 267. 

For Clerk-of District Court—Chas. F. 
Bean, rep., 324; Hubert C. Clancy, dem., 297. 

For Sheriff—D. Cavanaugh, dem., 306; 
Joel Gleason, rep., 313; Henry C. Opie, pp., 
29. 

For Treasurer—James S. Almy, pp., 32; 
Alex. S. Gillespie, dem., 319; E. S. Johnson, 
rep., 271. 

For Assessor—M. H. Brown, dem., 333; 




380 


HISTORY OF DAWSON COUNTY. 


N. R. Brown, pp., 40; Neil Stewart, rep., 266. 

For Clerk and Recorder—James McCor¬ 
mick, rep., 372; Jesse E. Walter, dem., 252. 

For County Attorney—Thos. C.. Holmes, 
rep., 294; John J. Kerr, dem., 282. 

For Supt. of School^—Alice Cavanaugh, 
dem., 262; Eva Harpster, pp., 72; Alvira A. 
Truax, rep., 304. 

For Administrator—John B. Kelly, dem., 
259; Chas. Tilyou, rep., 334; Thos. C. Tyrrell, 
pp., 26. 

For Surveyor—A. M. Baird, rep., 475. 

For Coroner—M. J. Garrity, dem., 239;' 
J. H. Hunt, rep., 354; G. W. Stoddard, pp., 
2 9 « 

For County Commissioners—Harry 
Helms, dem., 346; Wm. Lindsay, rep., 308; 
Archibald Morton, rep., 298; George H. Mont- 
ford, rep., 41; O. D. Polley, dem., 282; B. F. 
Peer, dem., 219; Andrew Smith, dem., 312. 

Following is the result of the vote of the 
election held November 6, 1894: 

For Congress—H. S. Corbett, dem., 109; 
Chas. S. Hartman, rep., 270; Benjamin Mal¬ 
den, soc., 4; Robert B. Smith, pp., 100. 

For Location of State Capital—Anaconda, 
113 ; Helena, 389. 

For Sheriff—S. D. Bovee, rep., 246; D. 
Cavanaugh, dem., 252. 

For Clerk and Recorder—J. H. Lemley, 
dem., 190; James McCormick, rep., 302. 

For Treasurer—Henry Dion, rep., 245; 
Alex. S. Gillespie, dem., 242. 

For Assessor—M. H. Brown, dem., 181; 
J. M. Rhoades, rep., 316. 

For County Attorney—Thos. C. Holmes, 
rep., 293; E. B. Kennedy, dem., 192. 

Superintendent of Schools—Mrs. Mary 
Hagan, dem., 211; C. R. Scobey, rep., 271. 

For Administrator—T. W. Berry, dem., 
145; Wm. Lowe, rep., 328. 

For. Surveyor—L. N. Allen, dem., 153; 
E. Harpster, rep., 319. 

For Coroner—Thomas Lee, dem., 189; T. 
J. Pollard, rep., 289. 


At the general election held November 8, 
1896, the Republican candidates were gener¬ 
ally successful. The result was as follows: 

Republican Electors, 384; Democratic 
Electors, 175; Socialist Electors, 3. 

For Congress—Chas. S. Hartman, rep., 
112; O. F. Goddard, dem., 359. 

For Governor—Alex. C. Botkin, rep., 
347; Robert B. Smith, dem., 195. 

For Senator—Jos. C. Auld, rep., 327 ; 
Chas. A. Thurston, dem., 228. 

For Representative—Wm. Lindsay, rep., 
265; Charles Krug, dem., 253; Daniel Green- 
wait, pp., 34. 

For Clerk of District Court—Chas. F. 
Bean, rep., 296; John H. Lemley, dem., 261. 

For County Commissioners—Chas. R. No¬ 
ble, rep., 345; Alex. M. Baird, rep., 296; T. J. 
Pollard, rep., 306; Harry Helms, dem., 258; 
B. H. Peer, dem., 163; Andrew Smith,, dem., 
218; J. F. Butler, pp., 7; James Brooks, pp., 
21; James Tarbell, pp., 11. 

For County Attorney—Thos. C. Holmes, 
rep., 363; August H. Sawyer, dem. 191. 

For Clerk and Recorder—James McCor¬ 
mick, rep., 555. 

For Sheriff—C. R. Scobey, rep., 259; D. 
Canavaugh, dem., 307; Thomas Kean, pp., 10. 

For Treasurer—James W. McKenzie, rep., 
305; Alex. S. Gillespie, dem., 226; J. S. Almy, 
pp., 30. 

For Assessor—E. J. Lemoyne, rep., 335; 
Ira M. Ailing, dem., 214; Jerry Cain, pp., 8. 

For Administrator—Wm. Lowe, rep., 365 ; 
Wm. Peoples, dem., 160. 

For Coroner—S. J. Washington, rep., 298; 
G. E. Osterwind, dem., 234. 

For Superintendent of Schools—Mary 
Dilts, rep., 190; Mrs. Marie Eisenhart, dem., 
63; Nora Johnson, pp., 316. 

For Surveyor—Richard R. Cummins, rep., 
487. 

The result of the election held November 
8, 1898, v/as as follows: 

For Congress—Thos. S. Hogan, pp., 34; 




HISTORY OF DAWSON COUNTY. 


38i 


A. J. Campbell, dem., 169; Thos. C. Marshall, 
rep., 299. 

For Senator—Thomas Cullen, dem., 318; 
Henry J. Haskell, rep., 197. 

For Representative—Alex. S. Gillespie, 
dem., 224; Wm. Lindsay, rep,, 284. 

For Sheriff—D. Cavanaugh, dem., 292; 
Joseph C. Hurst, rep., 229. 

For Treasurer—James W. McKenzie, rep , 

497 - 

For Clerk and Recorder—James McCor¬ 
mick, rep., 302; H. R. Schwanke, dem., 207. 
Mr. McCormick died July 11, 1900, and R. L. 
Wyman was appointed July 16, 1900, to fill 
the unexpired term. 

For County Attorney—Thomas C. 

Holmes, rep., 487. 

For Assessor—M. H. Brown, dem., 299; 
C. C. Staples, rep., 212. 

For Superintendent of Schools—Estella 
Bovee, dem., 256; Nora Johnson, rep., 261. 

For Surveyor—R. R. Cummins, rep., 275; 
Wm. Graham, dem., 223. 

For Administrator—Wm. Lowe, rep, 
476. 

For Coroner—Wm. F. Jordan, dem., 226; 
S. J. Washington, rep., 271. 

At the general election held November 4, 
1900, the Republican candidates were success¬ 
ful with one exception, that of the office of 
the state senator. The following is the result 
of the vote: 

Republican Electors, 518; Democratic 
electors, 236; Socialist electors, 2; Labor elec¬ 
tors, 5. 

For Congress—Samuel G. Murray, rep., 
493; C. F. Kelly, ind. dem., 2; Caldwell Ed¬ 
wards, dem:, 248; Martin J. Elliot, soc., 3. 

For Governor—David E. Folsom, rep., 
480; Thos. S. Hogan, ind. dem., o; Joseph K. 
Toole, dem., 268; Julius Fox, soc., 4. 

For Senator—Wm. Lindsay,; rep., 380; 
Thos. P. Cullen, dem., 404. 

For Representative—George McCone, rep., 
436; C. A. Thurston, dem., 327. 


For County Commissioners—J. A. Mor¬ 
ton, rep., 442; W. C. Gleason, rep., 468; A. M. 
Baird, rep., 414; Harry Helms, dem., 376; 
John B. Kelly, dem.j 363; Chas. Stierle, dem, 
270. 

For Sheriff—John Kennedy, rep., 404; 
George B. Williams, dem., 383. 

For Treasurer—Hope Davis, rep., 405; 
D. H. Driscoll, dem., 359. 

For Clerk and Recorder—R. L. Wyman, 
re P-> 4595 H. R. Schwanke, dem., 293. 

For Clerk of District Court—Jens 
Rivenes, rep., 425; Gilbert N. Burdick, dem., 
34 i- 

For County Attorney—Thomas C. 
Holmes, rep., 450; C. C. Hurley, dem., 313. 

For Superintendent of Schools—Grace 
Skinner, rep., 758. 

For Assessor—A. H. Johnson, rep., 405; 
M. H. Brown, dem., 365. 

For Surveyor—R. R. Cummins, rep., 466; 
Wm. Graham, dem., 285. 

For Administrator—Wm. Lowe, rep., 488; 
J. H. Lemley, dem., 268. 

For Coroner—S. J. Washington, rep., 
478; John Butler, dem., 266. 

The following is the result of the election 
held November 6, 1902: 

For Congress—Joseph M. Dixon, rep., 
415; John M. Evans, dem., 160; George B. 
Sproule, ind. dem., 9; Martin Dee, soc., 13. 

For Representative—George McCone, rep., 
442; G. N. Burdick, dem., 201. 

For Sheriff—John Kennedy, rep., 280; 
George B. Williams, dem., 390. 

For Treasurer—Hope Davis, rep., 419; 
Albert Johnson, dem., 223. 

For Clerk and Recorder—R. L. Wyman, 
rep., 398; Fred Goulding, dem., 260. 

For County Attorney—Thos. C. Holmes, 
rep., 308; C. C. Hurley, dem., 340. 

For Superintendent of Schools—Grace 
A. Skinner, rep., 523. 

For Assessor—A. H. Johnson, rep., 430; 
M. H. Brown, dem., 230. 





382 


HISTORY OF DAWSON COUNTY. 


For Surveyor—R. R. Cummins, rep., 501. 

For Administrator—H. A. Sample, rep., 
408; John Butler, dem., 206. 

For Coroner—W. B. Foster, rep.. 413; D. 
J. Donahue, dem., 216. 

At the general election held November 8, 
1904, the Republican ticket was again suc¬ 
cessful in nearly all cases, but the Democrats 
succeeded in electing five officials. Following 
is the result: 

Republican electors, 743; Democratic elec¬ 
tors, 183. 

For Congress—A. G. Gormley, dem., 244; 
Joseph M. Dixon, rep., 767; John H. Walsh, 
soc., 22. 

For Governor—Joseph K. Toole, dem, 
378; Wm. Lindsay, rep., 663; M. G. O’Malley, 
soc., 17. 

For Senator—George McCone, rep., 741; 
Tullie Cato, dem., 294. 

For Representative—F. P. Lieper, rep., 
705; Robert Dorg, dem., 339. 

For Sheriff—J. A. Culwell, rep., 442; 
George B. Williams, dem., 635. 


For Treasurer—John Sorenson, rep., 506; 
Fred J. Goulding, dem., 557. 

For Assessor—A. H. Johnson, rep., 592: 
Chet Murphy, dem., 463. 

For Clerk and Recorder—R. L. Wyman, 
rep., 693; C. L. Rood, dem., 347. 

For County Attorney—Jens Rivenes, rep., 
460; C. C. Hurley, dem., 600. 

For Clerk District Court—H. A. Sample, 
rep., 725; L. N. Allen, dem., 318. 

For Superintendent of Schools—Grace A. 
Skinner, rep., 529; Estella Bovee, dem., 530. 

For Administrator—Frank Sparger, rep., 
575; B. F. Dawson, dem., 420. Mr. Sparger 
committed suicide in April, 1905, and E. L. 
Herrick was appointed. 

For Surveyor—E. S. Baer, dem., 609. 

For Coroner—A. E. Aiken, rep., 581; D. 
J. Donahue, dem., 413. 

The citizens of Dawson county have al¬ 
ways exercised exceptionally good judgment 
in the selection of the men to fill the various 
county offices of their county and the political 
record of this county is clean. 


CHAPTER IV 


DESCRIPTIVE. 


Prior to the advent of the Northern Pa¬ 
cific railroad in 1881, Dawson county, and in 
fact, most of extreme eastern Montana, was a 
wilderness, remote from the farthest outposts 
of civilization and inaccessible save only by 
dangerous Indian trail and primitive and ex¬ 
pensive river navigation. But with the inva¬ 
sion of the iron horse the savage aspect of the 
land was subdued and the footprints of indus¬ 
try reached out into the rock rimmed valleys 
in every direction. The supremacy of the 
wolf and coyote in the buffalo’s once lordly do¬ 


main was superseded by the importation of 
cattle, horses and sheep that now roam upon 
a “thousand hills.” The great ranches of the 
princes of the plains extended their dominion 
over the primeval soil, and hamlets sprung up 
where hitherto solitude had reigned. 

This transfusion of life and industry was 
chiefly facilitated by the first settlement of 
Glendive. It was the nucleus around which 
the rich and growing commonwealth of the 
county extended itself in the establishment 
of homes and the foundation of wealth. As 








HISTORY OF DAWSON COUNTY. 


383 


soon as population and wealth permitted, 
boundaries were laid and the county organi- 
gation was perfected. Public highways were 
constructed and improvements and develop¬ 
ment pursued. When the historic days of the 
stage coach, with its panoply of war, were 
ended, and the steel highway brought this 
region into union with the more populous dis¬ 
tricts of the east and west, the growth of the 
town and county was accelerated, and new ter¬ 
ritory continued to be opened up. Progress 
and prosperity came with the onward march of 
immigration and the concofnitant increase in 
commercial affairs, and so extensive has busi¬ 
ness become that today the arteries of trade are 
opened throughout a region with a radius of 
more than 100 miles. 

The topography of the county was recog¬ 
nized as being especially adapted for stock 
raising purposes. The vast ranges with their 
rich, succulent grasses and numerous valleys, 
rock bound and sheltered from storm, were 
susceptible of sustaining thousands of head of 
cattle; and here, too, was the sheepman’s para¬ 
dise. Water was plentiful in the numerous 
creeks and streams throughout the entire 
region, and the majestic Yellowstone river 
with its immense volume of water traversing 
the southeastern part of the county, made ir¬ 
rigation projects possible for the aid of the 
farmer in his agricultural pursuits. 

The main industry of the county since its 
formation has continued to be stock raising 
and it .is one of the most extensive in the state. 
An idea of the capital invested in this business 
may be had from the assessed valuation as 
given in 1906 which was as follows: Horses, 
i 3-787» valued at $526,556; cattle, 57,679, val¬ 
ued at $1,079,027; sheep, 396,791, valued at 
$ I > I 7 I » 379 - These figures do not include 
hogs, the valuation of which will not reach $2, 
000, this, however, is a growing industry and 
many of the farmers are going into this busi¬ 
ness more extensively each year. 


The lower Yellowstone valley is undoubt¬ 
edly one of the richest valleys in the state 
and its possibilities under agriculture are un¬ 
limited. This valley starts about fifteen miles 
below Glendive and continues to the North Da¬ 
kota state line. It has an average width of 
from four to six miles and is about sixty miles 
m length. Its topography differs from that of 
most river valleys, in that it has a gentle slope, 
sufficient for good drainage, from the foot 
hills to the river, while the descent the other 
way conforms throughout its entire length to 
the fall of the river. It has a rich alluvial 
soil varying in depth from ten inches to two 
feet, with a clay subsoil underlaid with gravel. 
The annual rainfall has always been sufficient 
to insure good crops and a total failure has 
never been known in this section. 

The climate is unexcelled for purity and 
health. Malaria is an unknown disease. So 
dry and clear is the atmosphere in winter that 
a temperature of forty degrees below is less 
noticeable in its effects than one twenty degrees 
below would be in countries that have a damp 
atmosphere. Very cold weather, however, sel¬ 
dom lasts for more than a day at a time. 
The water both from the springs and wells is 
excellent and a well of poor water is a rare 
exception. 

As an agricultural district the valley is. 
as yet, practically undeveloped, but enough 
settlers have been engaged in the past twenty 
years in crop raising for profit, to demonstrate 
that it is no longer a theory, but a well estab¬ 
lished fact, that the valley returns a more 
bountiful yield, in proportion to the cost of 
production, than many of the agricultural belt 
states. Hay, grains of all kinds, vegetables 
and fruits yield prolifically in this district. 

With the completion of the government ir¬ 
rigation ditch and the reclamation of the semi- 
arid land in the valley, thousands of settlers 
will find homes here, and in a few short years 
the Yellowstone valley will be known through- 







384 


HISTORY OF DAWSON COUNTY. 


out the land as the most prosperous agricul¬ 
tural section in the state. 

The paramount industry of the valley, how¬ 
ever, is the growing of stock, which dwarfs 
all others in comparison. The rich, nutritious 
grasses of this section renders the Yellowstone 
valley the very paradise of stock growers. The 
bunch grass starts early in the spring, grows 
rapidly, and after maturing, possesses the 
peculiar quality of curing on the stump with¬ 
out losing its flavor or fattening qualities, 
making the very best of winter pasturage and 
cattle are often found on the range in the se¬ 
verest weather, in prime condition. The val¬ 
ley range is unusually well watered through¬ 
out its entire length by clear running perennial 
streams of pure water flowing out from the 
foothills at intervals of from four to eight 
miles, crossing the valley and emptying into the 
Y ellowstone. 

Dairying and poultry raising as side in¬ 
dustries have received considerable attention 
and are sources of considerable revenue to the 
settlers. 

Beaver creek valley is another of the rich 
valleys of Dawson county and has more nat¬ 
ural advantages than any other section of the 
county. This valley in Dawson county ex¬ 
tends about thirty miles. The soil is 
remarkably rich, and is of much value for 
agricultural and horticultural pursuits. Gar¬ 
den truck and fruits thrive well and there is 
no section of the state where diversified farm¬ 
ing can be carried on with as great success and 
with less cost than in this favored spot. 

The country to the north and west of 
Glendive is essentially a prairie country, 
though more rolling and broken than most 
of the prairie countries in the state. To the 
south and east are the “Bad Lands” which are 
famous as feeding grounds for stock. 

That part of Montana and Dakota known 
as the “Bad LandC’ which begins some fifty 
miles east of Glendive, and extends north and 


south a distance of 120 miles, forms one of 
the interesting regions of the United States. 
It is a mighty labyrinth of nature. Hills of 
every conceivable form and hue, cones, wedges 
and giant cubes, deep valleys, wild gulches, 
colossal fortifications of nature, patches of 
trees on scoriae land, agatized stumps, hay 
meadows and streams, petrifactions, crimson, 
white and yellow mounds, mighty gorges and 
smiling dells, with rocks abounding every¬ 
where, resembling sphynxes, pyramids, obe¬ 
lisks, temple ruins and cathedral spires, are 
the features prominent from every point of 
view. The “Bad Lands” are becoming of 
more interest each year and there is an inde¬ 
scribable charm in the surroundings that is 
fascinating in the extreme. This is also a 
paradise for the sportsman as all kinds of 
wild game are to be found in this section. 

In the matter of fuel Dawson county is 
exceptionally well favored, at least half the 
county being underlaid with excellent seams 
of lignite coal. Coal has been found as far east 
and south as Wilbaux and Glendive creek; as 
far north and east as Culbertson; as far north 
and west as the Big Dry creek and as far 
south and west as Sanford. Many of the de¬ 
posits are free from bone and are of good 
thickness. The best producing area at present 
is near Glendive. The mine being due east 
of the city and is owned and operated by the 
Electric Light Co. Many tons are taken from 
this bank annually as the lignite is used to a 
great extent by the people of Glendive. From 
Glendive to Wibaux are some good outcrop¬ 
pings on either side of the railroad. The best 
mines, near Wibaux, are about eleven miles 
southeast of the town on Glendive creek, 
where one outcrop is nearly twenty feet thick. 
Heavy deposits occur near Sidney on the Yel¬ 
lowstone river about 15 miles west of the Da¬ 
kota line, and numerous outcroppings are 
found along the streams that empty into the 
Yellowstone from the south. The following 






HISTORY OF DAWSON COUNTY. 


385 


is an analysis of the Dawson county lignite: 
Moisture, 14.925; Vol. Comb, matter 39.400; 
Fixed Carbon, 42.200 and ash, 1.475. 

Dawson county is destined to become one 
of the richest counties in the state of Montana. 
With the completion of the irrigating ditches, 
the settlement of its semi-arid lands by agri¬ 
culturists, the building of a railroad down the 


valley of the Yellowstone to Fort Buford and 
the contemplated change in course of the 
Northern Pacific, will give this section an im¬ 
petus that will not be stayed until its many re¬ 
sources are fully developed, and Dawson 
county will have become one of the foremost 
counties in the state. 

25 



























. 























































I 











JOSE PM T. BROWN 






























































BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 


CAPTAIN JOSEPH TALIAFERRO 
BROWN. After the traveler has been jostled 
over one hundred miles of stage road up the 
Tongue river valley from Miles City, he ar¬ 
rives at Birney in the pink of condition to 
keenly enjoy the frank and hearty welcome 
and entertainment so characteristic of the 
Montana stockman’s home. Entering the por¬ 
tals of Captain Brown’s stone residence, he is 
more than charmed by the air of southern re¬ 
finement and culture apparent everywhere, 
which is more conspicuously pleasant as the 
welcome is pronounced as only a southerner 
transplanted to Montana can speak it. 

Since the days of the sixties Captain 
Brown has been a leading figure in this por¬ 
tion of the state and he is numbered with the 
most successful and influential men of Mon¬ 
tana, and quite in keeping with the purpose of 
our volume we are privileged to take up to > 
some extent the thread of his life’s work and 
present salient points for the reading and re¬ 
flection of those who would exemplify those 
sterling traits which win genuine success. 

Copiah county, Mississippi, owns the Cap¬ 
tain as her son and January 26, 1849, marks 
the date of his birth. Captain H. G. D. Brown, 
the father of our subject, was born in Union 
district, South Carolina, on February 29, 
1824, and while still an infant went with his 
parents thence to Mississippi. The mother of 
this infant, Elizabeth (Rice) Brown, was the 
daughter of a wealthy and aristocratic family 
of South Carolina and her marriage to Mr. 


Brown was opposed by her people, owing to 
the lack of finances possessed by Mr. Brown. 
Therefore, being a woman of pluck and great 
capabilities, she persuaded her husband to leave 
the old state of their birth, South Carolina, 
and make their way out into the wilderness 
of the Mississippi country. Discouragement 
and trial awaited them, but as a pilot star, 
her determination never failed and she was 
often the power that persuaded her husband 
to stick to the new plantation, bravely saying 
that she would not under any consideration 
return to her people. After years of this try¬ 
ing work, they lived to see their three sons 
highly honored and become leading men of the 
country. Their sons were Edwin R., who 
became one of the wealthiest men in the 
state of Mississippi; Albert G., who be¬ 
came governor of Mississippi and later 
1 United States senator; and H. G. D., who was 
the infant when they went to their new home 
in the west. Of this latter one we will now 
speak more particularly. He was kept on the 
plantation until sixteen years of age when he 
was placed to acquire a military training. As 
the naval academy was not then established at 
Annapolis, he was placed on the man of war 
which was to be the training ground of the ca¬ 
dets. Upon the establishment of the academy, 
after he had been on the man of war for two 
years, he was ordered home from a foreign 
port and immediately matriculated as a mem¬ 
ber of the first class of that now world famous 
institution, the United States Naval Academy, 





388 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


founded in 1845 through the efforts of George 
Bancroft, Secretary of War. In May, 1846, 
when war was declared with Mexico, Mr. 
Brown left the academy to join the naval force 
sent for the reduction of Vera Cruz. He per¬ 
sonally took part in the bombardment of castle 
San Juan de Ulua, the fortress guarding the 
port and city of Vera Cruz. After serving 
with distinction until the close of the war he 
returned to the academy and graduated in due 
time with honors. During his naval career, 
he married, and soon after his graduation he 
resigned his position and returned to the plan¬ 
tation. He remained thus engaged until the 
breaking out of the Civil War when he organ¬ 
ized a troop of artillery known as “Brown’s 
Battery.” This battery was captured at Fort 
Hudson and after the war, Mr. Brown re¬ 
turned to the plantation, where he remained 
until his death in 1877. He was a man with 
a splendid record and was accounted a mili¬ 
tary man of skill and bravery. He had mar¬ 
ried Mary P. Taliaferro, a native of Virginia. 
Her paternal ancestors, of Norman extraction, 
came from England in 1640 and settled in 
Virginia, and the family was always well rep¬ 
resented in all American and Indian wars, and 
one member, William B. Talieferro, was gen¬ 
eral under Stonewall Jackson in the Civil War. 
Another member of the family is now United 
States senator from Florida. 

Reverting more particularly to the career 
of Captain Brown of Birney, we note that he 
was reared on the Mississippi plantation and 
later graduated from the Kentucky Military 
Institute. Although his parents were wealthy, 
they were nearly ruined financially by the rav¬ 
ages of the Civil War. When Joseph T. was 
a lad of fourteen years, he entreated his mother 
to allow him to go to war, but she refused and 
was not to be persuaded from her decision. 
His father was in the conflict, and so young 
Brown felt it his duty to take up arms and ac¬ 
cordingly ran away from home and joined the 
Confederate army under General Forest. He 


was not regularly enrolled as a soldier but was 
in the battle that occurred soon after he 
joined the regiment. After this battle he de¬ 
termined to return home, but feared the. treat¬ 
ment he might receive at the hands of his par¬ 
ents, whom he had dishonored in his disobedi¬ 
ence. The Colonel of the regiment, a south¬ 
ern gentleman, Mr. Roberts, seeing the plight 
of the lad, wrote the following letter: 

“Dear Mr. and Mrs. Brown:—This will 
be handed to you by the young hero, Jos. T. 
Brown. You must not scold him as he has 
more than acted well his part. Joe borrowed 
a gun and went into the fight and fought 
through like a tiger, receiving a bullet in his 
pantaloons. He is the admiration of all. God 
bless and preserve him. Yotjrs truly, 

“Colonel Roberts. 

“July 5th, 1864.”. 

The following February, Joseph T. again 
made his way to the army and joined it. He 
remained until the close of the war and then 
went to the Kentucky Military Institute and 
finished his course, graduating in 1870. Soon 
after that he started for Texas, and having 
little money he accepted a position as surveyor 
on the Texas & Pacific Railroad, having per¬ 
fected himself in civil engineering in his course 
at school. He was fcarefu'l of his money and 
invested in cheap' land in Texas. Later he 
went to Virginia and graduated from the de¬ 
partment of law in the University of Virginia, 
receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Re¬ 
turning to Texas to look after his land he was 
offered the position of attorney for the same 
railroad he had surveyed for and accepted the 
position. Later he was general claim agent # 
and retained this position till the road went 
into the hands of a receiver. Soon thereafter 
he went to Indian Territory, purchased a band 
of cattle and came overland to Montana, set¬ 
tling on the place where we now find him. 
From that time to the present Captain Brown 
has been one of the energetic and leading men 
of this portion of the state, has prospered won- 





BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


389 


derfully in the stock business, has lands, cat¬ 
tle and other property so that he is about the 
heaviest taxpayer in his county. He was pres¬ 
ident of the Montana Stockgrowers Associa¬ 
tion four terms, was elected on the Demo¬ 
cratic ticket a member of the state legislature 
in 1897 and has always taken a deep and active 
interest in the advancement and upbuilding of 
the state. 

In early days the Cheyenne Indians were 
killing settlers and destroying property and so 
Captain Brown organized the Company C of 
the First Montana Infantry to protect the set¬ 
tlers against the Indians. At the breaking out 
of the war with Spain, this company became 
Troop I of the Third Regular United States 
Volunteer Calvary and went to Chickamauga, 
and our subject was captain of the troop when 
it was mustered out of service at the close of 
the war. 

In 1883 Captain Brown married Miss 
Mary G. Humphreys, who was born at Fort 
Gibson, Mississippi. She was educated in 
Whitworth College. Her father, Daniel B. 
Humphreys, a native of Mississippi and a 
wealthy planter there, was lieutenant in the 
Confederate army. His paternal ancestors 
came from Wales to the colonies in early days. 
His grandfather, Ralph Humphreys, was a 
colonel in the Revolution and the grandson of 
that patriot, Benjamin G. Humphreys, was a 
general in the Confederate army under Gen¬ 
eral Lee. Mrs. Brown’s mother, Katherine 
Watson Shelby Jeffers, in maiden life, was 
born in Mississippi a direct descendant of 
Evan Shelby, of Revolutionary fame. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Captain Brown three 
children have been born, namely. Albert G., 
a student at the University of Virginia; Joseph 
T., with his parents on the ranch; Natalie, a 
bright and charming young lady who has in, 
her own right a nice band of stock and takes 
a great interest in stock raising and ranching, 
generally. 

Captain Brown is a large land owner as 


well as one of the leading stockmen of the 
state, and his home place is improved in a be¬ 
coming manner and he and his wife are known 
far and near as most hospitable, kind and capa¬ 
ble people. In political matters the Captain 
is a stanch Democrat and has always been a 
man with the courage of his convictions. Poli¬ 
tics never appeals to him from the wire pulling 
side, but, as a most fascinating science, he has 
always delved into it and its kindred, political 
economy, that he might be well informed upon 
the grave issues of the day, and so has kept 
himself fully abreast'of the advancing times. 


WILLIAM B. STONE resides three miles 
east from Miles City and there owns a good 
farm. He gives his time to general farming 
and is one of the substantial men of the county. 
His experience in various portions of the west 
would be very interesting reading had we the 
time and the space to detail the same. But it 
would take a volume and we shall be forced 
to content ourselves with an epitome of his 
career, and in detailing this we take great 
pleasure. Mr. Stone is of the typical fron¬ 
tiersmen, although he did not come west as 
soon as some, still he has a wide experience in 
the ways of the pathfinder and hunter and his 
travels have taken him all through the plain 
country. 

Beginning with his advent to life, which 
occurred in Clay county, Missouri, April 16, 
1857, we note that he was reared on a farm 
and educated in the public schools of his 
county. Jacob A. Stone, his father, was born 
in the vicinity of Lexington, Kentucky, and 
came to Clay county in 1844, being one of the 
first settlers in that vicinity. He married Mi¬ 
nerva Harbaugh, born near his own birth 
place, and they remained in Clay county until 
the death of the father, J. A. Stone. The 
mother still lives, aged seventy-nine. When 
our subject had reached budding young man- 









390 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


hood, he took a trip overland to Texas, and 
liking - the journey, he soon was on another, 
Whether for pleasure or for business we are 
not told, but these two journeys served to 
give him a taste of plain life and camping, 
and especially, as he had caught the spirit of 
hunting on these journeys and had some ac¬ 
tual experience in slaying that king of the 
plains, the buffalo, he decided to try his hand 
in a larger way. So, in 1879, accompanied by 
his brothers, John and Charles, and a neigh¬ 
bor’s son, James Story, they set out overland 
for Miles City. Their outfitting point was 
Kansas City, Missouri, and as soon as they 
reached the plains they began hunting. For 
six years in eastern Dakota and western Mon¬ 
tana they continued this work and many and 
many a herd has fallen before their rifles. In 
the meantime. Mr. Stone had taken a home¬ 
stead about five miles east from Miles City and 
that was the point of rest when they were be¬ 
tween hunts. Like all other hunters, Mr. 
Stone has had many and thrilling experiences, 
but always found a way to get out of the diffi¬ 
culty. Although the Indians wefe hostile 
much of the time, still he had no great diffi¬ 
culty with them, still on several occasions he 
had to repel them with the rifle. White horse 
thieves, or to be more explicit, white colored 
men, who followed horse stealing, were more 
troublesome to the hunters than were the In¬ 
dians. After remaining here for about spven 
years, Mr. Stone went back to his home in 
Missouri and in 1892 returned to this county 
and purchased the ranch where he now resides. 
Just before coming out the last time, however, 
Mr. Stone, in the spring of 1892, with his 
young wife, having been married in 1891, took 
another trip overland to Texas. Having pur¬ 
chased his present ranch, he set to work to fur¬ 
ther improve the same and make it a good and 
valuable place, as it is at this day. Mrs. Stone, 
in maiden life, was Miss Ada Thomas, and at 
time of her marriage to Mr. Stone was the 


widow of John Galvin, and her parents, John 
and Sarah (Eaton) Thomas, were natives of 
Kentucky and came in early days to Clay 
county, where this daughter was bom. In 
Clay county Mrs. Stone was reared and edu¬ 
cated and her trip to Texas when she joined 
her husband was her first long journey. Mr. 
and Mrs. Stone has a large family and the 
children are named as follows: John Galvin, 
by her first marriage; Lewis, Jesse, Clara, 
Robert, Charlie, Oscar, Minerva, and an infant 
daughter yet unnamed. 

Mr. Stone has always evinced a becoming 
interest in political and educational matters and 
is a progressive man and one of the real build¬ 
ers of the county, as he is always laboring for 
advancement and improvement. He has won 
and retains the respect and esteem of all who 
know him and his standing in the community 
is of the best. 

I 


HANS JONAS HALVORSEN, a prom¬ 
inent young attorney of Glendive, was bom at 
Sole, Norway, January 1, 1873. His father, 
Jonas Halvorsen, was born in the same place 
August 7, 1844, and after receiving his edu¬ 
cation followed farming there. In 1881 he 
came to the United States and located in Yel¬ 
low Medicine county, Minnesota, and a year 
later came to Glendive. For two years he did 
carpenter work and then moved to his ranch 
five miles out from Glendive, starting in the 
sheep business, which he has since followed. 
In October, 1871, he married Lisabet Kalberg, 
who was born at Sole, Norway, April 17, 
1841. They are both living at the ranch home 
in this county. Five children were bom to 
Mr. and Mrs. Halvorsen, three boys and two 
girls. One son died when young. The other 
children besides our subject are Mrs. Carrie 
Barnett, near Indianapolis; John, at Baker, 
Washington, and Josephine, living at Glen- 







39 1 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


dive, Montana. Mr. and Mrs. Halvorsen have 
always been adherents of the Lutheran church 
and he is a Republican in politics. 

Our subject was first educated in the pub¬ 
lic schools at Glendive and in 1892 went to the 
Concordia Academy at Moorhead, a church 
school, whence he graduated in 1894. Then 
he attended the Northern Indiana Normal 
school at Valparaiso, Indiana, completing the 
scientific course in two years. After this he 
came home and for two years following, to 
1896, he was busied on the ranch. Then Mr. 
Halvorsen returned to Valparaiso and took up 
the study of law in the same institution, grad¬ 
uating in the class of 1900. Immediately 
thereafter, he returned to Glendive and opened 
an office and since that time he has given his 
attention to the practice of his profession. Also 
he is interested in stock, sheep and horses, but 
his time is given to the law. From the start 
he secured a good practice and has now a large 
clientage. He has served in the office of city 
clerk and city attorney since the incorporation 
of the town in 1892. 

Politically, Mr. Halvorsen is a good strong 
Republican, while in religious persuasion he 
is allied with the Lutheran church. He is 
known as a keen and forceful lawyer and pos¬ 
sessed of legal lore which enables him to grasp 
the various cases of his practice in a masterful 
way. He has won many friends and has a 
brilliant future. Mr. Halvorsen has never em¬ 
barked upon the matrimonial sea, but enjoys 
the quiet pleasures of the jolly bachelor. 


ANTHONY H. ARNESON has the dis¬ 
tinction of having won from Montana as fine 
a success in a financial way as one could ask 
for. Being a man of sound judgment, energy 
and intelligence, he has brought to bear and 
marshalled his powers in a successful manner, 
and the result is that he has won out himself 
every point along the way. His residence is 


only seven miles northwest of Big Timber, 
being in the Swamp Creek valley, and his home 
has been here practically all of the. time that 
he has been in Montana. Fillmore county, 
Minnesota, is his native place and the date of 
his birth is September 24, 1861. His father, 
Hans A., was bom on September 22, 1810, 
in Norway and came to Wisconsin in 1851, via 
canal and boat from New York city to Beloit 
and then to Minnesota in 1854, where his 
death occurred in 1887. The mother was 
Haagine Johnson in maiden life. She was 
born in May, 1818, and died in 1892. It is 
of interest.to note that when our subject’s par¬ 
ents came across the ocean, the voyage took 
seven weeks and the emigrants were all obliged 
to furnish their own provisions. This entailed 
great hardship and in those early days of the 
fifties, when Mr. Arneson landed in the wilds 
of Wisconsin and later on the bleak prairies 
of Minnesota, it required no small courage to 
overcome these obstacles, especially as the 
settlers of those days had to face savage and 
murderous Indians. Nevertheless, he built a 
home, raised a large family and died a re¬ 
spected and well-to-do citizen. Our subject 
was the youngest of twelve children, ten of 
whom lived to be over twenty and eight of 
whom are still living. He has one brother, 
Edward, who resides at Rockford, Washing¬ 
ton, and his oldest brother is a veteran of the 
Civil War. In an old school house in Minne¬ 
sota, Anthony H. received his education, sav¬ 
ing three months spent in a boarding school 
in Iowa. He farmed with his father until 
twenty-eight years of age and the three 
months spent in the school in Iowa being the 
only time that he was absent from the old 
homestead. When Mr. Arneson finally de¬ 
cided to leave home, he began looking over 
the state of Minnesota and spent ten months 
in the western portion of it. Then he decided 
to come to Montana and directly we find him 
in Big Timber, .where he spent two weeks in 
assisting to build the foundation for the 








392 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


Grand Hotel. He carried the hod during these 
two weeks and remarks now that that was all 
the time he wished to spend at that business. 
Then he came to his present place, which was 
owned by his brother, Edward, and T. T. 
Olson. He purchased Mr. Olson’s interest in 
the section of land and five hundred sheep and 
also took a homestead. This was his start in 
Montana and he was in debt for a portion of 
the purchase price. After that, followed years 
of hard labor, self-denial, and much hardship, 
but he and his brother labored steadily along 
and in due time the reward came. He now 
owns a very large tract of land, thousands of 
sheep and one hundred, and thirty head of cat¬ 
tle, besides much other property. In 1900, 
his brother and he constructed the only pri¬ 
vate reservoir in the country, which is a lake 
covering about fifteen acres, and it being of 
much value to the estate. In the spring of 
1895, Mr. Arneson went to Rockford, Wash¬ 
ington and purchased one fourth section of 
wheat land. In 1906, he traded this for his 
brother’s interest and returned here to reside 
permanently. Mr. Arneson has made his prop¬ 
erty a beautiful place, as he has improved it 
with a fine residence, barns, corralls, outbuild¬ 
ings and everything needed on a first-class 
stock and general farming ranch. His excel¬ 
lent taste and judgment are manifested in all 
of his labors and he has one of the choicest 
places in Sweet Grass county, while he him¬ 
self stands one of the representative men of 
the great and progressive state of Montana. 

In June, 1902, Mr. Arneson married Olena 
Birkeland, a native of Norway. She came to 
the United States alone, leaving her people in 
Norway, and took up the battle of life on her 
own account. Since then, her parents have 
died. Our subject and his wife have four 
children, Hattie J., Elmer M., Joseph A., and 
Gladys A. 

Mr. Arneson is an intelligent Republican 
and manifests a keen interest in everything of 
county, state and national affairs and is always 


ready to aid every enterprise for the upbuild¬ 
ing of the country. 

He and his family are members of the Lu¬ 
theran church and are highly respected people. 


JACOB T. SANFORD, born in English- 
town, Monmouth county, New Jersey, Septem¬ 
ber 14, 1842, resides now on a ranch—a fine 
one—three and one-half miles west of Laurel, 
Yellowstone county. His father, Daniel I. 
Sanford, a native of Connecticut, removed 
from that state to New Jersey. He was a 
farmer, of Scotch descent, and came to New 
England in the colonial days. The mother, 
Mary Ann (Tilton) Sanford, was a native 
of New Jersey. Her ancestors were English. 

In the public schools of New Jersey our 
subject was educated. At the age of thirteen 
he left home and bound himself to a jeweler 
for five years. In 1861 he enlisted in Com¬ 
pany G, Third New Jersey Infantry, for three 
months. Having served three months he was 
mustered out and re-enlisted in Company B, 
Twenty-eight New Jersey Infantry. He was 
in the Army of the Potomac, and participated 
in the battle of Fredericksburg, where he was 
wounded. He was also in the battle of Chan- 
cellorsville, and again received a wound, on ac¬ 
count of which disability he was discharged. 
He then returned to New Jersey and opened 
a jewelry store at New Egypt, remaining there 
until his wound so disabled him that he was 
compelled to relinquish his business. He then 
removed to Philmont, New York, in 1876, 
going into business with his brother-in-law, 
George W. Phillip, in the manufacture of 
hosiery. Mr. Phillip died, the business 
changed hands and our subject accepted a po¬ 
sition as superintendent of a hosiery mill 'at 
Baldwinsville, New York. There he remained 
until his health failed, and in 1885 he came 
to his present location and purchased the prop¬ 
erty where he now resides. Since then he has 








BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


393 


improved his ranch, converting it into a fine 
property. 

In 1864 he was united in marriage to Cor¬ 
nelia T. Cowperthwait, born in Egypt, New 
Jersey, where she grew to womanhood and 
was married, coming west with her husband. 
Her father was of Welsh descent, named 
James. Her mother, Cynthia (Richman) 
Cowperthwait, were in America many years, 
and the Indian chief, Black Hawk, was one of 
her ancestors. Mr. and Mrs. Sanford have 
four children: Arthur H., Fred I., James M. 
and Lilian C. 

Mr. Sanford is a member of the Royal 
Arch Masons, of Billings. He was a charter 
member and president of the Yellowstone 
Fair Association. He is a stanch Republican 
and although never being a candidate for of¬ 
fice he takes an active part in the various cam¬ 
paigns. He was a delegate to the first state 
convention ever held at Billings, and has at¬ 
tended other conventions since. His beautiful 
home is known as Mountain View Ranch, and 
he has converted it from a barren waste. 


ARTHUR R. SICKLER, proprietor and 
operator of the American Hotel of Forsyth, is 
known far and near as one of the enterprising 
and accommodating- hosts of the state. He 
was born in Wyoming county. Pennsylvania, 
October 14, 1868, the son of Miles A. and 
Elizabeth (Sherwood) Sickler. natives of 
Pennsylvania. The mother died in June, 1906. 
in her eightieth year. She had been a con¬ 
sistent member of the Methodist church during 
her life. The father is still living in his native 
state, aged eighty-eight. Our subject is the 
youngest of six children and received his edu¬ 
cation in the common schools and at Keystone 
Academy at Factoryville, Pennsylvania. When 
nineteen he came west to Wyoming and took 
a position on a horse ranch where he remained 
three years. Then two years were spent on a 


cattle ranch after which he followed the east¬ 
ern circuit with a string of horses. Returning 
to Wyoming he soon made his way to Butte 
and later came on to Forsyth, landing here in 
1897. Various occupations kept him busy, 
among which was one year at the ice business 
in Sheridan, Wyoming. In 1903 he returned 
to Forsyth and purchased the American 
House, the principal hotel of the city and since 
that time he has given his entire attention to 
the management of this hostelry, making it one 
of the choicest stopping places in the state. 
Mr. Sickler has excellent adaptability and is 
one of the most successful hotel men in the 
country. In addition to the hotel he conducts 
the railroad lunch counter and has an interest 
in a meat market. Mr. Sickler is a stock¬ 
holder and director in the H. H. Fletcher 
Company, a large mercantile establishment in 
Forsyth. 

The marriage of Mr. Sickler and Miss 
Mattie O. Rosengrene occurred February 24, 
1900. Mrs. Sickler was born at Marine Mills, 
Minnesota, in 1875, her father, Nelson Rosen¬ 
grene, being a farmer there. 

Politically Mr. Sickler is a Jeffersonian 
Democrat and active in his party. In May, 
1905, he was chosen mayor of Forsyth, being 
the second incumbent of that office. He is a 
progressive and successful man, a leading citi¬ 
zen of the county and has always labored for 
the, advancement of the country, thoroughly 
believing in the resources and the excellencies 
of this portion of the state. 


GEORGE W. WAKEFIELD has cer¬ 
tainly had a most active, energetic and event¬ 
ful career in the various sections of what has 
been known as the “west.” His life for half a 
century has been an incessant scene of activity 
and adventure and his experiences* would be 
well worth recording a volume for that pur¬ 
pose could he but recall the incidents that have 









394 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


marked his pathway, as much historic lore 
would thus be brought to light in the form of 
personal reminiscence and would have the ac¬ 
curacy of an eye witness. We are pleased to 
have the data that Mr. Wakefield has given 
for the sketch that follows and we can but 
realize the dominant energy that must have 
controlled him in his incessant labors. 

George W. Wakefield was born in Bangor, 
Maine, October 15, 1833, being the son of 
Benjamin and Betsey A. Wakefield. The 
mother died when George was a lad of ten 
years. The father was born on the Kenne¬ 
bec, Maine, followed farming in his native 
state till 1855, when he came to St. Anthony, 
Minnesota, which is now a part of Minneapo¬ 
lis. Our subject was educated in his native 
state and when eleven went to work as a bell 
boy in a hotel. Later he took up teaming and 
finally learned the blacksmith trade. When his 
father came west, he was ready and when 
twenty-two he landed in St. Anthony. He 
took charge of the teamsters of a lumber camp 
and in the spring of 1857 started a road house 
on the Mississippi road eighteen miles out of 
the city. One year later he went down the 
Red River of the North with a dog train as far 
as Fort Gary and returned in January, 1859. 
That spring he left Minnesota for Colorado 
and crossed the plains to where Denver now 
stands, reaching there on July 3. He was soon 
mining in Colorado gulch and the following 
year with his partner, David St. Clair, he went 
with the stampede to Mexico but found noth¬ 
ing. Returning we soon find him in Califor¬ 
nia and then in Carson City, arriving at the lat¬ 
ter place just as the spring floods were wiping 
out everything. After the flood, he went to 
Lena, Nevada, and leaving his partner there 
he made his way to the Fraser region in Brit¬ 
ish Columbia. He soon came from those 
fields and was in Portland in 1862. As soon 
as he could replete his treasury, he struck out 
for the Oro Fino fields in Idaho, and in the 
fall of 1863, he made his way across the moun¬ 


tains to the Alder gulch. In the fall of 1864 
Mr. Wakefield crossed the plains back to Min¬ 
neapolis, and in the spring came back to Mon¬ 
tana and again took up the pick and the shovel 
and worked in the Blackfoot region, wintering 
in Sheridan. The following spring found Mr. 
Wakefield in the dairy business and inside of 
six months he cleaned up three thousand dol¬ 
lars. Being attacked with a serious fit of gold 
fever about this time he sold out and while en- 
route to the mines bought a ranch. This was 
on the Stinking Water and he remained on 
this property for two years. He did well and 
one season sold his entire crop for five cents 
per pound. Finally he sold the ranch and 
went into the hotel business at Point of Rocks. 
In the fall of 1872 he removed to Bozeman 
and engaged in the hotel business, handling 
also a livery barn. In 1883, in company with 
Senator Hoffman, Mr. Wakefield started the 
first transportation coach into the park region. 
In 1892 he sold out to the present Transporta¬ 
tion Company doing business in the park. In 
September, 1895, Mr. Wakefield removed to 
Livingston and operated the Albermarle hotel 
and also had charge of a portable camp outfit 
in the park. In addition to these enterprises 
he had a ranch in the adjacent sections to Liv¬ 
ingston. Since this time Mr. Wakefield has 
resided in Livingston where he makes his 
home at the present time. 

December 1, 1854, Mr. Wakefield married 
Miss Margaret Britton, the daughter of Robert 
Britton. Mrs. Wakefield is a native of New 
Brunswick. One child has been born to this 
union, Libbie, now the wife of Dr. S. F. Way. 
Mr. Wakefield is a Republican and a member 
of.the Elks. 


HARRY DUFFIELD, the earliest settler 
in the Joliet country, is today one of the lead¬ 
ing citizens as well as one of the best known 
men in the valley. His place in the history of 










BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


395 


this county is evident to all and it is a pleas¬ 
ant task to outline the leading features of his 
busy and successful career. His birth oc¬ 
curred in Wellington county, Ontario, March 
it) 1854, and he comes from a strong and old 
family reaching far back into the early cen¬ 
turies. His father, Emanuel Duffield, was 
born in Yorkshire, England, and came, when 
twelve years old, with his parents to Welling¬ 
ton county, Ontario. They settled on a farm 
and Emanuel grew up amid the frontier sur¬ 
roundings and cleared up a farm from the tim¬ 
ber, in the cultivation of which he remained 
all his days, his death occurring January 2, 
1893, his age being seventy-one. He was an 
honored and highly esteemed man, possessing 
in a high degree those qualities of worth and 
substantiality that make the bone and sinew 
of any well regulated community. Our sub¬ 
ject’s paternal grandfather was bom in York¬ 
shire, England, and the family had for years 
been on the estate of the elder Lord Ferbisher. 
Emanuel Duffield married Sarah Benham, a 
native of London, England, and an immigrant 
to Ontario with her parents when a young girl. 
Her father, James Benham, settled in Welling¬ 
ton county, and she was called to the world 
beyond in 1862 when our subject was a young 
lad. 

It is said by many who have made the 
subject matter of careful study, that the public 
schools of Ontario are the best in the Eng¬ 
lish speaking world. Be that as it may, we 
are well aware that they are most excellent and 
in these our subject received his educational 
training, remaining in the home place until he 
had reached his majority. Then he deter¬ 
mined to try the world for himself and soon 
had decided to migrate to Nebraska. For one 
year he worked there for wages and then went 
with the wave that was sweeping toward the 
Black Hills. Lead City was his objective 
point and with that place as headquarters he 
spent three years in prospecting, after which 
he was engaged in the Homestake and other 


large mines in the northern hills. It was 1882 
j when he bade farewell to the Black Hills and 
came on west seeking an opening for business. 

: Billings attracted him and for a time he was 
J occupied in building and contracting in com- 
J pany with his brother, William, who had come 
j to Montana a few months previous. In 1886 
I Mr. Duffield went to the vicinity of Cook City, 
I where he got out logs, driving them down 
Clarkes Fork to the mouth where he erected 
a sawmill and put the logs into timbers for the 
construction oif the Rocky Fork and Cook 
City Railroad. For some time he operated 
the sawmill in this vicinity and then he became 
one of twenty-four who paid the,Indian, Long 
Bear, and his family, $2,000.00 to relinquish 
their claim to two townships so that Mr. Duf¬ 
field and the other purchasers could obtain 
homesteads on this land. He filed on his horne- 
I stead in October, 1894. Since that time Mr. 
Duffield has purchased two other homesteads 
and part of a third. He has given his atten¬ 
tion to handling the ranch, raising stock and 
improving his property. He owned a portion 
of the land where Joliet is now built and also 
owns the land surrounding that place. His is 
a valuable estate, well improved and wisely 
handled. 

Mr. Duffield has brothers and sisters 
named as follows: William, who died on 
June 16, 1898, at Joliet; James, in Canada; 
John and Emanuel, in Michigan; Alfred G., at 
Joliet, Montana; David, in Canada; Lucy, wife 
of Bert Kingsbury; and Hannah T. Duffield. 

On July 1, 1888, Mr. Duffield married Miss 
Mary E. Hobbs. Mrs. Duffield was born near 
Mindoro, Wisconsin, April 2, 1858. She was 
reared in LaCrosse county, Wisconsin, and 
finished her education at Black River Falls 
high school. She was occupied in teaching in 
LaCrosse County and in July, 1884, she came 
to Montana where she continued teaching. Her 
father, John Hobbs, was born in Devonshire, 
England, and came to Albany, New York, 
when a child, with his father. They soon 












396 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


journeyed to Ohio and thence they went to 
Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin. When twenty 
years of age he went to Lewis Valley, La- 
Crosse county and was one of the five first set¬ 
tlers in that locality. For four years he served 
his country in the Civil War, being in Com¬ 
pany B, Second Wisconsin Cavalry. On May 
30, 1896, he arrived in Montana and his death 
occurred at the home of his daughter, Mrs. 
H. Duffield, July 3, 1897. He had married 
Mary Newcomb, who was born in Tioga coun¬ 
ty, Pennsylvania. She came with her parents 
to Wisconsin when a young girl, and in that 
state her wedding was celebrated. Her death 
occurred May 19, 1903. Mrs. Duffield’s broth¬ 
ers and sisters are named as follows: John 
George, Cyrus E., Bishop H., Albert M., 
Rachel L., wife of William Barclay, Clara A., 
wife of Jame Barclay, Elva I., wife of A. G. 
Duffield, Martha E., wife of W. Potter, of Red 
Lodge, Sarah T., wife of H. H. Roberts, 
Louella G., wife of E. L. Grewell. 

The children bom to Mr. and Mrs. Duf¬ 
field are William A., born May 30, 1889; 
Elva L., born July 11, 1892; Ethel A., born 
February 15 1895; and Elizabeth Mary, born 
July 28, 1899. 

It is interesting to note in this connection 
that Mrs. Duffield’s paternal grandfather, 
Archelaus Hobbs, was born in Devonshire, 
England, and married Mary Jollow, also a na¬ 
tive of Devonshire. This venerable gentle¬ 
man’s father, the great-grandfather of Mrs. 
Duffield, was a landlord in England. Mr. 
Duffield was commissioner of Carbon county 
for four years and he is always keenly inter¬ 
ested in the upbuilding and advancement of 
the community and labors for those ends. 


WILLIAM NEWTON HAYNES came 
to Virginia City in 1879, traveling by 
rail, via the Utah and Northern, now 


the O. R. & N., as far as that road 
was constructed, and then by freighting 
outfit from Valley City to Virginia 
City. In the spring, 1880, he rode the stage 
from Virginia City to Miles City, paying six¬ 
teen cents per mile, and arrived here with a 
tired body and found a wilderness of sage 
brush in every direction. He looked the 
country over and finally decided to lo¬ 
cate and selected a pre-emption which forms 
part of his now valuable estate, located some 
two miles east from Miles City. He went 
to work to erect a cabin for his family which 
he sent for as soon as he located, and then 
began the laborious operation of clearing up 
the sage brush to begin cropping the land. He 
soon bought more railroad land and has added 
from time to time until he has a fine large 
ranch, one of the excellent ones of Custer 
county. Mr. Haynes has made the transform¬ 
ation scene from the sage brush to the fertile 
and well kept fields and his improvements are 
fully in keeping with the farm which gives 
him a fine home place. 

Referring to the earlier life of Mr. Haynes 
we find that he was bom in Johnson county, 
Iowa, March 2,, 1847. His father, Philo 
Haynes, was born in New London county, 
Connecticut, where he grew up. Then he 
came to Iowa, having spent some time in Ohio, 
where he married Miss Electa Chapman, a na¬ 
tive of Warren county, that state, and who 
accompanied her husband on to the prairies 
of Iowa. Our subject was reared on a farm 
and received his education in the country 
schools and then, when grown to manhood, en¬ 
gaged in farming for himself. It was 1879, 
as we have mentioned,when he determined to 
try the west and so pulled up stakes and made 
his journey for Montana. He has never re¬ 
gretted, although.he has had some hard work 
in getting the place subdued and to producing, 
but now he is one of the wealthy men of the 
county and has great love for Montana. As 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


397 


we stated before Mr. Haynes sent for his fam¬ 
ily in the spring of 1880, and they have labored 
together for the time since. In those days the 
Indians were hostile and gave the settlers lots 
of trouble. Mr. Haynes, however, never had 
much trouble with them and he always con¬ 
tinued steadily at work on his farm despite the 
fact that they were threatening and did many 
depredations. In the fall of 1880 Rain-in-The- 
Eace was captured and his bands then became 
more calm. That same fall a band of hostile 
Sioux Indians was captured and held in 
camp on the Tongue till the . follow¬ 
ing spring, when they were transported 
by boat to the Standing Rock agency. 
Then the settlers had peace and since 
then there has been little trouble of any kind 
with the savages. 

In 1868 Mr. Haynes married Miss Belle 
White, who was born in Crawford county, 
Ohio, and came with her parents to Iowa in 
1851. The wedding occurred in Iowa and to 
them have been born the following named 
children: Philo, Nellie, wife of Henry Buck 
of Ravalli county, this state; Charles, a Metho¬ 
dist minister; Berton, and Glen. The last 
named is deceased. The last two named were 
born in Montana but the others are all natives 
of Iowa. Mrs. Haynes’ parents are William 
and Sarah (Quaintance) White, natives of 
Pennsylvania and Ohio respectively. Philo 
Haynes is a minister of the gospel and is now 
stationed at Fort Benton. Mr. Haynes as¬ 
sisted to erect the first school house in Miles 
City and has had much to do with every one 
built since then. For thirteen years he gave 
of his time to serve on the school board and 
this shows his keen interest in educational 
matters and the fact that he has been chosen 
county commissioner shows the confidence the 
people have in him as well as in his ability. 
Mr. Haynes is a man of sound principles, has 
displayed excellent judgment and the success 
he has won in all lines speaks volumes for his 
ability and substantiality. 


THOMPSON A. KEMMIS has spent 
over twenty years in the Yellowstone valley 
and is thus entitled to be classed with the pio¬ 
neers of this part of the great state of Mon¬ 
tana. He was born on September 29, 1829, at 
Salem, New York, the son of Samuel D. Kem- 
mis, who was also born in New York state 
March 22, 1802. After being educated in the 
common schools, the father learned the trade 
of hatter and in 1836 went to Michigan. The 
next year he removed to Illinois, Henry 
county, and there farmed until his death in 
1857. On October 2, 1828, in New York, 
Mr. Kemmis had married Miss Mary Rood, 
who was born May 20, 1799, in the Empire 
State. She died in Indiana in 1837. Two 
children besides our subject were born to this 
union, Mrs. Lydia Robinson, now deceased, 
and W. H. Kemmis, living in Illinois. From 
the schools of New York state and Illinois, T. 
A. received a good business education and in 
x 853 threaded the weary trail across the plains 
to Oregon City, where he dwelt one year; then 
he journeyed on down the Rogue river and 
spent one year, after which we find him in 
Yreka mining and there he remained until 
June, 1856, when he returned to Illinois and 
farmed for two years. In 1858, Mr. Kemmis 
went to Iowa with ox teams and broke prairie 
land for one year; then he journeyed on to Ne¬ 
braska and farmed for a decade. During the 
Civil War he had enlisted in the Union army 
and served two and one-half years on the fron¬ 
tier posts. In 1868 he left his Nebraska 
farm and went back to Iowa and there 
tilled the soil until 1884, in which 

year he came to Sidney and settled 
one and one-half miles southwest of town, 
where he now resides. During the interven¬ 
ing time since that settlement, he has given his 
attention to general farming and stock raising, 
although recently he has sold most of his stock. 
He has two hundred and seventy-eight acres 
of very fine land and all improvements neces¬ 
sary to make it a first-class ranch. 











39^ 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


On May io, 1869, Mr. Kemmis married 
Jane E. Betty, who was born at Bakersfield, 
Vermont, on July 27, 1848. When four years 
of age she came with her parents to Iowa and 
there received her education. In early life she 
was converted and has always lived a devout 
Christian life. The children born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Kemmis are Walter D., a farmer near 
Sidney, Montana; William, died in infancy; 
John F., a farmer near Sidney, Montana; 
Thompson A., a farmer at Newlon, Montana; 
Ora J., a merchant at Sidney, Montana; Will¬ 
iam C., a farmer at Sidney, Montana, and 
Phoebe A., living at Sidney. Mrs. Kemmis’ 
father, John F. Betty, born at Johnson, Ver¬ 
mont, July 4, 1821, educated in the common 
schools of his native state, always followed 
farming. In 1852 he came to Iowa and pur¬ 
chased a farm. At the breaking out of the 
Civil War he enlisted and served three years 
for his country. In 1891 he broke up the old 
home in Iowa and came to Sidney, Montana, 
where he died April 17, 1904. On August 2, 
1845,he married Phoebe Whittemore, who was 
born in Eden, Vermont, June 13, 1819. She 
was a very religious and devout woman and a 
stanch supporter of the Methodist church. To 
this couple six children were born, four boys 
and two girls, and all are now dead save Mrs. 
Kemmis and Mrs. Annette Meadows, who is 
mentioned in another portion of this work. 

Mr. Kemmis was formerly a Whig and is 
now a Republican. With his wife he is a mem¬ 
ber of the Methodist church and is looked up 
to as one of the leading men of the community. 


ABRAHAM M. GROSFIELD resides 
twelve miles northwest of Big Timber on 
Swamp creek. Like many of the thrifty and 
well-to-do citizens of the United States, he was 
born in Norway, Stavenger being the spot and 
December 27, 1864, the date. His parents were i 


Matthias and Karan Marie Grosfield, both of 
whom were natives of Norway, and there re¬ 
mained until their death, the father being aged 
sixty-nine at that time. They were the par¬ 
ents of eight children, three of whom are in the 
United States, our subject, a brother, T. M., 
residing in this county, and a sister in Chicago. 
Mr. Grosfield was reared and educated in his 
native land and there spent the first nineteen 
years of his life. Then he came 
to the United States, journeying direct 
to Halstead, Minnesota, where he re¬ 

mained six years, working for wages al¬ 
most all of the time. At the end of 
that period, he- came to Montana, selecting 
Big Timber as the objective point. After one 
summer’s work, he returned to Norway and 
spent eighteen months mid the scenes of his 
childhood. During this time he married Miss 
Eline Hegdahl, the daughter of a neighboring 
farmer. The year was 1892. Mrs. Grosfield’s 
father is dead and her widowed mother still 
lives in Norway. At the expiration of his visit 
of eighteen months, Mr. Grosfield with his 
young wife embarked for the United States, 
again coming direct to Big Timber. He took 
a bunch of sheep jon shares and rented a ranch 
and handled them for two years. During this 
time the increase of sheep was sufficient so 
that he had a small band of his own to work 
with and since that time he has been constantly 
employed in the sheep business, having nine 
thousand of these profitable animals, besides 
three hundred and fifty cattle and thirty 
horses. In 1895, Mr. Grosfield bought out a 
! settler and located the place where he now re- 
I sides. He has ten thousand acres of land, one 
! thousand of which is very fine bottom land and 
produces first-class crops. He has improved 
the place with a two-story nine-room residence, 
plenty of barns, outbuildings and so forth and 
handles about three hundred acres to crops. 

Mr. and Mrs. Grosfield are the parents of 
five children, Edwin, Magnus, Marie, Arthur 
and Arne. 











biographical sketches. 


In politics he is a Republican, but not es¬ 
pecially active, although he takes a keen inter¬ 
est in everything for the upbuilding of the 
country. 


FRANCIS J. JELLISON, born in Maine 
February 22, 1849, is a prosperous Yellow¬ 
stone county farmer, residing four miles south¬ 
west of Billings. His father, Nathaniel, was 
born in Trenton, Maine, and his ancestors 
came from England. He died in 1905 at Phil- 
brook, Montana, aged seventy-eight. The 
mother, Elizabeth (Jordan) Jellison, also a 
native of the Pine Tree state, was descended 
from an old New England family, her father 
being one of the early settlers and founders of 
Otis, Hancock county, Maine, moving there 
from Ellsworth. 

Our subject was reared and educated in 
Otis, and following his school days worked 
in a sawmill. It was in 1882 that he came to 
Montana, first going to Fort Benton, and 
thence to the Musselshell, where during the 
summer he worked in a sawmill, apd at the car¬ 
penter trade in the winter. In 1887 he brought 
his family out from Maine and secured a 
homestead, upon which he attempted to raise 
some cattle. But the sheepmen drove him out, 
and he came to the Yellowstone valley, with 
which country he was much pleased. He then 
purchased the place upon which he now resides, 
one hundred and twenty acres of irrigated land 
devoted to diversified crops. 

September 1, 1870, our subject married 
Ellen S. Jordan, a native of Otis, Maine, her 
father, Isaiah, having been born in the same 
town. Her mother, Abigail (Remick) Jor¬ 
dan, a native of Otis, was descended from one 
of the oldest and most prominent Maine fam¬ 
ilies. She died in 1900. Our subject has three 
children: Augustus, Andrew and Lenora, 
wife of Eugene Carpenter. She is living with 
our subject. The latter has two brothers, I 


399 


Timothy J. and Edwin J., both residing near 
subject. He has one sister, Monira, wife of 
Richard R. Jellison, no relative of subject. 
Mr. Jellison, our subject, is a member of the 
Odd Fellows, and politically a Republican. 


JOHN E. EDWARDS has certainly 
earned the distinction of a man “who does 
things,” as will be readily seen from the brief 
epitome of his life’s career that follows, and 
fortunate it is for the business interests of 
Forsyth that he has been identified with them, 
since it is the progressiVeness and energy of 
such men who make cities and create the com¬ 
merce of this prosperous state. He was born 
in Warsaw, Illinois, in 1866. Oliver Edwards, 
his father, a native of Springfield, Massachu¬ 
setts, was a descendant of the family from 
which sprang the noted Jonathan Edwards. 
He was a skilled machinist and was called to 
England to assume charge of the Gardiner 
Gun Company at London, which manufac¬ 
tured a naval weapon. This was in 1879 and 
he spent two years 'in this capacity. Prior to 
this time he had, for ten years, been manager 
of the Florence Machine Works, in Florence, 
Massachusetts. He was widely known in ma¬ 
chine circles as a man of great genius and abil¬ 
ity and was the inventor of the Florence oil 
stove. He retired from active pursuits in 1882 
and died at Warsaw, Illinois, at the age of 
sixty-nine. In 1861 he had enlisted in the Re¬ 
bellion and shortly afterward organized the 
Thirty-seventh Massachusetts Regular In¬ 
fantry at Springfield and was elected 
colonel. He was with Sheridan in the 
Shenandoah, during the entire war and at .its 
close, when discharged, he carried the rank of 
brevet major general. Oliver Edwards was 
a stanch Republican, was marly years 
mayor of Warsaw, always evinced a keen in¬ 
terest in the upbuilding of the country and 
fraternally was a Mason and a member of the 













400 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


G. A. R., being commander of the Warsaw 
post. Mr. Edwards had married Miss Annie 
E. Johnston, a native of Warsaw, Illinois 
where she now lives aged sixty-five. She has 
been a life long member of the Presbyterian 
church. Our subject and one sister, Julia, at 
home with her mother, are the issue of the 
marriage. 

John E. was educated in the schools of 
Warsaw and Quincy and in 1883 went west to 
Colorado, riding the range in that state and in 
Texas. In 1889 he journeyed to Fergus coun¬ 
ty, this state, and remained there eight years, 
being superintendent of a stock ranch. Em¬ 
barking in the mercantile business at Junction, 
Yellowstone county, in 1897, he continued one 
vear. Then he was appointed Indian agent of 
the Crows in this state and before his term 
of four years was up he was appointed Indian 
inspector. He resigned from the service in 
1902 and settled in Forsyth, where he has 
been engaged in banking, being one of the or¬ 
ganizers of the Forsyth State Bank and its 
first president. In 1905, he organized the 
Bank of Commerce with a Capital stock of 
fifty thousand, officers as follows: Mr. Ed¬ 
wards, president; Chas. M. Bair, vice-presi¬ 
dent; E. A. Richardson, cashier; and P. J. 
Bunker, assistant cashier. Mr. Edwards built 
the electric light plant of Forsyth in 1905, or¬ 
ganized the Forsyth Telephone Company in 
1904 and is now its president; is interested 
with E. A. Richardson in the Richardson Mer¬ 
cantile Company at Forsyth and in other stores 
at other places; is president of the Rosebud 
Land & Improvement Company, headquarters 
at Forsyth, which company has constructed a 
ditch for irrigation, twenty-five miles long in 
Rosebud county; and is heavily interested in 
grading contracts on the railroad construction. 
All this extensive and various business Mr. 
Edwards is carrying forward with a display 
of execution and wisdom that is insuring the 
best of success and it is his pleasure to build 
up the country and forward its interest by 


lively business enterprises and active creative 
labor. 

In 1892 Mr. Edwards married Miss Julia 
Anderson, a native of Montana and the daugh¬ 
ter of Reece Anderson, a pioneer freighter 
and cattle raiser of this state. Two children 
have been born to the marriage, Annie anci 
Eunice. Mr. Edwards is Republican and fra¬ 
ternally belongs to the Elks and Eagles. 


HON. GEORGE WARREN BREW¬ 
STER is a member of the old American fam- 
illy founded in the New World in 1620 by 
Elder William Brewster, who was one of the 
founders of famous old Plymouth Colony, hav¬ 
ing come across the ocean in the Mayflower. 
Our subject is in the seventh generation from 
this noted founder, both of the Brewster family 
and the cherished name of Plymouth, in Amer¬ 
ica. The career of William Brewster is a part 
of the history of the United States and the 
family has always been prominent in affairs 
of state and church. At present our subject 
is residing three miles south from Birney, in 
Rosebud county, and devotes his attention to 
raising stock and farming. He has achieved a 
splendid success in this line of endeavor and 
has, also, made a good record for himself in 
matters of state. At the last election for leg¬ 
islators, Mr. Brewster’s name was proposed 
and his nomination on the Republican ticket 
straightway followed, as did his election at the 
polls. He made a good run, although he did 
not personally press the canvass. He has 
shown himself an able exponent for his con¬ 
stituents and displayed that faithfulness to 
principle that wins hearty approval. 

Referring to the earlier portion of Mr. 
Brewster’s life, we find that in old Boston, 
Massachusetts, his birth occurred, the date be¬ 
ing December 18, 1856. The father, Nathan 
C. Brewster, was bom in Duxbury, Massachu¬ 
setts and when grown to manhood removed 












HON. GEORGE W. BREWSTER 





BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


401 


to Boston, where he engaged in business. He 
married Mary Beaton, a native of Cape Bre¬ 
ton, who came with her parents to Massachu¬ 
setts. Our subject grew up and was educated 
in Boston, graduating from Partridge Acad¬ 
emy. In 1875, he decided to try the west and 
chose Nevada as the objective point, taking up 
mining at Virginia City. In the fall of 1880, 
he came to Butte and in the spring, two years 
later, he sought out his present location and 
settled down to farming and stockraising. Pre¬ 
vious, however, to taking up these occupa¬ 
tions altogether, Mr. Brewster gave his atten¬ 
tion to hunting. At first he began with horses 
in the stock business, but later added cattle 
and he is now one of the leading stockmen in 
the county. In addition to his stock, Mr. 
Brewster possesses one of the choicest ranches 
on Tongue river, all irrigated and well im¬ 
proved. 

In 1896, Mr. Brewster married Miss Grace 
Sanborn. She was born in Greeley, Colorado, 
and there was reared and educated. §he grad¬ 
uated from the state normal school and re¬ 
ceived a very liberal training. Her, father, 
John Sanborn, a native of Connecticut, was 
one of those who formed the Union colony 
under the direction of Meeker in Kansas’ dark 
days. He died in 1876. His widow, Jerusha 
(Davis) Sanborn, is a sister of General George 
W. Davis, who was for eighteen months mili¬ 
tary governor of Porto Rico, and was until 
recently Inspector General in the Philippines. 
He retired, being up to age limit and then was 
appointed a member of the canal commission. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Brewster three children 
have been born, George Warren, Lyman San¬ 
born and Burton Bradley. 

Mr. Brewster has always shown himself a 
worthy citizen, ever ready to assist in any pub¬ 
lic endeavor, broad minded and a close student 
of events and issues as they transpire in the 
political and economic world. He is a stanch 
Republican and is well posted on the questions 
and issues at the present time, ready, always, 

26 


to show forth a good reason for his positions 
and capable of defending them ably. 


CHARLES J. POTTER has resided in 
Montana for more than twenty years and is 
entitled to a place among the pioneers: and 
those who have made the state what it is at 
the present time. He was born in Lasalle 
county, Illinois, July 16, 1859, being the son of 
Platt H. and Elizabeth (Beaubien) Potter. 
The father was born in Onondago county, 
New York, August 16, 1832, and followed 
farming. His father, Hart Potter, was also a 
native of New York state. The well known 
Bishop Potter is a second cousin to our sub¬ 
ject’s father. Mrs. Potter, the mother of 
Charles J., was born in Chicago, February 8, 
1842, and his father, Mark Beaubien, was a 
Canadian by birth. He came to Chicago in 
1834, took a quarter section of land, built the 
first hotel and the first brick building in that 
now famous city. His farm is now covered 
by the city and his name figured prominently 
in the annals of the city. 

Charles J. finished his education in Mon¬ 
mouth College, Illinois, and first started for 
himself when twenty-two, being retained as an 
expert by the Deering selfbinder company. 
After four years in this capacity, Mr. Potter 
determined to try the west and in 1883 we find 
him in Montana with his brother in the stock 
business on the Shields river. There a creek 
and a well known basin have received their 
names from him and his brother. He took a 
homestead there and the nearest neighbors were 
twenty miles distant. For some time Mr. Pot¬ 
ter followed the sheep and cattle business there 
and still owns his property there and is inter¬ 
ested in the stock business. 

The marriage of Mr. Potter and Miss Har¬ 
riet E. Rose occurred on January 5, 1887, and 
two children have been born them, Lilian E., 
born June 27, 1889, and Glencam C., born 











402 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


April 13, 1891. Mrs. Potter’s parents, John 
G. and Abigal S. (Gorton) Rose, was born at 
Block Island, Rhode Island, July 28, 1813, and 
New York state, respectively. The father fol¬ 
lowed sailing in early days, then came to Illi¬ 
nois and settled on a farm where he remained 
till his death when he was eighty-four years 
of age. Mrs. Potter was born in De Kalb 
county, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Potter are con¬ 
sistent member of the Episcopalian church 
and are esteemed citizens. He is a staunch 
Republican and also belongs to the W. O. W. 
and Grand Fraternity Lodges. 


CLAUD E. HUDSON, at the present time 
cashier of the Bank of Joliet, has shown re¬ 
markable ability in handling finances in that 
he has achieved a most gratifying success in 
this connection as will be manifest from the rec¬ 
ord of his life. A man of keen foresight, excel¬ 
lent judgment, receiving and retaining the im¬ 
plicit confidence of his associates, because of 
his reliability and his wisdom, he has been en¬ 
abled to so handle the resources in his hands 
and to take advantage of opportunities until he 
has placed himself from the clerk’s counter to 
the head of a sound financial institution, the 
creation of his own hands, and which is rapidly 
widening and gathering strength. 

Claud E. Hudson was born in Mexico, 
Indiana, on July 6, 1878, the son of D. L. and 
Emma (Hartpence)'Hudson, natives of Penn¬ 
sylvania and Mexico, Indiana, respectively. 
The father was a druggist by profession and 
came from his native state to Indiana in early 
days, located at Argos. Later he removed to 
Mexico and there he resided, continuing in 
business until his death which occurred when 
our subject was but two years of age. Thus 
early Claud was brought face to face with the 
stern realities of life with his widowed 
mother. He gained his early training from 
the public schools and while very young went 


to Nebraska where he continued his studies, 
graduating from the high school in due time. 
After that he entered the college of Orleans 
and completed the commercial course. All this 
was accomplished before he was nineteen years 
of age and it gives us some idea of his dili¬ 
gence in study. In 1897, Mr. Hudson came 
on west, searching for an opening, and finally 
decided to locate at Joliet. He secured em¬ 
ployment as a clerk in a store and continued 
steadily at that until 1904, when he entered the 
bank at Bridger, continuing for one year. Then 
he returned to Joliet and opened the Bank of 
Joliet, capitalizing it at ten thousand dollars. 
His deposits now run seventy-five thousand 
and the business of the institution, under the 
wise management of Mr. Hudson, is rapidly 
increasing. He has shown himself keen but 
conservative, manifesting qualities that are of 
rare worth in financial matters and so has 
gained the confidence of the entire community 
and he is one of the most substantial of the 
business men of Joliet. 

In 1899 Mr. Hudson brought his mother 
from Nebraska to dwell with him. 

In political matters Mr. Hudson is always 
keenly interested, but he is not partisan, always 
laboring for those wise measures which are for 
the lasting benefit of all and the advancement 
and improvement of the country in general. 


JONAS P. STOLE. Sweet Grass County 
has many well to do stockmen, a large portion 
of whom have made their present holdings 
since settling here. Among this number is Mr. 
Stole and a short story of how he has won his 
success can but add to the praise of Montana 
and become an encouragement to all who 
would seek to gain a like success. His estate lies 
fifteen miles north of Big Timber, on Swamp 
Creek, and is well improved and valuable. On 
January 5, 1868, in Norway, Jonas P. Stole 
was born to Peter and Anne Bertine Osmurds- 











BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


403 


datter (Mysse) Stole, who now reside in their 


native country; age about sixty-five. Jonas 
P. is one of eleven children, all of whom are 
living, several being residents of Sweet Grass 
County, and was educated in his native land. 
He was reared on a farm and remained with 
his father until 1886, in which year he became 
possessed of a strong desire to see the New 
World. Accordingly, he came to this country 
located first in Minnesota, where eighteen 
months were spent in Norman County. It was 
1888, when he arrived in Big Timber and soon 
thereafter he went to Melville, where he did 
ranch Work, herded sheep and did carpentering, 
having learned this latter trade in Norway. For 
several years he worked for wages and during 
this time he madea couple of trips to Minnesota 
staying there two years on one occasion. In 
1894 he came from Minnesota to Montana and 
selected the nucleus of his present estate, tak¬ 
ing the same as a homestead. It was a raw 
piece of land and Mr. Stole was practically 
without capital and for several years he had a 
very hard time; but he was a man whose spirit 
knew no such word as fail and the result was 
that little by little he forged ahead until he 
was enabled to go into stock raising and then 
things came easier. Now he has a very large 
estate which is most beautifully situated on 
running water and having for a background 
the snow capped mountains. He handles about 
two thousand sheep besides cattle and horses 
and is doing general forming. The same skill 
and determined efforts that enabled Mr. Stole 
to begin the work of opening the farm and 
sticking to it, notwithstanding adversities and 
obstacles came thick and fast, are the powers 
that led him step by step in his work of accum¬ 
ulating a fortune and building a beautiful 
Montana home. 

In 1892, Mr. Stole married Miss Eglund, 
a native of Norway, whose parents now are 
farmers in Minnesota. To them the following 
children have been born, Agnes, Palmas, 
Selmas, George and Joseph Gustav. 


Mr. Stole is a Republican in politics, while 
he and his family are members of the Lutheran 
church. 


JOHN C. STAFFER. The subject of 
this article was born in Bohemia, May 16, 
1858, and at present resides at Billings, Mon¬ 
tana, where he is a prosperous cigar manufac¬ 
turer. His parents were Frank and Barbara 
Staffek, natives of Bohemia and now living in 
Billings. 

To New York our subject’ came with his 
parents in 1867, and in that city he learned the 
cigar-maker’s trade. He resided there ten 
years, and then went to Cincinnati, Ohio re¬ 
maining eight years, thence to Billings, Mon¬ 
tana, m 1885. He came here an entire stranger, 
principally for the benefit of his health, which 
load become somewhat impaired. He opened a 
cigar store on Montana avenue, and turried out 
the first cigar ever manufactured in eastern 
Montana. From the start his trade was an 
excellent one. In 1887 he moved on the south 
side of Minnesota avenue. He employs eight 
people and his trade extends all over the east¬ 
ern portion of the state. 

December 28, 1876, our subject was mar¬ 
ried to Christina Nelson, a native of Germany. 
The ceremony was solemnized at Springfield, 
Massachusetts. Her father and mother were’ 
both Germans. Politically Mr. Staffek is a 
Republican, and has served two terms in the 
city council. Fraternally he is a member of the 
K. of P., Modern Woodmen, Eagles and a 
member of the fire department, having served 
sixteen years. He owns a fine home, No. 
3016 First avenue. 


JAMES F. KENNEDY, one of the suc¬ 
cessful business men of Forsyth, came west 
when the now thriving town of Forsyth was 

















BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


404 


but a dot on the map. Since that time he has 
assisted in building the town as he has fol¬ 
lowed contracting and building for a number 
of years. At the present time, Mr. Kennedy 
is at the head of a prosperous furniture and 
undertaking business, being a skilled cabinet 
maker, from training in youth. He handles a 
good business and is rated one of the very sub¬ 
stantial men of this part of the state. 

Beaver county, Pennsylvania is the native 
place of our subject and in 1851 the year of his 
birth. He was reared on a farm, spending the 
years until 1864 in the native place. At the 
date last mentioned he came with his parents 
to Jackson county, Iowa, and there continued 
farming with his father, completing, also, his 
education in the common schools. At twenty- 
one he started in life for himself, at first work¬ 
ing on a farm, and later learning the carpen¬ 
tering and cabinet trades. It was 1893 when 
he landed in Forsyth and at once went to work 
in contracting and building, which he vigor¬ 
ously prosecuted for five years, at the expir¬ 
ation of which time he purchased a furniture 
store and added undertaking, which lines he 
has continued in since. 

In the fall of 1874, Mr. Kennedy married 
Miss Bertha Hunsche, of Marshalltown, Iowa 
whose father, Rev. Fred Hunsche, held orders 
in the German Lutheran church. Our subject 
and wife have one child, Mabel, who is married 
to Harry H. Fletcher of Forsyth. 

Mr. Kennedy is a member of the K. P. 
and the I. O. O. F„ being grand patriarch of 
the state of Montana. Politically he is a wheel 
horse with the Republican party and is one of 
the progressive men of the county. 


PHILIP WESCH, of the firm of Wesch 
& Cederholm, contractors and builders, Bil¬ 
lings, was born in the southern part of Ger¬ 
many, Baden, June 2T, 1859, the son of Johann 
V. and Atelheite (Drummer) Wesch. The 


father died while subject was an infant. The 
mother died in 1870, in Germany. 

Having completed his studies in the public 
schools of Germany, our subject learned the 
trade of carpenter with his brother. In 1882, 
when 24 years of age, he came direct to Wis¬ 
consin, and remained one year in Waukesha. 
Thence he went to South Dakota where he re¬ 
mained five years. He built the South Dakota 
University, and on its completion went to Hot 
Springs, South Dakota, and erected the Sol¬ 
diers’ Home at that place; the fine Evans Hotel, 
a five-story cut stone city hall, and court house, 
also several business blocks, and a large woolen 
mill at Edgemont. He came to Billings in 
1899, where he erected the Northern Pacific 
freight house, the Billings library, Northern 
Hotel, City Hall, and a number of mills and 
warehouses, churches, etc. For four years he 
has been associated with Mr. Andrew Ceder¬ 
holm. 

In 1885 Mr. Wesch was joined in 
wedlock with Bertha George, a native 
of Germany, who died at Hot Springs 
in 1900. In April, 1901, he was mar¬ 
ried to Hermina George, sister of his 
first wife. Her father was a native of northern 
Germany, and passed from earth in South 
Dakota. Her mother, Amelia (Wetzel) 
George, lives with our subject. The latter has 
two brothers, Valentine and Tobias, both in 
Germany. He has two sisters, Rosina and 
Adelhite, living in Germany. His wife has one 
brother, Paul. 

Politically our subject is a Republican, but 
not an active partisan. He is a member of the 
I. O. O. F., Eagles, A. O. U. W., Yeomen, and 
Mountaineers. Mr. and Mrs. Wesch have 
four children, Rosa, a graduate of the high 
school,' Walter, Leo and Florence. 


HON. GEORGE A. BRUFFEY, one of 
I Montana’s earliest pioneers and most indus- 












BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


405 


trious state builders, is residing about ten miles 
southeast from Livingston where he is en¬ 
gaged in general farming with stockraising and 
dairying. He was born in Virginia, September 
24, 1842, the son of John and Elizabeth (Call) 
Bruffey, both natives of Virginia, also. The 
father’s father, Patrick Bruffey, was a native 
of Old Dominion State and was sheriff for 
many years. On the father’s side of the house 
they came from French extraction and were 
early settlers in the colonies, but they have 
married into Scotch and Irish since those days. 
Mr. Bruffey’s mother was the daughter of Wil¬ 
liam and Emily Call, who owned Augusta 
county as their native heath. On this side of 
the house came many patriots of the Revolu¬ 
tion, William Call being one of them. He died 
in 1859, aged ninety-five. He was in the Rev¬ 
olution as well as a soldier in the war of 1812. 

When George was two years old his father 
moved 'to Iowa and there he received his edu¬ 
cation before he attained his eighteenth year. 
At that time he began life’s duties for himself 
and for two years he was engaged in buying 
cattle, sheep and hogs in western Iowa. Two 
years later he came west and traded with the 
Indians in 1862, we find Mr. Bruffey manufac¬ 
turing brick in Colorado. In the fall 1863, 
in company with forty others, he made his way 
with ox teams to Alder gulch and there mined 
until 1866 when he removed to Jefferson river 
and began farming. The grasshoppers ate up 
his crop so he abandoned that venture. Next 
we see him herding cattle and in 1867 he built 
a toll road from Butte to Boulder City, which 
was a total failure. The following winter, 
however, Mr. Bruffey got a start by wintering 
freighting stock and came out in April, 1868, 
with one thousand dollars capital. He pros¬ 
pected all summer and later went to mining 
in Silver Bow and made another thousand dol¬ 
lars. In August, 1869, in company with Har¬ 
rison Jordan, Mr. Bruffey opened a cheese fac¬ 
tory and followed that vocation for six years, 
establishing, in the meantime, the Fish Creek 


Station. In 1889, Mr. Bruffey removed to Park 
county and located his present place and since 
that time he has been occupied as stated in the 
beginning of this article. 

On February 12, 1871, Mr. Bruffey married 
Miss Matilda J. Ridlen, the daughter of Wil¬ 
liam and Malinda (Devore) Ridlen. The Rid¬ 
len family settled in Maine in 1650. To this 
marriage have been born the following named 
children: Margerie S., November 24, 1871; 
Almedia I., March 22, 1873; Primees A., No¬ 
vember 21, 1874; Silvia S., February 1, 1877; 
Fatima, September 15, 1878; Memrous E., 
June 21, 1880; Emma J., June 17, 1882; Lora 
A., May 22, 1884; G. Minot, March 1, 1886; 
Elzina S., May 31, 1888; and Ruth M., Jan¬ 
uary 10, 1893. All of the children are living ex¬ 
cept Ruth, who was slain by an infuriated bull, 
July 19, 1905. 

Mrs. Bruffey is a member of the Methodist 
church. Mr. Bruffey is an active Democrat, 
was at the Kansas City convention, 1900, with 
W. A. Clark, and is usually a delegate to the 
state conventions. In 1874 he was chosen to 
the lower house and in 1896 he was again 
sent to the same position. He was in the legis¬ 
lature that authorized the erection of the state 
capitol and was present at the laying of the 
corner stone. Also he was present at the spike 
driving on the Northern Pacific. Mr. Bruffey 
has been postmaster at Bruffey. postoffice for 
sixteen years, and served as postmaster at Fish 
Creek on Salt Lake Road from 1874 to 1889. 
He is a well known citizen of Park county and 
one of the leading men of enterprise in this 
section of the state. 


JOHN W. KRISE, living five miles south 
from Livingston, in Spring Basin, is one of 
the early settlers in this county and has been a 
a continuous resident here since the date of his 
immigration. His occupation here has been 
farming and stock raising, although by trade 













406 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


he is a skilled miller. He was born in Penn¬ 
sylvania, on February 25, 1840, the son of 
Jacob and Elizabeth Krise, both natives of 
the Keystone state, also, the former born in 
1810 and the latter in 1811. His paternal 
grandsire, Philip Krise, was also a native of 
Pennsylvania. The father of John W. was a 
miller and followed his trade all his life in his 
native state. During his young days our sub¬ 
ject received a good business education and 
also perfected himself in the milling busi¬ 
ness, and as early as sixteen was installed - 
as a full master of the business. At that 
time he began life’s duties on his own responsi¬ 
bility and followed his trade until 1881, when 
he came to Montana and settled in the Gal¬ 
latin valley, ten miles west. from Bozeman. 
Three years were spent there and then came a 
move to Park county and he selected a portion 
of his present estate as his homestead and here 
he has bestowed his labors since. Prosperity 
has followed him, for he has been thrifty and 
industrious and he now owns four hundred and 
eighty acres of land, well improved and valu¬ 
able. 

In 1857, Mr. Krise married Miss Margaret 
K. Smith, the daughter of John Smith of 
Pennsylvania, who followed carpentering. 
Three children were born to this marriage and 
only one of them is now living, Mrs. Jennie M. 
Rowe. She resides in Livingston and has two 
children, one daughter and one son. 

For nearly fifty years Mr. Krise and his 
faithful wife traveled along the pilgrim way 
together and then, on the 25th, of November, 
1904, she was called to the world beyond. She 
was a Christian and belonged to the Congrega¬ 
tional church with her husband. Mr. Krise is 
a Republican and belongs also to the A. F. & 
A. M. He is a member of the G. A. R. In 
April, 1861, he enlisted in the Seventh Penn¬ 
sylvania Volunteers and after the war enlisted 
again, this time in the marine service and 
served four years. Mr. Krise is known far and 


near as one of the substantial men of the county 
and is enjoying the competence his wise labors 
have provided. 


DAVID PEDEN, the efficient superin¬ 
tendent of the county poor farm, located some 
four miles east of Miles City, in Custer 
county, is one of the well known men of the 
county and has earned a good reputation by 
his consistent and careful walk in business and 
social lines. He is a man of good executive 
ability and was appointed by the county com¬ 
missioners to this important position in 1900 
and has manifested capability in the discharge 
of the duties incumbent upon him in this ca¬ 
pacity since that time. The management of 
the farm is excellent and the care of all the 
inmates is wise and done to the satisfaction of 
all taxpayers and Mr. Peden is to be recom¬ 
mended for his good work. 

In the vicinity of Edinburgh, Scotland, 
November 25, 1867, David Peden was born, 
being the son of John and Ellen (McFadden) 
Peden, both natives of Scotland and now living 
in Custer county. The father came to the 
United States before our subject was born and 
then returned for his family. They first came 
to Baltimore and later migrated to Michigan, 
where our subject was reared and educated. 
After the family had dwelt some years in 
Michigan they journeyed on west and finally 
landed in New Mexico, and thence they came 
to Montana. David was but a small boy when 
they all came from Scotland and he well re¬ 
members the various places the family dwelt. 
It was 1888 when he went to New Mexico and 
there he followed cowboy life for several years. 
Finally in 1892, he was employed by the Con¬ 
cord Cattle company to assist in bringing a 
herd of two thousand eight hundred and sixty 
head of cattle all the way from New Mexico 
to Montana and three months were consumed 
in this hard task. So well did he like Custer 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


county that he determined to remain here and 
here he has been since. He remained in the 
employ of the Concord company until he was 
appointed to his present position and since that 
time he has given his time to the management 
of the county farm, also handling the famous 
imported French stallion, Boygodis. 

In 1887 Mr. Peden married Miss Lettie 
Nelson the daughter of George and Belle 
(Brown) Nelson, all natives of Scotland and 
immigrants to this country when Mrs. Peden 
was a small girl. The children born to. this 
union are Julia, Earl, and Agnes. Mr. Peden 
is a member of the Masons, Yellowstone No. 
26, Blue Lodge, and is a progressive and up-to- 
date man and loyal citizen. 

It is of interest to note the recent ex¬ 
perience of their oldest child, Julia. At the 
time she was still under fourteen, as she was 
on her way to school, she discovered a bridge 
on the Northern Pacific was burned down and 
knowing it was about time for the passenger, 
she ran at once back home, saddled her pony 
and rode at top speed to meet the train. She 
caught it as it was about to pull out of Miles 
City and told the conductor her story. The 
railroad officials highly commended the deserv¬ 
ing act of the plucky girl and to show their 
appreciation gave her one hundred dollars. 


JOHN O’BRIEN, one of the respected 
and esteemed citizens of Dawson county, is 
at the head of a nice general merchandise bus¬ 
iness at Newlon. In addition to this he owns 
a section of valuable land, handles from one 
hundred to two hundred head of cattle and a 
small bunch of sheep. For a quarter of a cen¬ 
tury he has been in this locality and has so 
manipulated his business that he has not only 
prospered exceedingly but has won the con¬ 
fidence and good will of all who know him. 
John O’Brien was born at Covington, Ken¬ 
tucky, on March 12, 1850, being the son of 


J. H. O’Brien, a carpenter. The latter was 
born in Ireland in 1826. Was there educated 
and came to the United States in 1845, locat- 
ing in Brooklyn, New York. Two years later 
he went to Kentucky and at the breaking out 
of the civil war he enlisted in the Eighth 
Ohio Cavalry and served through the entire 
conflict. He was honorably discharged, then 
settled in Tennessee where he died in 1870. 
Our - subject was educated in the common 
schools of Ohio and there remained the first 
sixteen years of his life. Then he enlisted in 
the regular army, it being 1866, and was sent 
to Florida in November of that year where 
his command remained one year. After that 
he was transferred to Fort Steele on the North 
Platte river and remained one year, then went 
to Fort Buford, Dakota, where he continued 
until his honorable discharge came in 1870. 
For six years following that he was occupied 
in various kinds of enterprises along the Mis¬ 
souri river in Dakota, and in 1876 went to 
the Black Hills he had intended to remain, 
but, owing to ill health contracted there, he 
came to the Yellowstone valley and drove 
stage. After one year of this work he was 
employed in a store at Fort Buford for eight 
months. Finally, in 1880, he came to Newlon, 
Montana and opened a mercantile establish¬ 
ment and also engaged in farming and stock 
raising and for twenty-six years he has contin¬ 
ued steadily in this enterprise, giving his skill, 
wisdom and undivided attention to that. 

On August 11, 1881, Mr. O’Brien married 
Miss Ellen Kennedy, who was born in Penn¬ 
sylvania in 1852. After receiving her educa¬ 
tion from the public schools there, she went 
to Chicago, later to Minnesota and later to 
Dakota and in the spring of 1880 came to 
Montana. Mr. O’Brien was called to mourn 
the death of his wife in May, 1904. She had 
borne four children, two girls and two boys 
and only the sons, George T. and James D., 
are now living. They are with their father at 














408 


biographical sketches. 


Newlon. George T., being now married, is 
an active member of the firm. 

Mr. O’Brien is a Democrat in politics al¬ 
though not very active and an adherent of the 
Catholic church. 

He has a fine stock of merchandise of over 
five thousand dollars and is a substantial, up¬ 
right and candid business man. 


OLE BIRKELAND is the proprietor of 
nine hundred and sixty acres of fine land which 
lies five miles southwest of Greycliff, seven 
hundred and sixty acres of land which was 
hundred are now under the ditch. When he 
first came here he was practically without 
money, but succeeded in getting hold of one 
hundred and sixty acres of land which was 
improved with a little fourteen by sixteen 
shack and he faced the problem of supporting 
the family upon a ranch and improving the 
same without any capital to start on. How 
well he has succeeded is very evident from 
the above estimate of his land holdings. Few 
men have done better and few men are more 
capable when it comes to the question of do¬ 
ing things” as our President so frequently 
speaks of. An outline of Mr. Birkeland's life 
will be interesting and instructive to any 
young man who is starting in life in the face 
of obstacles. He was born at Stavanger, in the 
western part- of Norway, December 9, 1868, 
and his parents, Osten and Metta (Olson) 
Birkeland, were natives of the same place and 
there reside now, the former sixty-seven and 
the latter seventy-seven years of age. The 
father followed farming and practiced as a 
veterinary, being also a practical horticulturist. 

Our subject is the third of six children, 
four of wdiom still live, he being the only one 
in this country. After obtaining a good busi¬ 
ness education in the common schools, he was 
apprenticed at the age of fourteen years for 
• three years to learn the shoemaker’s trade. 


At the end of one year, he bought himself out, 
as the phrase is, which means that he had 
so thoroughly learned the trade that he was 
enabled to start a shop for himself, and m 
order to do that he had to reimburse the man 
he was working for, for the two years time of 
apprenticeship yet to serve. Then he opened 
a shop and conducted it for three years. After 
that, he turned his attention to carpentering 
and followed that and contracting in company 
with a brother, from whom he learned the finer 
points of architectural work and this occu¬ 
pied him until he left for the Lnited States. 
In connection with it, he also, bought and sold 
stock. He had a good business but his desire 
to come to the New World was so strong that 
he disposed of everything and on May 27, 
1895, he landed in Halstad, Minnesota. His ' 
first work was contracting for a bridge in 
Norman county, after which he wrought for 
wages until March, 1896, when he came to 
Bigtimber, landing there with sixty-seven 
cents. He immediately went to work carpent¬ 
ering and soon afterwards went out on a sheep 
ranch, where he was occupied for two years^ 
after which he bought his present place. It 
was very difficult for him to get a start but 
he succeeded in getting a bunch of sheep on 
shares and after three years of very hard work 
he had a bunch of his own. In addition to his 
land holdings as mentioned above, which are 
• well improved, he has considerable stock, such 
as cattle and horses and twelve thousand head 
of sheep. His irrigated land produces four 
hundred tons of alfalfa annually and his is an 
exceedingly beautiful place. 

On June 4, 1898, Mr. Birkeland married 
Mrs. Inga (Hoyem) Halverson, the daughter 
of J. and Oline Hoyem, natives of Norway, 
where the widowed mother lives, the father 
having died some time since. Mrs. Halverson 
had two children by her former husband, Rona 
and Ingra Halverson. To our subject and his 
wife, three children have been born, Olga, 
Eystean and Lulu. 












BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


409 


Mr. Birkeland is an active Republican. He 
takes an especially keen interest in school mat¬ 
ter and was the principal mover in the organi¬ 
zation of District No. 11. 

In religious persuasions, he and his wife 
are members of the Lutheran denomination. 

Mr. Birkeland has certainly shown him¬ 
self to be an energetic, progressive man, and 
the success he has wrought out stamps him as 
a first-class financier, being now one of the 
substantial men of the county. 


SIDNEY F. MORSE, city clerk of Bil¬ 
lings, Montana, was born in Gilmer, Lake 
County, Illinois, July 16, 1850. His father, 
Abial, was a native of Pomfret, Vermont, and 
his grandfather, who served in the war of 
1812, of Massachusetts. His great-grand¬ 
father Morse was a veteran of the Revolution. 
The old Morse family, highly distinguished, 
came from England at an early day. From 
this branch descended Professor Morse, in¬ 
ventor of the electric telegraph. Although 
widely scattered the descendants are still 
prominent in business circles, bench and bar. 

Sidney F. Morse received his early educa¬ 
tion in the common schools of Illinois, also 
attended the Clark Seminary, now Jennings 
Seminary, at Aurora, Illinois. From the age of 
17 until 21 he taught school. In 1873 he 
moved to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, where 
for six years he'was engaged in business. He 
came to Montana in 1879, locating at Martins- 
dale, Meagher county, where he built and op¬ 
erated the first sawmill in the Musselshell val¬ 
ley. In 1884 he removed to a ranch in what is 
now Fergus county, Montana. He continued 
ranching until 1888, when he removed to Bil¬ 
lings. Until 1893 he was cashier and local 
agent of the Northern Pacific railway com¬ 
pany at Billings. In 1892 was elected treasurer 
of Yellowstone county, serving two years. 
He afterward served one term as coun¬ 


ty clerk. He then accepted the position 
of cashier of the First National Bank 
of Billings, remaining in that position 
four years, resigning on account of ill health. 
He was nominated lor the legislature in 1902. 
The result was a tie vote, and the governor 
called another election in which he was de¬ 
feated by one vote. In the spring of 1903 he 
was appointed chief of police at Billings, re¬ 
signing at the end of the term, and was then 
appointed city clerk. 

On attaining his majority Mr. Morse was 
married, February 19, 1871, at Wauconda, 
Lake county, Illinois, to Eliza B. Ault, born in 
New Orleans, March 14, 1850. Her father, 
Andrew J. Ault, died in Mississippi. He was 
a graduate of West Point, but owing to ill 
health was not in the army. Her mother was 
a native of New York, and died when she was 
an infant. Mr. and Mrs. Morse have three 
children, William H., Frank A., and Earle G. 
who were soldiers in the Spanish war. Mr. 
Morse has one sister, Martha A. Clark, of 
Liberty ville, Lake county, Illinois. Mrs. 
Morse has one brother and one sister, Dr. 
Andrew J. Fox, of New York City, (Fox be¬ 
ing his adopted name) and Mrs. Anna O. 
Ford, of Chicago. Mr. Morse is a member of 
Ashler Lodge No. 29, A. F. & A. M., of which 
he is Past Master, and has been deacon in the 
grand lodge. He is Past High Priest of Bill¬ 
ings Chapter, No. 6 R. A. M., and a member 
of the Eagles. He is Past Patron of the O. E. 
S., Edna Chapter 15, and his wife is P. M. 
of Edna Chapter No. 15. O. E. S. Politically 
he is a Democrat. 


CHARLES L. HARRIS, one of the lead¬ 
ing land attorneys of Montana, and at present 
residing at Billings, was born at Port Ludlow, 
Jefferson county, Washington, February 5, 
1872, the son of Frank and Elizabeth (Skill- 
beck-W aters) Harris. The father was a native 








4 io 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


of New York, dying on Puget Sound in 1894. 
He represented his county in the territorial 
legislature, and was one of the prominent and 
leading members of the house, serving as 
chairman of several important committees, 
among which were ways and means and cor¬ 
porations. He erected one of the first sawmills 
on the sound, and was for many years a well 
known and highly respected citizen of that 
locality. 

The mother of our subject was a native 
of England, and was married to James Wat¬ 
ers, they located upon the sound, where he 
afterwards died. By her marriage with Wat¬ 
ers she had one son now residing at Pasco, 
Washington, James Waters. July 4, 1871, 
she married Frank Harris, the father of our 
subject, separating from him about eleven 
years thereafter. At that period they were 
engaged in the hotel business at Ainsworth, 
Washington, during the time of the construc¬ 
tion of the Nothem Pacific Railroad, the 
father also being master mechanic of the ma¬ 
chine-shops of that company located at Ains¬ 
worth. He was one of the supervisors of the 
construction of the famous “Doctor Baker 
Railroad” between Walla Walla and Wallula 
Junction, Washington, in .the days when two 
by fours and scrap-sheet iron constituted the 
rails. Leaving the employ of the road he en¬ 
gaged in the sawmill and lumber business in 
the Blue Mountains and Pomeroy, Washing¬ 
ton, and upon leaving there he went to Ains¬ 
worth, Washington. In 1884, she moved to 
Pasco, and conducted the Pasco, Windsor and 
other hotels until the fall of 1905. She has 
retired from active business and resides at 
Pasco with her son, James Waters. 

In the public schools of Washington our 
subject received his elementary education, af¬ 
terwards studying law with Judge N: T. Ca- 
ton, one of the best known ond ablest attor¬ 
neys of the big bend country in the State of 
Washington. Mr. Harris was admitted to 
practice June 4, 1895, at Walla Walla, Wash¬ 


ington, and later in the Supreme Court of 
the same State. He followed his profession at- 
Pasco for three years, where he was elected 
county attorney before he was of age, and on 
that account could not legally qualify for the 
position. Twice he was a Republican candidate 
for the legislature in 1894 and 1896, and was 
one of the leading and active Republicans of 
that county—Franklin—which at the time men¬ 
tioned was overwhelmingly Democratic. Mr. 
Harris has made a specialty of land and real 
estate law, and enjoys the reputation of being 
one of the best land attorneys in Montana. 

It was in 1898 that he came to Billings 
where for one year he engaged in commercial 
business, and then resumed the practice of law. 
In 1901 he served as deputy clerk of the dis¬ 
trict court resuming the practice of law, in 
1902 he was elected county attorney and 
served one term.. He did not become the 
candidate of his party for the second term, 
but took up general practice, making a spe¬ 
cialty of real estate and land law. 

July 4, 1897, our subject was united in 
marriage to R. Irene Crane, of North Yakima, 
who was born aj Freeport, Illinois. The cere¬ 
mony was solemnized at Pasco. Her father 
James, W. Crane, died at North Yakima, 
Washington, in 1902. They have one child, 
Charles F., born March 30, 1898. Mr. Harris 
has no brothers or sisters, but one half brother, 
James Waters, of Pasco, Washington. Fra¬ 
ternally our subject is Past C. C. Knight of 
Pythias, at Pasco, a member of the Eagles, 
A. O. U. W., Royal Highlanders, and Brother¬ 
hood of American Yeomen! He and his wife 
are members of the Episcopal church. 


JOSEPH Z. NORTHWAY has served 
the county of Rosebud in an official capacity 
for a long time and is one of the respected citi¬ 
zens of this portion of Montana. His birth 
occurred in Orwell, Ohio, in 1861, his parents 





BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


41 1 


being L. P. and Esther (Chandler) Northway. 
The father followed farming and brought his 
family to Minnesota in an early day, in which 
state our subject was reared and educated. In 
1883 Joseph Z. came west to .Montana and la- 
cated where Forsyth now is, it then being but 
a town in embryo. He was soon riding the 
range for cattle and continued the same busi¬ 
ness for five years. Then he acted in the ca¬ 
pacity of clerk in a general merchandise estab¬ 
lishment and one year later went into the sheep 
business for himself. Five years he was oc¬ 
cupied thus and then went to clerking again, 
continuing that until 1902. In that year he 
was nominated for sheriff of Rosebud county 
and as promptly elected, being the second in¬ 
cumbent of that office. After a term of two 
years he was re-elected and served till 1906. 
when he was again chosen for the office by the 
people. In political matters, Mr. Northway is 
a Republican and is a man alive to the issues 
of the day. He has shown himself a very ef¬ 
ficient officer and as an executive of the law, 
he shows those qualities which commend 
him to the admiration of all law abiding and 
make him feared by those who would disturb 
the quiet of the community. 

In 1889, Mr. Northway married Miss Ida 
M. Thompson, who was born in Dwight, Illi¬ 
nois, in 1871. One child has been born to this 
union, Glen Ellwood. Mrs. Northway is a 
is a consistent member of the Presbyterian 
church, but her husband is not a regular com¬ 
municant with any denomination. In frater¬ 
nal matters Mr. Northway is allied with the 
Eagles and the K. P. He is one of the well 
known men of the county and stands high in 
the esteem and good will of all. 


JOSEPH G. HOOPER is at present fol¬ 
lowing the occupation of general farming 
about seven miles southwest of Greycliff on 
lower Deer creek. The Crow reservation opened 


in 1892, and he decided it was the place for 
him to locate and accordingly the next year he 
hitched up his team at Butte and drove over. 
Many had overlooked the claim that he now 
occupies owing to it being covered with under¬ 
brush and some timber. He secured it and 
went to work clearing off the brush. It proved 
to be extra fertile land and he is now getting 
an average of five tons Of alfalfa per acre, 
having one hundred acres under the ditch. Mr. 
Hooper has a fine orchard which is doing 
splendidly and he is very sanguine regarding 
the future of this portion of Montana as a 
fruit country. 

Referring to the earlier portion of our sub¬ 
ject's life, we note that he was born in Devon¬ 
shire, England, April 27, 1857. His father, 
William Hooper, was a miner by trade and is 
now a resident of Ishpeming, Michigan, aged 
eighty-five. He married Elizabeth Gribben, 
who died in 1904, aged sixty-five. When 
Joseph was two years of age, his parents 
moved to Michigan during the first copper ex¬ 
citement and later moved to New Jersey. They 
lived in addition to these two states, In Penn¬ 
sylvania and Massachusetts and some others. 
Consequently, Mr. Hooper does not look to any 
special place as the scene of his childhood 
days. He followed his father’s steps and when 
fifteen worked his first shift underground as a 
watchman in Berks county, Pennsylvania, 
since which time he has mined in various por¬ 
tions of the United States. When twenty he 
went to Ishpeming. Michigan, and spent four 
years in the iron mines of the Upper Penin¬ 
sula, then he journeyed to the Black Hills, 
Dakota, where one year was spent. Leaving 
there on January 28, 1883, he journeyed by 
team to Miles City, a trip of fifteen days. Dur¬ 
ing this trip they were camped one night on 
the banks of the Mizpah River and while there 
the ice broke up in the river and formed a 
gorge a little below their camping place, which 
resulted in surrounding them with water in 
a very short time. Being a little distance from 












412 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


the wagons, they were kept without food for 
three days. Finally they reached Miles City, 
whence he went by rail to Butte and engaged 
in mining. Later, he mined in Phillipsburg, 
Granite and other places. These labors occu¬ 
pied him until the time the Crow reservation 
was opened, when he came here, as stated 
above. 

On December 17, 1881, Mr. Hooper mar¬ 
ried Miss Lizzie Gerry, who was born in Aus¬ 
tralia and reared in Ishpeming, Michigan. Her 
father, John Gerry, died in 1882 and his widow, 
is still living, aged sixty-eight. Mr. and Mrs. 
Hooper had two children, one of whom died 
in infancy and the other between three and 
four years of age. 

In politics, he is a Republican, but not es¬ 
pecially active, though interested in the ques¬ 
tions and issues of the day. 


WILLIAM H. ALLEN, M. D. It is pa¬ 
tent to all that' the grave issues of life and 
death as well as the proper enjoyment of life 
are more closely bound up in the physician’s 
life than in that of any other class of men or 
women. Thus it is that the public mind in¬ 
stinctively demands that these professional 
men above all others should be of unquestioned 
principles of uprightness, excellent character 
and deep erudition. Answering to these just 
requirements, there is, too, no other class of 
men who can step forth and so vitally assist 
the human race as the physicians, and the re¬ 
sult is that today we are accustomed to re¬ 
gard with much appreciation the true and skill¬ 
ful man who gives his efforts to ameliorate 
the suffering of his fellows and teach them 
how to better preserve intact the powers given 
by a beneficent Creator. That Doctor Allen 
measures well to the demands of the discrim¬ 
inating public is evidently manifest inasmuch 
as he has under his care a large and ever in¬ 


creasing practice and is held in very high es¬ 
teem by all who know him. 

December 5, 1856, marks the day 

of his birth, and the event occurred 
in East Smithfield, Pennsylvania, which 
also, . is the native place of his par¬ 
ents, William H. and Cornelia (Wood) 
Allen. In 1630 came the progenitors 
of the Allen family to cast their lot with 
the struggling colonists and from that time 
onward they manifested the same spirit that 
so pervaded the atmosphere of the New World 
that General Gage was astounded into believ¬ 
ing it was a birthright inherited by each one 
born this side of the Atlantic. Many members 
of worth descended from this family, but one 
man has so impressed his personality upon the 
pages of history that every truly American 
family treasures as a household word that 
name of Ethan Allen. The family came 
from the north of Ireland to these shores, but 
were of Scotch descent. The Wood family 
Were of English ancestry, and they, too, 
were among the early colonists. Mostly both 
lines have been people of agricultural pursuits. 
At Newton, a few miles from Boston, is lo¬ 
cated the farm which the first Allen coming to 
the New World settled on and it is still in the 
name of the family. Our subject’s grandfa¬ 
thers both removed to Bradford county, Penn¬ 
sylvania, about 1825, settling on farms ad¬ 
joining, where they spent useful careers and 
remained until the time of their departure to 
the world beyond. In William H. Allen, the 
father of Dr. Allen, we find a man of stanch 
and superb character, one who always was 
found on the side of advancement, upbuilding, 
sound principles and with courage to stand in 
support of the same. His fostering care was 
of inestimable service in starting and main¬ 
taining schools and encouraging higher educa¬ 
tion. When the final issue came and the clash 
of arms must prove the value of true princi¬ 
ples, he, imbued the same stanch spirit as his 







BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


4 i 3 


illustrious ancestor, hesitated not to take up 
arms and stand for his country and its flag. 
He fought until overpowered by disabilities, 
when he was removed from the field and sent 
home. He had been one pf the first men to 
engage in the oil business in Pennsylvania 
and after the war he removed to Waverly, 
New York, where he took up merchandising 
and there remained until the day of his death, 
January 31, 1906. He had always taken a 
keen interest in political matters and was often 
times chosen for offices, as county commis¬ 
sioner and so forth, but he never sought office. 

The Blue Lodge of Masons claimed him as 
an active member and his record was of a 
man of high spirit, with life’s work well done. 
Our subject’s paternal grandfather was bom 
in Massachusetts. 

The Doctor was nine years of age when the 
family went to Waverly, New York, and there 
he secured a fine high school course. In 1880 
he graduated from the University of Buffalo, 
with the degree of Doctor of Medicine and 
immediately he went to practicing, having be¬ 
gun when he was but twenty-three years old. 
At first he located at Athens, Pennsylvania, 
with a relative, Dr. E. P. Allen, but soon re¬ 
turned to his birth place and there continued 
his profession. It was 1886 when he turned 
his face toward the west, locating first in Phil- 
ipsburg, Montana, where in connection with 
the practice of medicine he became interested 
in mining. He was physician for the Hope 
Mining Company, and in 1891 he removed to 
Horr, becoming physician for the coal and 
coke companies, remaining until 1897, when 
the height of the country, which produced ill 
health, compelled him to seek a lower alti¬ 
tude. At Joliet he was successful until 1904, 
when he went to Red Lodge, but soon returned 
to Joliet, where he is occupied with the prac¬ 
tice of his profession at the present time. In 
addition to this work, the Doctor has occupied 
himself considerably with the oversight of his 


stock and fruit ranch near Joliet where he has 
a fine property. 

On January 20, 1882, Dr. Allen married 
Miss Edith L. Dodson, of Wilkesbarre, Penn¬ 
sylvania, the daughter of John Dodson, a na¬ 
tive of England. Mrs. Allen was educated 
and reared in her native place and her family 
were among the earliest settlers of that section. 
To the Doctor and his wife the following 
named children have been born: Edgar, in 
Bozeman College; Jean M., in the high school, 
and Cornelia, deceased. Dr. Allen is a mem¬ 
ber of the Masonic order and of the A. O. 
U. W. . 


CYRUS B. MENDENHALL deserves 
to be mentioned among the most prominent 
pioneers and leading men of the great state 
of Montana as will be seen by a perusal of his 
life’s sketch. He has had a very active and in¬ 
teresting career and has always held a prom¬ 
inent part among men, though not aspiring to 
public position. His business ability has been 
shown to be unerring and capable of handling 
heavy enterprises and while he has suffered 
losses that would have forever put out a less 
determined and active man, he has but sur¬ 
mounted them to show that it is not the luck 
but the man that makes the winning in this 
world of pushing business and whirling adven¬ 
ture. We hail, therefore, with pleasure the 
opportunity to epitomize his career and make 
it lasting for the benefit of younger men who 
will journey along life’s pathway. 

Cyrus B. Mendenhall was bom in Ohio, 
July 28, 1830, and now resides one-fourth 
mile east from Hunter’s Hot Springs, in Park 
county. His father, Thomas G. Mendenhall, 
was a miller by trade and erected the first 
grist mill in Muskingum county, Ohio. He 
was born May 9, 1797, followed milling for 
some years and then preached the gospel till 
his death, October 21, 1878. He had mar- 






414 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


ried Miss Elizabeth S. Hollenbach, who was 
born October 25, 1791, and died August 31, 
1879. 

Our subject was educated in the public 
schools of Indiana and Illinois, whither his 
parents had removed when he was yet a lad. 
Qn October 1, 1850, being then twenty years 
of age, young Mendenhall stepped out into 
the responsibilities of life for himself and for 
a time worked for wages in Indiana. Later 
he returned to Illinois and went to farming. 
Also he operated a threshing outfit. Two 
years later he went to Iowa and purchased land 
at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. 
Then he went to work in real earnest and kept 
at it until he had thirteen hundred acres of 
land under the plough. In 1866 he came west 
crossing the plains to Virginia City where he 
established a merchandise business. Not lik¬ 
ing it, however, he soon sold out and returned 
to Iowa. With one hundred and fifty-one 
others, he bought a fleet of fourteen boats and 
descended the Yellowstone and the Missouri 
to Sioux City. The boats were constructed 
out of whip-sawed lumber and after they ar¬ 
rived at the Missouri they traveled day and 
night and completed the trip in six weeks 
from the day they first turned their boats in 
the current. 

In 1872 Mr. Mendenhall went west again, 
this time settling in Colorado where he ener¬ 
getically followed cattle raising. In 1881 he 
sold his large herds in the Centennial state 
and bought again in Western Montana, drove 
east, crossing where Livingston now stands. 
His herds then numbered four thousand eight 
hundred cattle besides seven hundred horses. 
In 1884 he passed on with his stock to the 
Missouri to avoid the sheep and in the winter 
of 1885 he lost over sixteen thousand cattle, 
besides horses. This .more than broke him in 
business and he was confronted with a ter¬ 
ribly serious condition of affairs. Prior to 
this catastrophe, however, he had purchased 
the Hunter’s Hot Springs, and now he gave 


his attention to conducting them and he did 
well at this till 1894, when he sold a portion 
of his holdings in the spring. In 1899 he sold 
the balance of his holdings in the springs and 
devoted himself to, his land, which he had ac¬ 
quired in the mean time. He handles a small 
band of stock but gives his almost exclusive 
attention to farming. Mr. Mendenhall now 
owns more than three thousand acres of fine 
land and has five miles of river front. His 
place is excellently supplied with water and 
he has one of the choice estates of the county. 

On May 9, 1859, Mr. Mendenhall mar¬ 
ried Miss Emeline Dean, who was born in 
Ohio on February 18, 1839. To this marriage 
the following named children were born: Ida 
E., March 2, i860; Hattie M., November 14, 
1862; Conaway B., May 26, 1864; James R., 
January 11, 1866; Alfred V., August 17, 
1867; Charles R., May 7, 1875; I nez B., Au¬ 
gust 1, 1876. In December, 1897, Alfred 
was thrown from a horse and killed. In Au¬ 
gust, 1879, at Laramie City, Wyoming, Mrs. 
Mendenhall was called to the world beyond. 
She was a noble and beloved woman and left 
many mourning friends besides her family. 

September 22, 1881, Mr. Mendenhall mar¬ 
ried Susan A. Cooley, the daughter of Robert 
W. and Eliza M. (Stone) Cooley, both na¬ 
tives of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Susan A. Men¬ 
denhall’s great-grandfather, Dimon Bostwick, 
and Mr. Mendenhall’s great-grandfather, John 
Hollenbach, were neighbors and took home¬ 
steads in Bradford county, Pennsylvania. Mrs. 
Mendenhall’s grandmother is supposed to be 
the first white child born in that county. Mr. 
Mendenhall is a Christian but belongs to no 
denomination, preferring to stand on the 
authority of the Bible alone. Mrs. Menden¬ 
hall is an Episcopalian. He is a Republican 
in politics. 

Although Mr. Mendenhall has seen nearly 
four score years, still he is hale and hearty and 
enjoys the activities of life as in his younger 
days. He is one of the highly respected citi- 




BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


4 i 5 


zens of Park county and is one of the busy 
men of business life. 


NATHAN CHANCE, who has the dis¬ 
tinction of having; the thriving village of 
Chance named after him, is one of the pros¬ 
perous stockmen and farmers of this vicinity, 
being possessed of one of the choice ranches 
in the neighborhood. Mr. Chance is a pioneer 
in the true sense of the word and has been 
on the frontier all his days. He was one of 
the very first settlers on Clarkes Fork, the 
land' being all unsurveyed at that time, and 
he has labored with display of wisdom and 
keen for sight all the days since his first set¬ 
tlement here. During the days of his life 
previous to settling in Montana he spent much 
time in New Mexico and Texas and has seen 
every phase of frontier life and endured its 
hardships in their roughest forms. Notwith¬ 
standing all this, he is a man whose ardor for 
the frontier has never abated and whose keen 
enjoyment of the wild is as fresh and vigorous 
as when he first stepped out into the expanse 
of unsettled ranges. 

Nathan Chance was born in Wayne coun¬ 
ty, Iowa, on October 13, 1855, the son of 
Absalom and Nancy A. (Owens) Chance, na¬ 
tives of Indiana. The father came to Wayne 
county, Iowa, in very early days and took gov¬ 
ernment land under the pre-emption right. He 
remained in the cultivation and improvement 
of his farm home there for many years and 
about thirty years since, he went on west to 
Kansas, where he resided until his death. He 
had served in the Civil War in an Illinois reg¬ 
iment, being under General Sherman and par¬ 
ticipating in some of the most severely con¬ 
tested engagements of the entire war. 

Nathan was educated in.the public schools 
of Wayne county and when he had attained 
man’s estate he engaged there in farming for 
a time, until his adventurous spirit led him, as 


we have mentioned above, in 1875, to try the 
west in the southwest of the United States. 
It was in 1892 when he came further north and 
finally drifted into the Clarkes Fork country 
He at once discerned that this was a country 
of much promise and so decided to cast his 
fortune with it. He has never regretted it 
and today is convinced that this is one of the 
choice spots in the entire west. The country 
was open to select from when his wagon rolled 
into it and so he showed excellent skill and 
judgment in choosing his ranch, which is one 
of the best ones of the valley. He assisted in 
organizing the first school district and was in¬ 
strumental in fostering the cause of education 
to a good extent. Shortly after coming to 
this point, he erected the building where the 
postoffice of Chance is now -located and it was 
through his efforts that the office was estab¬ 
lished, the name being given in. honor of him. 

On November 19, 1875, Mr. Chance mar¬ 
ried Miss Ellen McDaniel, who was born in 
Appanoose county, Iowa, her parents being 
Hiram and Martha (Evans) McDaniel, na¬ 
tives of Tennessee and Missouri, respectively. 
The father came to Iowa in very early days 
and took government land. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Chance two children have been born: Lillie, 
wife of David Simpson, and Quincy, who is 
at home with his parents. 


ALBERT A. RICH, who follows ranch¬ 
ing and stock-raising, has headquarters at 
Hunter’s Hot Springs, in the vicinity of which 
place he owns a fine estate of eight hundred 
acres'and a large amount of live stock. He 
is .one of the thrifty men of Park county and 
has made his holdings -since coming to the 
territory of Montana thus demonstrating 
both his energy and the resources of this ex¬ 
cellent state. 

Albert A. Rich was born in Saint Law¬ 
rence county, New York, November 9, 1845, 











4i6 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


being - the son of Albert G. and Jane (Sev- 
rance) Rich. The former was born in Saint 
Lawrence county, also, the date being April 
17, 1819. He followed railroad contracting 
and died on the tenth day of January, i860. 
The mother was born May 5, 1817, was mar¬ 
ried January 12, 1843, and died in 1851. Mr. 
Rich’s ancestors on both sides of the house are 
Americans from many generations back. On 
his father’s side they came very early. Henry 
Rich was a supporter of the unfortunate mon¬ 
arch, Charles I and remained stanch to his 
king until the latter’s untimely end in 1649. 
Then the conquering power confiscated the 
property of Mr. Rich and he hasted away to 
America and thus founded the Rich family on 
this side of the ocean. 

Our subject passed through the public 
schools of his native county and then finished 
his education in the Saint Lawrence Academy. 
After this he remained at the home place un¬ 
til 1872 in which year he decided to put into 
action his desire to see the west. He came on 
west and via Ogden landed in good time at 
Bozeman. For the subsequent five years he 
was occupied in the arduous work of freight¬ 
ing and farming and was about the country 
considerable seeing the various resources of 
the different localities. Finally in the summer 
of 1880 he came to the Hot Springs and lo¬ 
cated a homestead which is a part of his now 
fine estate. Since that time he has steadily- 
given his attention to farming and stockrais¬ 
ing and the success that always follows dili¬ 
gence and wisdom has come to him in abund¬ 
ant measure. 

On December 31, 1878, Mr. Rich married 
Julia L. Hamilton, the daughter of Charles 
and Lucina (Lenard) Hamilton, natives of 
Saint Lawrence county where, also, Mrs. Rich 
was born March 17, 1855. Three children 
are the fruit of this union, namely: Rex R., 
born August 20, 1880; Florence C., bom Au¬ 
gust 5, 1884, and Eliza L., born November 
24. 1890. 


In political matters Mr. Rich has always 
been a Republican. 


JESSE MARSH, residing on one of the 
finest and most eligible ranches in the Yellow¬ 
stone valley, six miles west of Billings, was 
born near Fort Wayne, Indiana, May 25, 1852. 
He is the son of Abraham and Silma (Twigg) 
Marsh, the former born near Dayton, Ohio,; the 
latter being a native of Maryland. The birth 
of the father was in 1824. When still a young 
lad he removed with his parents to Indiana 
where they settled on a farm. He was a Civil 
War veteran, a member of B company. Tenth 
Iowa Infantry. Previous to the war he had re¬ 
moved to Missouri, but with the opening of 
hostilities he passed over to Iowa and en¬ 
listed. Following the close of the war he re¬ 
turned to Iowa and engaged in farming near 
Des Moines. Later he removed to Missouri 
and thence to Wyoming, where he remained 
until his decease. The mother had died when 
our subject was at the tender age of four years. 

Jesse Marsh enjoyed the privileges of the 
district schools in his neighborhood and laid 
the foundation of a good commercial educa¬ 
tion. In 1867 he went to Dakota where he 
worked for wages. Thence, in 1874,^ he re¬ 
moved to Dawson county, Nebraska, where for 
twenty years he was engaged in farming. It 
was in 1895 that he came to Bozeman, Mon¬ 
tana, remaining there one year. To his present 
location he came eight years since. 

July 4, 1874, he was united in marriage to 
Sarah Wellet, a native of Linn county, Iowa, 
where she had grown to womanhood, and 
where she received an excellent education. She 
accompanied her parents from Iowa to Dakota 
in 1871, and here she was united in marriage to 
the subject of this, sketch. Her father, John A. 
Wellet, a native of Ohio, removed, first to 
Iowa, thence to Dakota and thence to Nebras¬ 
ka. To Mr. and Mrs. Marsh have been born 











A. M. CRAWFORD 


FRANCIS M. MCCARTY 















BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


4i7 


seven children, viz: William J., married, to 
Eliza Houte, Edward, married to Lena Dan- 
ford, Robert A., Carrie (deceased), Mrs. Lily 
Allen, wife of Robert Allen, Minnie, a student 
at the Montana State Normal School and 
Daisy, a student at home. Mr. Marsh is 
known as one of the leading men in the com¬ 
munity in which he resides and is highly es¬ 
teemed. Politically, he is a Republican and is 
fraternally affiliated with the Masons and the 
F. O. E. Mr. Marsh is vice-president of the 
Yellowstone Ditch company. 


J. L, S EL WAY, who resides near the 
Powder river bridge in Custer county, is to be 
credited with being about the first, if not the 
first man to bring sheep into Custer county, 
or what is now Custer county. In i88r he 
came across the country and the mountain 
ranges from Beaverhead county with a band 
of sheep, locating on the Powder river near 
Powderville, but finally making final location 
on Pumpkin creek. For six years he remained 
there, handling the sheep he had brought with 
him, having taken them on shares, and then 
he returned to Beaverhead county and still 
pursued the stock business. Just what success 
he had in this first venture in the sheep business 
in this section we are not told, but evidently 
it was good, for in due time, after continuing 
the stock business in southwestern Montana 
until 1902, he came back to Custer county and 
remained two years, and in April, 1904, he 
located the ranch where he is residing at the 
present time. He owns two hundred acres of 
good soil and is constructing a reservoir which 
will enable him to irrigate it all. When the 
water is turned' on the land it will become 
very valuable and the estate under the careful 
management of Mr. Selway will be one of the 
choice ones in this part of the county. Mr. 
Selway has a large band of sheep and is hand¬ 
ling them in addition to his ranch work. 

27 


As to the earlier portion of the life of our 
subject, we see that he was born in Pleasant 
Prairie, Wisconsin, July 31, 1861. His father, 
John R. Selway, was born in England, came 
to the United States when eleven years of age, 
followed farming in Wisconsin and in 1866, 
came on west to Montana. The trip consumed 
six months and was made by means of ox 
teams. He settled in Beaverhead county and 
engaged in stock raising and ranching until 
his death in 1902. He had married Miss Jane 
Reynolds, a native of Wales and an immigrant 
to this country with her parents when she was 
two years old. She died in Michigan in 1890. 
Our subject was only five years of age when 
the journey across the plains was taken, but 
he remembers much of the trip and in Beaver¬ 
head county he was reared and educated, the 
common schools contributing the latter train- 
ing. Then followed the incidents that we have 
already related and at the present time we see 
Mr. Selway at work reclaiming the desert land 
and in due time to make of it by his skill and 
careful attention to improvement one of the 
fine and valuable estates of the county. He is 
to be commended for his tenacity and his in¬ 
dustry in the lines he has followed and the fact 
that he brought sheep here across the moun¬ 
tains for a long distance and maintained a 
sheep ranch here amid difficulties speaks 
much for his resourceful character and the suc¬ 
cess he has gained. 


A. M. CRAWFORD, residing upon a 
handsomely located ranch one mile and one- 
half west of the city of Billings, was born in 
Maryland, January 17, 1853. He is the son of 
J. S. and Elizabeth (Hinkle) Crawford, the 
later a native of Maryland. The father of our 
subject was born in Pennsylvania, of Scotch- 
Irish ancestry. When about twenty years of 
age he removed to Maryland. Here he en¬ 
gaged in farming. The second day following 









4 iS 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


the assassination of President Abraham Lin¬ 
coln, J. S. Crawford started for Illinois, and 
in the latter state he remained until his death. 
His father, and paternal grandfather of our 
subject, was James Crawford, a native of j 
Pennsylvania. 

The mother of A. M. Crawford, Elizabeth, 
was of German ancestry. Her father, Jesse 
Hinkle, was also a native of Maryland, but his | 
father, the maternal great-grandfather of our 
subject, w r as a native of Germany. 

When yet a child our subject was taken by 
his parents to Illinois. Here he received an 
excellent education, partly in public schools of 
his vicinity and eventually graduating from the 
State Normal School of Illinois. He then took 
a course in law at the Bloomington, Illinois. 
Law School, but subsequently came west and 
was admitted to the bar in Montana in 1901. , 
Previous to this Mr. Crawford had taught 
school several years in Illinois. It was in 1878 
that he came to Helena, Montana, and in 1882 
he removed to the Yellowstone Valley. 

In 1889 Mr. Crawford was married to 
Sara A. Crawford, a native of Maryland. The 
wife is a daughter of W. D. F. and Hettie M. 
(Miller), the former a native of Pennsylvania, 
the latter of Virginia. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Crawford have been born three children, Hetty 
E., Herbert M. and Philip. 

Mr. Crawford braved public opinion and 
the laughs of wise heads and came from Helena 
to the Yellowstone Valley to raise fruit. Opin¬ 
ion has changed now since his fine success is 
patent to all. 


FRANCIS MARION McCARTY is cer¬ 
tainly one of the earliest pioneers of what 
is now the state of Montana, having arrived 
here in 1863, coming with his parents who 
located in Alder gulch. From that time to the 
present he has steadily made his way in this 


country and has accomplished much in develop¬ 
ment and building up, as he is an energetic 
man and has done a worthy part in pioneer 
labors. He was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, 
on March 15, 1852, the son of Stephen and 
Martha Annie (Goucher) McCarty, natives of 
Kentucky and Indiana, respectively, and de¬ 
scended from colonial stock. Our subject re¬ 
ceived his educational training in Indiana and 
Illinois, as the family went to that latter state 
before coming to Iowa in 1859, to Colorado 
in 1861 and to Montana in 1863. The father 
was fairly successful in his search for gold and 
Francis, although but a lad, was active in his 
work in the diggings. He was on the ground 
where Virginia City stands before a house was 
built there and remembers the days of vigi¬ 
lantes very vividly. He speaks freely of the 
three men whose graves were dug and who 
were to be hung for murder, but who were re¬ 
leased because of the sobs and weeping appeal 
of the only white woman in that vicinity. 
Later, about one year, one of them was appre¬ 
hended and hanged for another murder and 
was buried in the grave dug the year previous. 
Mr. McCarty remained in Alder Gulch until 
1867 and then went with his mother and 
brothers to the Gallatin valley where the 
mother secured a homestead. In 1872, having 
then become of age, our subject took a pre¬ 
emption close to his mother's place and there 
spent several years farming. In 1874, he sold 
his holdings there and secured placer ground 
in Emigrant gulch and tried his hand, once 
more, in mining, but meeting with indifferent 
success, he gave up mining and in the fall of 
1881 squatted on his -present place, which lies 
on Deep creek, ten miles up the Yellowstone 
from Livingston. When the Crow reservation 
was opened for settlement in 1886, he selected 
his place, it being the one where he had lived, 
and took it from the- government. It is one of 
the most beautiful spots in this vicinity, being 
so situated that one can view the country for 







BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


419 


miles, while the soil is exceptionally fertile and 
is supplied with an abundance of water for irri¬ 
gating. 

Mr. McCarty is a member of the Episco¬ 
palian church, having been confirmed by 
Bishop Tuttle, while in politics, he is a Repub¬ 
lican, but is not active. Mr. McCarty has 
done a lion's share of pioneer work and has 
carried well the real character of the path 
finder and is now enjoying the fruits of his 
labors in the land he materially assisted to open 1 
for settlement and the ingress of civilization. 


WILLIAM A. ALLEN, D. D. S., one of j 
the founders of Billings, and a writer of 
authority on the flora and fauna of the state 
of Montana, was born in Summerfield, No¬ 
ble county, Ohio, September 2, 1848. He is 
a son of Robert T. and Rachel (Guiler) Allen, 
the former of whom was a son of John and 
Mary (Blundle) Allen. This John Allen was 
a son of Sir John Allen, of England, and a 
cousin of Ethan Allen, of Ticonderoga fame. 
He was early a seafaring man, but later en¬ 
gaged in farming. The mother of the Doctor 
was a daughter of William and Mary (Frank¬ 
lin) Guiler, the former of whom was born j 
in Ireland, while the latter was a cousin of 
Benjamin Franklin, the printer, philosopher 
and diplomat. 

William A. Allen has for many years been 
a leading dentist of Montana, with home office 
in Billings. When he was twelve years of 
age, in 1866, he entered the normal school in 
his native town, where he continued his studies 
for a time, after which he gave attention to 
the blacksmith trade until 1877, also working 
as a gunsmith and showing marked mechan¬ 
ical talent. Early in 1877 he set forth for the 
Black Hills. At Spearfish he joined a party 
of 250 persons, and on their way they were 
attacked by Indians, and seven men and one 
woman were killed. Eventually the party was 


diminished to 154 persons and fifty wagons, 
over which Dr. Allen was placed as captain, 
and it proceeded on its way to Bozeman, Mon¬ 
tana. The doctor had selected a party and 
gone in pursuit of the attacking Indians and 
overtook them in the night, and the next 
morning gave evidence of the death of eleven* 
Indians. While he was thus absent from the 
train, eight wagon had left it and started for 
Red Water Crossing, where they were sur¬ 
rounded by the Indians and held in a perilous 
position until after the doctor’s party had re¬ 
turned to the train. With twenty men the 
Doctor started to relieve them, arriving about 
four o’clock in the morning. Quietly waiting 
until the savages charged on the train at day¬ 
break, they successfully repelled the attack and 
killed about a dozen Indians, the loss to the 
emigrants being only one man killed and three 
wounded, one of the wounded being Dr. Allen. 
He later was wounded several times in Indian 
conflicts. On the return to the camp at Spear¬ 
fish, Dr. Allen was made commander and he 
divided the train into four companies, headed 
by John Wuston, Hiram Bishoff, Captain 
Patent and Captain Houston, of Texas, the 
latter having charge of the bull outfit. They 
went up Belle Fourche river, passing old Fort 
Reno, thence through Wyoming by the site of 
Buffalo and old Fort Kearny, thence up 
Goose Creek, where one man was killed and 
two wounded by Indians. The party re¬ 
mained three days cn the Custer battle ground 
for a needed rest, and to afford opportunity 
| to examine the historic scenes of the massacre 
which occurred eleven months previously. 
Some of the party remained in that locality, 
while others proceeded towards Wind River 
by Prior’s Pass and Sage Creek to Stinking 
[ Water crossing, when another division oc¬ 
curred, some going to Crow agency, while the 
others went on to Camp Brown and Bozeman. 

Dr. Allen engaged in the blacksmith busi¬ 
ness in Bozeman, with Frank Harper, and later 
was a blacksmith for the Bozeman & Miles 









420 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


City stage line, also- acting as express mes¬ 
senger in the winter of 1877- He next was 
government blacksmith at Fort Custer, and in 
1879 he, in a skiff, went down Big Horn river 
to Fort Buford to meet his family, who came 
back with him. He located on Canyon creek 
and engaged in stock-raising and at his trade. 
In 1882 he removed to Coulson, where for 
some months he continued blacksmithing, 
when he removed to Billings, then a crude 
cluster of primitive cabins, and he there erected 
the first house in the Yellowstone valley hav¬ 
ing a shingle roof. 

In order to perfect himself in dentistry, 
at which he had worked to some extent, Dr. 
Allen went to Chicago in 1884, where he took 
the full course in Haskell’s Post-Graduate 
School of Dentistry, and he has since acquired 
a reputation as an expert dentist in both sur¬ 
gical and mechanical branches. He also took 
a Post-Graduate course at Kansas City and 
won a gold medal. In company with John L. 
Guiler, Dr. Allen owns 700 acres of valuable 
land on Clark’s Fork, where they founded 
the town of Allendale, named in honor of Dr. 
Allen, and this they maintain by stipulation in 
the conveyances as a prohibition town. Here 
they have erected a roller process flouring mill 
operated by water power at a cost of fully $15,- 
000. The Doctor is also largely interested in 
stock-raising. Doctor Allen is an “old timer,” 
a man of honesty of purpose, who is charita¬ 
ble in his judgment of his fellow men and ever 
ready to aid those worthy of succor. In poli¬ 
tics he supports the Prohibition party. In re¬ 
ligion both he and his wife are Methodists. 

Robert T. Allen, a brother of the Doctor, 
has been engaged in the practice of law in 
Billings since 1882. In 1874, in Ohio, Dr. 
Allen was united in marriage to Miss Jo¬ 
sephine Houston, daughter of John Houston, 
who died from disease contracted in the army 
during the Civil War. In 1887 Dr. Allen 
was married to Miss Mollie Finkelburg, a 
daughter of Hon. A. Finkelburg, of Fountain 


City, Wisconsin. Of the first marriage two 
children were born: William O., and Robert 
T., both of whom are associated with their 
father in the practice of dentistry, and the 
only child of the second marriage is a daugh¬ 
ter, Lei ah. Dr. Allen is a typical westerner, 
enjoying the wild, free life of the early days 
and has had many thrilling adventures in his 
numerous hunting excursions, and has a record 
as an Indian fighter of distinction. He is still 
in the dental practice in Billings. 


WILLIAM ROWLAND has had an ex¬ 
perience of nearly sixty years in the west, both 
on the plains, in the mountains and in vari¬ 
ous capacities. He knows.the country thor¬ 
oughly from the British possessions to Mexico 
and has traveled to every portion. At pres¬ 
ent he resides some three miles south of Lame 
Deer and is engaged in stock-raising, having a 
fine band of horses. Mr. Rowland was born 
in Louisville, Kentucky, on July 10, 1832. 
His father, James Rowland, was bom in the 
same place and crossed the plains to Colorado 
in 1862, whence he came to Montana, where 
he remained until his death. His wife, Miss 
Rhoda Hickman, in maiden life was also a 
native of Kentucky. Our subject came with 
his parents from Kentucky to Missouri when 
a child and remembers well the early days in 
Hannibal, where his father settled and built 
the seventh house in what is now a prosperous 
city. He opened the first grocery store there 
and there it was that our subject received his 
education. When only twelve years of age, 
William C. went out into the world for him¬ 
self and since which time he has seen all sorts 
of experiences. As early as 1848 he was at 
the American Fur Company’s trading post, 
which is at Fort Laramie and remained there 
one summer. Returning to Iowa, he went the 
next spring to Washington, D. C., to join an 
exploring expedition that the government was 










421 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


preparing to send into the west. They went 
to Salt Lake and remained one winter, there 
being' forty-two men in the party. From the 
time of that enlistment for twenty-seven suc¬ 
cessive years, Mr. Rowland was occupied in 
government service, being most of the time 
interpreter. He speaks the French and Span¬ 
ish language and is conversant with nearly all 
the Indian languages in the west, including the 
Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapahoe, Crow, etc. Much 
of the time he was employed as scout and 
guide. It would be a very interesting book that 
would record the expeditions he served in 
during these years. In 1878 Mr. Rowland 
came to Fort Keogh and since that time he has 
been within the boundaries of Montana. Seven 
years since, or about 1899, he quit the govern¬ 
ment service and settled where we now find 
him, and he is giving his attention to stock- 
raising and general farming. 


WILLIAM W. YOUNG was born in San 
Antonio, Texas, on January 26, 1869, has 
traveled over a portion of the world and now 
resides one mile east of Reed, being one of the 
prosperous and well-to-do stockmen of Sweet 
Grass county. His father, Mandit A., was 
born in Franklin county, Tennessee, and came 
to Texas in 1872, earlier than Sam Houston, 
and in that state he spent .the balance of his 
life. He fought under Houston during the 
Mexican War and died in 1883. He married 
Louise B. Warren, a native of Massachusetts, 
and a first cousin of General Warren, who was 
killed in the Civil War. Our subject had two 
uncles killed in the Alamo and remembers be¬ 
ing taken by his elder brother to see that now 
historic place. Our subject left home early 
and took up the life of a cowboy, driving cattle 
from Texas to Wyoming and then to The 
Dalles, Oregon. He rode the range from 
Mexico to Canada for several years, being 
about nine years on the trail, continuing the 


same until the fences drove the large stockmen 
out. While working for Sun & Johnson, he 
left Devil’s Gate, Wyoming, riding to Miles 
City, thence to Dickson, North Dakota, it be¬ 
ing 1882, whence he rode to Winnebago, Min¬ 
nesota, and from there to Port Arthur, and so 
on down the lakes to Montana. He next went 
to New London, Connecticut, and shipped to 
Buenos Ayres, South America, then across the 
ocean to Africa, thence north to Kimberly, 
and Cairo, Egypt, and then to European points, 
Returning to South America, he spent some 
time on the Amazon river and got back to 
Raft River, Idaho, after a trip of three years. 
He went back on the range and rode as stated 
until the fences drove the large men out, when 
he settled on his present ranch on one-quarter 
section. This was in 1896, and he purchased 
the place for five hundred dollars. Leaving 
the place for his brother to conduct, he went 
away and came back in the fall of 1898 and 
bought a ranch near by. Later his brother 
died and he took possession of the property he 
had been renting and has conducted it since. 
Mr. Young has been giving his attention to 
raising blooded cattle and has now about three 
hundred choice thoroughbred and graded 
Herefords, besides a band of sheep. He has 
met with excellent success in his work and is 
rated one of the well-to-do stockmen of the 
county. 

Mr. Young affiliates with the M. W. A. 
at Reed. He is independent in politics, but 
takes a very active part in educational matters. 
He is one of the jolly bachelors of the county 
and one of the substantial citizens of Montana. 


ARTHUR BITLE, whose years have 
lengthened the thread to the golden time of 
life, is one of the prosperous and prominent 
men of Custer county, as well as one of the 
pioneers of the state. He is dwelling about 
four miles east from Miles City, where he has 
a choice rural abode and one of the valuable 











422 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


farms of the valley. He has the satisfaction of 
knowing that the farm, the improvements and 
the good buildings have all been wrought out 
by his own plans and oversight, as the land 
was raw and the place without improvement 
of any kind when he came here. As Mr. Bitle 
is well known over the county, a detailed ac¬ 
count of his life will be interesting to all. In 
Prussia, his birth occurred, and his parents are 
Conrad and Martha (Kellerman) Bitle, both 
natives of Prussia. In 1843 they all came to 
the United States and finally landed in Quincy, 
Illinois, having just twenty-seven dollars in 
German money when they got to their destina¬ 
tion. There were five children in the family 
and the father went to work at once receiving 
fifty cents per day for his services. Our sub¬ 
ject was the eldest of the children and he se¬ 
cured work at five dollars per month. By be- 
in economical they soon had money enough 
to enable them to get onto a piece of rented 
land and soon they bought some land of their 
own, as land was then cheap. Our subject was 
educated in Germany, the teacher being a man 
who had been appointed by the king and who 
was fond of the cup so that he neglected his 
duties. His pupils numbered two hundred and 
very little individual care was given to any one. 
Mr. Bitle was sixteen when he landed in the 
United States and by careful study he soon 
managed to read and write the English lan¬ 
guage and he has been a careful observer and 
reader since. He gained much of his start by 
attending the church and Sunday school. In 
1852 he went to California, via the Isthmus, 
and worked on a ranch. In 1853 he returned 
to Illinois and purchased a farm near Quincy. 
In 1865 he went to California by the Isthmus 
again and returned the same year. In all he 
crossed the Isthmus nine times and in 1866 he 
went across the plains by teams to California 
and bought land near Santa Rosa. Selling 
out the same year he returned to Quincy and 
remained three years. Then he bought a farm 
in Lewis county, Missouri, and there made his 


home until 1883, at which time he came to the 
vicinity of Forsyth and engaged in the cattle 
business. For a decade he was found there in 
that business and then he sold his interests and 
came to his present place. At the time of his 
settlement here, the land was in a raw state and 
he commenced with the sod to make a home 
and develop one of the choice ranches of Cus¬ 
ter county. Mr. Bitle has fine buildings and 
his entire farm shows skill and thrift in the 
proprietor. 

In 1867, Mr. Bitle married Miss Caroline 
L. Dickhut, the daughter of Christian and Jo¬ 
sephine (Smith) Dickhut, natives of Berlin. 
The father was of French ancestry and came 
to Quincy, Illinois, when young and there re¬ 
mained until his death. Mrs. Bitle was born 
in Quincy and there was reared and educated. 
She accompanied her husband to California 
in 1867. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Bitle are Emmett; Edith, the wife of J. A. 
Chrisman; Orville, a merchant -at Forsyth; 
Ada Wilson, Joe Fred, Elsie, James and 
Edna. 

Mr. Bitle is a man who takes great interest 
in the advancement' and welfare of the county 
and was for a term of years commissioner, and 
in his public record, as in his private life, one 
sees the same stanch care for the interests of 
the people as he displayed for his own private 
business. His wisdom and ability are com¬ 
mended by those who know him and his acts 
in the commissioner’s office were for the in¬ 
terests of the people and the advancement of 
the county. 


OWEN LOVERING resides three miles 
west from Sidney, Montana, is one of the well- 
to-do stockmen and farmers of Dawson county 
and one of the pioneers of this section of Mon¬ 
tana. Even before coming to Montana, Mr. 
Lovering had long and extended experience 
in various other portions of the west and was 










BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


423 


a genuine frontiersman in the full sense of the 
word. He was born at Hill, New Hampshire, 
October 13, 1852, the son of Moses M. and 
Philena (Rowell) Lovering. The father was 
a physician, born in New Hampshire in 1812, 
educated in Massachusetts, went west in 1868 
and died in one of the- southwestern states in 
1870. His widow was born in New Hampshire 
Ma y 2 5 > !8o 8. She was educated and mar¬ 
ried in 1838. New Hampshire was her home 
until 1863, when she came west with her hus¬ 
band to Jacksonville, Iowa, and a year later 
went to Fillmore county, Minnesota, whence 
in 1880 she came to Miles City and a year 
later removed to Sidney. She died at the home 
of her son on March 6, 1900, in Newlon, Mon¬ 
tana. Mr. Lovering has two brothers, F. H., 
at Newlon, and C. H., in Sidney, both farmers. 
Until fifteen years of age our subject remained 
in New Hampshire, attended school, then 
studied some in Minnesota and in 1870 came 
to Dakota, where he followed freighting for 
two years. Then he went back to Minnesota 
and farmed until 1876, when he came again 
to the Black Hills in South Dakota and pros¬ 
pected for gold for one year. After that he 
embarked into the cattle business in that sec¬ 
tion, but owing to the hostilities of the Indians, 
he gave it up and returned to Yankton, then 
journeyed south to Texas, where he continued 
in the cattle business for two years. After 
that he went back to Minnesota, settled up the 
affairs of the estate and came to Miles City in 
1881. Here he engaged in hunting buffaloes 
for some time. By an accidental shot he lost 
his right arm at the shoulder, but still con¬ 
tinued in the business of hunting buffaloes. 
Then he took a homestead and has since been 
farming and raising stock. He was the first 
one to break up the sod on a farm in the Yel¬ 
lowstone river in this section. Mr. Lovering 
has shown himself a man of ability and prin¬ 
ciple and has won a success, both in the finan¬ 
cial world and in the standing among his fel¬ 
lows that is very enviable, indeed. 


In 1876, when coming to the Black Hills, 
his company had a fight with the Sioux In¬ 
dians and in the encounter lost five men. On 
many other occasions he has met hostile In¬ 
dians, but always escaped unscathed, although 
he has had many adventures and thrilling times 
that he could relate. 

In 1883, Mr. Lovering married Miss El¬ 
sie Slawson, who was born in New York state 
November 26, 1863. She received her edu¬ 
cation in Minnesota and there remained until 
1878, when she came west to the vicinity pf 
Glendive. Her father, Eben Slawson, was a 
farmer, born in New York state October 21, 
1824, served two years in the Civil War among 
the New York Volunteers, came to Osakis, 
Minnesota, in 1867 and nine years later re¬ 
moved to Taylor county, Iowa, whence he 
came in 1879, his death occurring July 20, 
1905, at Cashmere, Washington. They had 
four children,' two boys and two girls, Mrs. 
Lovering and a brother, Frank, at Cashmere, 
Washington, are the only ones now living. Mr. 
and Mrs. Lovering have four children, Leslie, 
aged twenty-two; Ersul E., aged ninteen; 
Harrison, aged seventeen; Herbert, aged fif¬ 
teen, all at home with their parents near Sid¬ 
ney. Mr. Lovering is a strong Republican and 
takes an active interest in such matters. He 
owns three thousand acres of land, has large 
bands of cattle and horses and is considered 
one of the leading stockmen of Dawson 
county. 


WARREN O. SIRRINE, deceased. The 
memory of W. O. Sirrine is cherished by many 
people who knew him during his life of activ¬ 
ity, and he was certainly one of the jstanch 
builders of the country around Chance, and 
especially the Clarke’s Fork valley. He was 
born in Wayne county Pennsylvania, on Oc¬ 
tober 15, 1842, the son of Robert O. and Lu- 
rinda (Sevens) Sirrine. The former was born 









424 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


in Pennsylvania and came to Clear Lake, Iowa, 
in very early days when the Indians were plen¬ 
tiful, and hostile also. He remained in the 
vicinity where he first settled until 1888, 
when he moved to Laurel, Montana, and there 
remained until his death. His wife, who was 
also a native of the Keystone State, died in 
Clear Lake, Iowa. 

Our subject came to Iowa when he was a 
lad of eleven years and had very little oppor¬ 
tunity to gather an education. His playmates 
were the Indian children and he remembers 
well the outbreaks of the Indians when the 
settlers were compelled to leave the country. 
He went to school at Waterloo, Iowa, and 
when he had arrived at the age of majority he 
began farming for himself.. In 1878, he went 
thence to Minnesota and there secured a farm 
and labored until his advent into Montana. He 
arrived on about the first train that pulled into 
Glendive, then a village of tents, and took a 
ranch on Bell Prairie. He was instrumental in 
organizing the first district and his wife taught 
the first school, it being held in his house. Mrs. 
Sirrine ■ remarks that the scholars were mostly 
her own children, as scarcely any others were 
in-the district. In 1888 Mr. Sirrine came to 
Laurel, where he engaged in ranching. While 
here he used tQ make many trips to the east in 
the interests of buying and selling stock, and 
during his absences, his wife would always' 
conduct the ranch. Later he came to the terri¬ 
tory that is now embraced in Big Horn county. 
Wyoming, and opened a ranch, just over the 
line. He was one of the very first settlers on 
the Clarke’s Fork and his energy and progres¬ 
siveness showed what the country was and 
what it would do under the proper handling. 
He continued his stock business and also did 
ranching. In later years his health failed and 
in search of that which would restore it he 
went to California, but instead of receiving the 
object of his quest he steadily grew worse and 
within four months from the time he landed 
there he was called to cross the river of death. 


His wife returned with the remains to Billings, 
where they were interred. His death occurred 
in November, 1905. 

Mrs. Sirrine was born in Greensburg, Ohio, 
and went when a small girl with her parents 
to Wisconsin. They soon returned to Ohio 
and in that state and in Wisconsin she received 
her educational training. Also, when the fam¬ 
ily went out west to Iowa, she still studied in 
the schools there. Her marriage occurred in 
Clear Lake, Iowa, and with her husband she 
made the trip out west to Montana. Mrs. Sir¬ 
rine has always been very active in the work 
of education and in advancing its interests. 
While she was on the ranch for many years, 
she conducted a road house and her husband 
established the postoffice at Clark, Wyoming, 
which she was postmistress of later. She is 
a stanch member of the Congregational 
church and the first sermon preached by that 
denomination in these parts was delivered in 
her own house. She is a highly esteemed lady 
and has done very much to lift up and advance 
those with whom she has come in contact dur¬ 
ing her life. 

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Sirrine 
are named as follows: Earl, Clarence, Clara, 
the wife of John Harpster; Orton, Dora, the 
wife of C. S. Henry; Henry, Hattie, the wife 
of Eugene Thomas; Neil, and Lena. 


WILLIAM J. SCOTT, proprietor of the 
Billings Steam Laundry, at Billings, was born 
in Selkirkshire, Scotland, July 30, 1863. His 
father, James Scott, a native of the same place, 
came to Canada in 1878. In Scotland, Ireland 
and Wales, he had been land steward of three 
extensive estates^ and he was a member of the 
old Lowland Scott Clan. He bought six hun¬ 
dred acres of land in Canada, Huron county, 
Helen (Brydon) Scott, was a native of the 
Ontario, where he died in 1902. The mother, 
same country, and came of the same Lowland 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


425 


family. At present she lives at the old home 
in Canada. 

The public schools of Scotland contributed 
to the early education of our subject, he at 
times walking seven miles morning and even¬ 
ing to attend school. He passed two years in 
Canada, where he learned the trade of a car¬ 
penter, and also studied drafting and archi¬ 
tecture. For fifteen years he followed his 
business of contracting and building in Min¬ 
nesota, Missouri, Colorado Springs, Ogden, 
Utah, coming to Billings in 1898. At the ter¬ 
mination of two years he purchased a one-half 
interest in his present laundry business. Janu¬ 
ary 1, 1906, he bought the interest of his 
partner. 

Politically, our subject has ever taken a 
lively interest in Republican politics. He' is 
chairman of the executive committee of Yel¬ 
lowstone county. In 1894, at Ogden, Utah, 
he was united in marriage to Clara Douglas, 
born in that city, and who was called from 
earth six weeks following the music of the 
wedding bells. In 1900, Mr. Scott was united 
in marriage to Clarissa Faux, born in Marion, 
Utah. She died in 1901, fourteen months after 
marriage. October 14, 1903, Mr. Scott was 
married to Mary A. Newman, a native of 
Montana. 

Our subject has three brothers, Robert, in 
New Zealand, who for twenty years was drum 
major in the life guards; Alexander, a farmer 
on the home place in Canada, and John, a 
druggist in British Columbia. He has one sis¬ 
ter, Isabella, single and a resident of Canada. 

Fraternally, our subject is a member of the 
Elks, W. O. W., Royal Highlanders and A. O. 
U. W. 


CLARENCE SIRRINE, a rancher and 
stockman residing one and one-half miles south 
of Chance, is one of the younger citizens of 
this section, although he has also been here a 


sufficient length of time to entitle him to the 
position of pioneer, and he has certainly done 
the pioneer’s work. His birth occurred at 
Clear Lake, Iowa, on March 6, 1872, his par¬ 
ents being Warren O. and Mary E. (Coates) 
Sirrine, who are especially mentioned else¬ 
where in this work. When a child he went 
with the balance of the family to Minnesota, 
where he attended his first school. Thence 
they journeyed to Glendive, Montana, where 
he continued his studies, being one of the stu¬ 
dents. in the first school, his mother being 
teacher. He grew up on the stock ranch and 
was busy much of the time on the range and 
many an exciting run has he had when the Red¬ 
skins were after him, but he always escaped 
with his life. The Groveons, a small tribe of 
early Montana, were camped near lfis parents' 
home, and the Sioux Indians were the enemies 
of these Indians and many a battle did they 
wage back and forth. It was the unusual priv¬ 
ilege of our subject to watch several of these 
deadly combats, and their memory is still viv¬ 
idly before him. His parents were the only 
white people within fifteen miles and they were 
the pioneers in the true sense of the word, be¬ 
ing the very first settlers in this section of the 
country. Often times when Mr. Sirrine was 
absent on business, his wife being alone with 
the children, the Indians would come about and 
scare the children and frequently would they 
force our subject to turn grindstone while they 
sharpened their knives. Then for reward they 
would seize his scalp locks and motion with 
the sharpened knife as if they were about to 
sever the scalp from his head. These days 
were not the pleasantest in Montana life, but 
they have had their place and it is very pleas¬ 
ant, though, now that our subject who braved 
the times of trouble is enabled to enjoy the 
fruits of his labor in the incoming civilization 
that has made the state so prosperous. 

In 1902, Mr. Sirrine married Miss Ella 
Johnston, a native of New Matamoras, Ohio. 
She came to Kearney, Nebraska, with her par- 








426 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


ents when a girl of fourteen and thence she 
came to Montana in 1900. She was occupied 
in teaching school in Nebraska and also in 
Montana. Her parents, James and Laveni 
(McWilliams) Johnston, were natives of 
Ohio, and were people always greatly inter¬ 
ested in education and literary work and the 
result is that they encouraged their children in 
the pursuit of education to the end that all are 
well trained mentally and are a cultured family. 
Mr. Sirrine is one of the successful and re¬ 
spected men of this section and has the esteem 
and confidence of all. 


ALBAN D. SPANG is a man who has 
had much experience in traveling to various 
portions of the United States. He was born 
in Tuolumne county, California, on May 29, 
1855, and now lives four miles south from 
Lame Deer. His father, Peter Spang, was 
born in Alsace, now a part of Germany. He 
came to Connecticut with his parents when 
nine years old and there resided until 1849, 
when he journeyed via the isthmus to Cali¬ 
fornia and followed mining there for about 
fourteen years, after which he returned to 
Connecticut, then went to Iowa and thence 
to Florida. After that to Wisconsin and later 
to Wyoming, where he remained until has 
death. His wife in maiden life was Miss 
Harriett Hubbard, a native of Bridgeport, 
Connecticut. She went to California via the 
isthmus to join her husband in 1853, being ac¬ 
companied by her two children. As there 
was no railroad on the isthmus then, they were 
transported upon mules and one child rode a 
mule and the other was carried by a native. 
Mrs. Spang is still living in Wyoming. Our 
subject was ten years old when the family 
went from California to Connecticut and in 
the latter state and Iowa he received his edu¬ 
cation from the common schools. In 1876 he 


came to the Black Hills and there followed 
freighting for sometime. After that he was 
occupied in freighting for the military in Wy¬ 
oming and finally in 1894, he came to his 
present location and settled down to stock- 
raising. 

Mr. Spang married Lucy Harris, the 
daughter of Captain James Kayle, who was 
stationed for years at Fort Laramie. Mr. 
Spang has some nice herds of stock and 
breeds excellent mules. He is well known and 
a man of good standing. 


THOMAS R. AUSTIN, one of the lead- 
-ing citizens of Carbon county, is at present 
mayor of Red Lodge, having been elected in 
1906. He is a man who has risen by his own 
efforts and has climbed the ladder successfully 
to a position of competence and holds the re¬ 
spect and esteem of all who know him. His 
birth occurred on a farm in Hastings county, 
Ontario, July 5, 1858, his parents being Joseph 
and Katherine (Hurst) Austin, the former a 
native of the north of Ireland and the latter of 
Pennsylvania. The father came with his par¬ 
ents to Canada in 1854 and settled on the 
frontier. He was married in 1856 and his 
death occurred in New York. The widow is 
still living in Seymour, Wisconsin. Thomas 
R. was educated in the public schools of his 
native place and in 1878 went thence to Al¬ 
pena, Michigan, and soon was in the lumber 
woods. The following spring he drove on the 
Alpena river and in July, 1879 came on west 
to Wisconsin, where lumbering and farming 
occupied him till 1881, in which year he located 
at Granite Falls, Minnesota. He did plaster¬ 
ing, which trade he had learned and came to 
Montana in October, 1882. He was soon en¬ 
gaged in the construction department of the 
Northern Pacific building chimneys and set¬ 
ting stationary engines. In March, 1883, he 
put up the chimneys of the first depots in Liv- 







BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


427 


ingston. After that he helped to burn the first 
brick manufactured in Livingston and in July 
of the same year, 1883, he went to the National 
Park and followed his trade there. Also he 
was engaged in freighting and other occupa¬ 
tions and did passenger driving in the park. 
He located at Nye, purchased lots and erected 
some buildings and turned his attention to bar- 
bering. Later the camp went down and he lost 
all his property. In 1887 we find him in Red 
Lodge which was then just starting. Since 
that time he has resided here and on his farms, 
having three quarters of ,good land, besides 
some fine business property on Main street, in 
Red Lodge. He also has a large dwelling and 
other property. 

The marriage of Mr. Austin and Annie 
Sheridan occured at Billings on May 10, 1888, 
and they have four children, two sons and two 
daughters. Mrs. Austin comes from Blooming 
Prairie, Minnesota. Mr. Austin is affiliated 
with the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, 
and the Eagles. The family are identified with 
the Episcopalian church. In political matters 
we find Mr. Austin is a close student of social¬ 
istic principles and he votes accordingly. 


LUDLOW B. RENO, attorney at law, 
residing at Chance, Montana, is known far 
and near in Carbon county and other portions 
of the west. He is a man of great activity 
and energy, has been connected with many 
enterprises and is now giving his entire atten¬ 
tion to the practice of his profession. Mr. 
Reno is distinctively a self-made man, and one, 
too, who did not stop when the job was “half 
done” as the renowned Mark Twain remarks 
about one of his characters. When other 
men were resting from their labors, Mr. Reno 
was toiling away with his books and aug¬ 
menting the training that was lacking in his 
educational career when a lad. To follow the 


path of his life will be interesting to all and 
with pleasure we enter into the same somewhat 
in detail. 

In far away Beaver county, Pennsylvania, 
on February 26, 1842, there was born to John 
and Elizabeth (Barris) Reno, a son afterward 
named Ludlow B. John Reno was a well- 
; to-do farmer, a native of this same Beaver 
county. In 1843 when Ludlow was an infant 
; of one year the father determined to try the 
west, and accordingly went to Indiana, that be¬ 
ing well out west in those days. Eleven years 
were spent there in pioneer work, opening up 
j a farm and so forth. Then he came on with 
j the ever advancing tide of the restless Ameri- 
; can people, to Iowa where he settled down, oc¬ 
cupying himself with farming and stock-rais¬ 
ing until the time of his death. John Reno 
, was a direct descendant of the original Reno 
family that came to America in the early colo- 
j nial days from France and settled in Pennsyl¬ 
vania. Our subject’s mother was born in 
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, descending from an 
old family. Her mother’s maiden name was. 
j Fumbell and the Fumbell family was also 
I early settlers in the colonies from France. 

In the woods of Indiana there was little 
1 opportunity to gain an education and Ludlow 
| Ijeing a very strong and active boy he ’ was 
well occupied in the arduous labors of assist¬ 
ing his father on the farm. He was about 
twelve when he came to Iowa with the family 
' and there, too, little opportunity presented it¬ 
self for him to secure training from the 
schools, and the fact of the matter is that Mr. 
Reno attended school but one term in all his 
! life. But that could in no way quell the desire 
in him to study. How he learned to read, he 
does not remember, but learn he did and then 
I woe to the book that came within his grasp, 
for it was devoured and thus by poring over 
j volumes that he could secure, he stored his 
1 mind with the necessary knowledge to fire his 
heart for more. But education consists in 






428 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


knowing things and, as well, and sometimes 
more important, in knowing how to use the 
knowledge that has been gained. Hiere is 
where Mr. Reno manifested the real wisdom of 
his nature, for he was enabled to so put to use 
the knowledge that he gained that he always 
was using it for its full worth. What a pre¬ 
cious faculty this is is only understood by 
those who have watched the workings of such 
wisdom. Many a man has been put through 
the universities by fond parents, polished, too, 
with all that skilled professors could do, but 
who showed himself utterly helpless when 
called upon to use the knowledge that he had 
acquired, and because of this lack of wisdom 
to know how much to apply his store of accu¬ 
mulation he has made a failure. Many such 
are. to be found on every hand, and so it is 
that the self-made man is always in the lead. 
He has had a hard time to get the store of 
knowledge and that has wrought in him a 
skill to use what he has until the better part 
of the man’s education after all, namely, the 
power to wisely utilize what he has, is much 
mere developed and augmented than it is in 
the man who has had lavished on him all the 
advantages of the higher institutions. It is 
of worth to remember that when the immortal 
Lincoln addressed the gathering at Gettys¬ 
burg, after the renowned orator, Wendell 
Phillips, had pronounced the classic his great 
skill had prepared for the occasion, he so far 
outdid the work of Phillips that the latter 
remarked, he would trade his life work for 
the ability to make one such speech. Wendell 
Phillips was a master orator, but he had never 
split rails and that was the key to the situation. 
This gives a little illustration of the thought 
we desire to bring out in connection with the 
life of Mr. Reno. He is self-made, has per¬ 
fected to a great degree the wisdom of know¬ 
ing how to use the knowledeg he gained over 
the midnight oil. 

When the dark clouds of fratricidal strife 
rent the nation and the call came for troops 


to stem the awful devastation, Mr. Reno, then 
nineteen years of age, responded quickly and 
was numbered in the Third Iowa Cav¬ 
alry, Company E. He went in as pri¬ 
vate and was in command of a com¬ 
pany at the time of his honorable dis¬ 
charge, although his commission had not 
yet been issued. Here, again, we see 
the manner of man, for, not as many who 
fought a battle and then quit, Mr. Reno re¬ 
mained until the work was done for which 
the awful war was waged, and then he laid 
aside the implements of death that he might 
give his hand to assist in the rebuilding of the 
nation that had so sadly suffered. His regi¬ 
ment had been in some severe work, as on 
Wilsort’s raid and other equally hard, it being 
a part of the Sixteenth Corps. 

From the soldier’s camp Mr. Reno went to 
his Iowa home and soon removed to Saunders 
county, Nebraska, and engaged in farming. 
He took up the study of law while engaged in 
farming and pressed his studies so that in due 
time he was admitted to the bar. However, 
he had allowed his name to be placed on the 
Democratic ticket for sheriff of that county 
and he was promptly elected. So well did he 
discharge the duties incumbent on him that he 
was called upon to serve a second term. This 
completed he entered the practice of law until 
1876, the year when the great rush poured into 
the famous Black Hills country. Mr. Reno 
was a man of aggressiveness and the spirit of 
the west took possession of him and he soon 
was among the voyageurs that, sought the 
golden sands of that favored region. He was 
among the first ones in the Hills and his ex¬ 
periences there were fraught with many excit¬ 
ing occurrences. Judge Reno, as he became to 
be familiarly known, was a prominent figure 
in Custer county,- where he remained until 
1895, when he again came “west,” this time to 
i locate in Red Lodge, where he was elected 
prosecuting attorney the next year. Two 
I terms he served in that office and then he 





BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


429 


transferred his residence to Chance where we 
find him at the present time, engaged in the 
practice of law. Mr. Reno is a great favorite 
with the younger people, especially, as he takes 
a great interest in providing things for their 
education and advancement and, under his 
fostering care, he has conducted a lyceum for 
debates and so forth and the result is that 
many a one has been brought out to stir up the 
talent in him by this means that might have 
slumbered on. 

On November 16, 1865, Mr. Reno mar¬ 
ried Miss Lucinda Stansberry, a native of In¬ 
diana and the daughter o'f John and Esther 
(Rice) Stansberry. Her parents were born 
in New York. To Mr. and Mrs. Reno three 
children have been born, namely. William 
A., a rancher in Carbon county; Bertha, wife 
of Joseph Pitt; and Walter, a rancher in Car¬ 
bon county. Mrs. Reno is postmistress at 
Chance and also conducts a mercantile estate 
lishment. 

Mr. Reno is a Democrat and has always 
been a wheel horse in the campaigns. He is 
a well known speaker of ability and his ser¬ 
vices are greatly in demand on all occasions. 
Especially is he forceful and convincing in po¬ 
litical work and his pleas at the bar are listened 
to with interest by all. Mr. Reno is dis¬ 
tinctively a man of practical ideas and he has 
always been a person with the courage of his 
convictions. He has passed three score years 
in the activities of life, but he is still hale and 
hearty, genial as ever, well liked by all and a 
man whose career shows many points both of 
interest and commendation. 


NATHANIEL G. CARWILE, judge of 
the police court of the city of Billings, and sec¬ 
retary of the Montana State Realty Company, 
was born in Edgeville county, South Carolina, 
January 7, 1855, the son of Zachariah W. 
Carwile, also a native of South Carolina. His 


father and grandfather came from England. 
Zachariah W. was a planter in the ante¬ 
bellum days, and being, also, an attorney, was 
for many years a commissioner in equity, and 
was considered the best equipped equity lawyer 
in the section in which he resided, confining 
his practice entirely to the courts of equity. His 
father was a planter and for twenty years 
sheriff of Newberry county. When a young 
man his grandfather had come from England 
and located in South Carolina during the 
days of the Revolution and served in the Con¬ 
tinental army under Marion and Sumter. 

Our subject received an excellent educa¬ 
tion, graduating from the King’s County Mil¬ 
itary Institute, following which he engaged in 
the mercantile business at Augusta, Georgia, 
until 1878, when he came west. He followed 
stock-raising in western Nebraska and in 1881 
was engaged in the same avocation in the Pow¬ 
der river country, Wyoming. In 1882 he was 
elected clerk and recorder of Johnson county, 
Wyoming, serving two terms. For two years 
he was deputy treasurer. It was in 1892 that 
he came to Montana, to Butte, where he en¬ 
gaged in the brokerage business until 1894, 
when he located at Billings. He was chief 
accountant with Yeggen Brothers until Jan¬ 
uary, 1897, when he was appointed deputy 
clerk and recorder, and elected clerk and re¬ 
corder in 1898, serving two terms. Subse¬ 
quently he was appointed city clerk and follow¬ 
ing the termination of office he became police 
judge. 

May 15, 1884, Mr. Carwile was married 
at Buffalo, Wyoming, to Lizzie Green, a na¬ 
tive of Canton, Missouri. She is the daughter 
of James S. and Elizabeth (Reese) Green, 
both natives of Virginia. Her father comes of 
an old and prominent Virginian family the 
members of which participated loyally in the 
War of the Revolution. He served as United 
States senator during the administration of 
President Buchanan, from Missouri. He died 
in 1872. 









430 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


The family of the mother of our subject 
was prominent in old Virginia affairs, being 
members of the bench, bar, etc. At present 
she resides with her son. The latter has four 
children: James Green, aged 21, a civil engi¬ 
neer; Frances Gertrude, aged 18, a high 
school student; Nathaniel G., aged 16, a school 
boy, and Edward A., aged 7. He has three 
brothers living: Thomas W., Zachariah \V. 
and James, a merchant in Deadwood, South 
Dakota. He has lost three brothers: John 
R : , William E. and Henry. Mrs. Carwile 
has one brother and three sisters: Thomas J., 
Mrs. George Van Worden, Mrs. James M. 
Loblan and Mrs. William A. Murphy. Mr. 
Carwile has four sisters: Mrs. Goode Mob- 
erly, Sarah C., Mrs. Lucia A. Latimer and 
Mrs. Whitfield Moberly. By death he lost 
one sister, an infant. 

Fraternally our subject is a member of 
Ashler Lodge, No. 29, F. & A. M., being past 
master of same; Past C- C., Rathbone Lodge, 
No. 28, K. of P.; W. O. W., of which he is 
past consul commander; the Billings Club and 
past president of the Billings F. O. E., No. 
176. 


MARTIN LENNON hails from county 
Wicklow, Ireland, where he was born, April 
18, 1862. His parents, Hugh and Kate 
(Murphy) Lennon, were born there also and 
there they reside at the present time. Our 
subject was educated in his native place and 
at the proper age was apprenticed to learn 
the blacksmith trade. He mastered that by 
the time he was eighteen and then it being 
1880, he decided to bid farewell to his home 
land and journeyed to the United States. 
After landing here, he spent sometime work¬ 
ing in New York and then went to St. Louis 
and wrought at his trade. Finally in 1887 
he enlisted in the First United States Cavalry 
and was sent to Fort Custer, Montana. He 


remained in the service until his honorable 
discharge in 1890, then went back to St. Louis 
and there was occupied for four years. Then 
Mr. Lennon decided to try Montana once more 
and accordingly came hither and homesteaded 
the place where he now resides, some three 
miles north of Lame Deer. Since that time 
he has given his attention to general farming 
and stock-raising and has met with a reasona¬ 
ble success. 

In 1897 Mr. Lennon married Bridget 
Murphy, a native of Wexford county, Ireland, 
and they have five children: Hugh, Kate, 
Martin, James and Thomas. 


PAUL H. CARLTON, who resides 
two miles east of Reed, Montana, was bom 
in Stearns County, Minnesota, in 1874. His 
parents being Francis and Lydia (Duncan) 
Carlton, the latter of whom died fourteen years 
since. The father was a native of Portland, 
Maine, born in 1840, and came to Minnesota 
about 1849 an d still- lives in that state. He 
saw active service in the Civil War in Com¬ 
pany C, with the Minnesota Cavalry, and is 
a descendant of Lemuel Carlton of “Boston 
Tea Party” fame. Our subject is the third 
of seven children and has a brother, Guy, in 
Seattle and James in Elk, Washington. When 
young Paul H. left home and went to work in 
North Dakota, whence he journeyed to the 
lumber woods of Minnesota. In 1895 he came 
to Wyoming and rode the range for a few 
months and then came on to Red Bluff, Mon¬ 
tana, where he worked for the Big Black Foot 
Lumber Company at Missoula. In 1896 he 
went to work for the American Steel Com¬ 
pany on bridge construction and steadily rose 
until he was foreman on the construction of 
bridges operating from the coast to Montana. 
In the spring of 1898, he quit bridge work 
and was two years with the Melville Mer¬ 
cantile Company. Then, it being 1900, he 








BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


43i 


turned his attention to sheep raising - and is 
now one of the well-to-do men of Sweet Grass 
county, having over two thousand head of 
sheep, eighty-five head of cattle and three 
thousand acres of land. 

In 1899 Mr. Carlton married Miss Lena 
Lende, a native of Norway, where her parents 
. still reside. Three children have been born 
to this union: Ruth, Francis and Guy. 

Mr.' Carlton is a member of the M. W. A., 
and a strong Republican, although not especi¬ 
ally active. 


JOHN P. MEADORS. Montana may 
well be proud of her many young, 
progressive and successful stockmen and 
farmers, for there is an especially ac¬ 
tive class of men here who are occu¬ 
pied in these profitable callings, and it is 
unnecessary to state that they are among the 
brightest, most stanch and capable men of the 
progressive northwest. John P. Meadors is 
to be classed high in this company and a brief 
outline of his career will be very pleasant read- 
ing to any who desire to learn of genuine suc¬ 
cess wrought out by merit and wisdom. 

John P. Meadors was born in De Witt, 
Iowa, on June 3, 1872, the son of William and 
Annette (Betty) Meadors, who are especially 
mentioned in another portion of thos work. 
They were both very industrious and substan¬ 
tial people and were leaders in the communi¬ 
ties where they lived. The family came to 
Montana in 1881, our subject being but nine 
years of age. After finishing the public schools, 
John P. was graduated in 1894 from the scien¬ 
tific department of the Northern Indiana Nor¬ 
mal School at Valparaiso, Indiana. Being then 
twenty-two and equipped with a splendid men¬ 
tal training, he returned to Montana to en¬ 
gage with his father, their headquarters being 
at Fairview. Soon after that he went into 
business for himself and has steadily followed 


general farming and stock raising, in both of 
which lines he has prospered well. In 1904, 
Mr. Meadors also took up the real estate busi¬ 
ness, which he is handling in connection with 
his other matters at the present time. Mr. 
Meadors owns eleven hundred and twenty 
acres of good land, considerable property in 
Sidney and Fairview and four hundred head 
of cattle, besides other property. 

On June 16, 1903, Mr. Meadors married 
Miss Catherine Unfred, who was born in 
Scott county, Minnesota, August 16, 1875. 
She was educated in her native place, came 
to Glendive, Montana, in 1899, and they now 
reside at Fairview. Mrs. Meadors is a mem¬ 
ber of the Catholic church. Mrs. Meadors' 
father, John Unfred, was born in Germany 
November 30, 1832, came to America in 1850, 
learned the machinist’s trade in Chicago and 
in 1866 located in Henderson county, Mon¬ 
tana, where he followed the trade for years. 
Then he was occupied in farming and in 1886 
took up the hotel business, which, together 
with farming, has engaged him since. He 
married Margaret McCarthy, who was born 
in Chicago in 1842, their wedding occurring 
in 1862. They are both still living and are the 
parents of the following children: Frank H. 
and James J., both engineers at Minneapolis, 
Minnesota; Mrs. J. J. McMillan, in Minne¬ 
apolis, Minnesota; Mrs. Eugene Cook, at Rock 
Rapids, Iowa; John W. and William M., near 
Henderson, Minnesota, both farmers. 

Mr. Meadors is a Republican and was 
chosen commissioner of Dawson county at the 
November election in 1906. He is very active 
however, in every enterprise that is for the 
building up of the country and is considered 
one of the substantial, hustling and sagacious 
business men of the county. 


EDWARD LESLIE resides on Bridger 
creek, about six miles east and eight miles 













43 2 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


south from Greycliff. His native place is New 
York city. When still an infant Edward and 
Margaret (Geelin) Leslie both died and he was 
thrust out into the world among strangers. At 
nine years of age, so hard was his lot that he 
determined to start in the world for himself 
and accordingly left his adopted home. He 
fell in with a man who was traveling to Texas 
and went via Savannah, New Orleans and thus 
by boat to Galveston, whence he journeyed to 
San Antonio, which place was the headquarters 
of the man he was with. For eighteen years, 
he continued with this man and although he 
saw many others make a fortune, as it was the 
palmy days for stock in Texas, he never went 
into the business for himself. When twenty- 
seven years of age, he left the ranch and struck 
out as a buffalo hunter and followed that wild 
and exciting life for a good many years. He 
remembers well when the price of hides was 
so low that he had to stop hunting until the 
market was better. He continued at this busi¬ 
ness until 1879, when he took a trip to New 
York and then came to Montana the next year. 
He landed first at Big Timber and for several 
years was occupied in hunting in the Crazy 
Mountains and at the head of Boulder creek. 
Also he followed trapping for nine years. Dur¬ 
ing this time he saw the settlers coming into 
Montana, but it never occurred to Mr. Leslie 
that Montana would ever be anything but a 
wild country, never settled up as at present. 
For fourteen years he followed sheep herding 
and during this time he visited almost every 
part of the state, usually going on foot with a 
flock and sleeping out at night. Looking at 
the shepherd’s life from books, it appears very 
pleasant and romantic, but the actual experi¬ 
ences are very different ones. Beneath the hot 
sun or in the frosty winter time and at night, 
in the storms as well as the calm, one has to be 
alert and watching and caring for the welfare 
of his flock. The labor is trying, is dreary and 
Mr. Leslie endured untold hardships during 
these six years. Finally, about eleven years 


since, he quit the business and located his 
present ranch. He supposed he had gone fur¬ 
ther up Bridger creek than settlers would ever 
come, but of late years, he has seen the country 
all settle up above him and being brought un¬ 
der cultivation. Mr. Leslie gives his atten¬ 
tion to raising hay and furnishing pasture and 
of late years he has mostly retired from active 
labors. He is perhaps the oldest settler on 
Bridger creek and is certainly one of the pio¬ 
neers of the state of Montana. 

Politically, Mr. Leslie is independent and 
as to marriage, he has never seen fit to enter 
those relations. 


THOMAS McGIRL. Our subject whose 
name forms the caption of this biographical 
sketch, is one of the most prominent ranchers 
in the Yellowstone Valley, a man with a most 
meritorious war record, and one who has as¬ 
sisted in making much of the most interesting 
history of the state of Montana. At present 
he resides twelve miles east of Billings. He 
was born in Ireland, November 8, 1845. 

His parents were Patrick and Sarah (Mc¬ 
Govern) McGirl, both natives of Ireland. The 
father died when our subject was a small child, 
and the mother died in Lafayette county, Mis¬ 
souri, in 1881. 

At the age of three years Thomas McGirl 
was brought to the United States by his cousin. 
His mother and eight children had preceded 
them and settled in Rhode Island. Here they 
remained six years, thence moving to Lexing¬ 
ton, Missouri, in 1855. Our subject was patri¬ 
otic, and at the age of 18, in 1863, he enlisted 
in Company I, Fifth Missouri Mounted Infan¬ 
try. The'company was disbanded in January, 
1864. At the close of the war he journeyed to 
Santa Fe, New Mexico, but subsequently re¬ 
turned to Missouri where he remained three 
years, going thence to Texas and engaging in 
railroad construction for some years. May 











THOMAS M g GIRL 




























































































































































BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


433 


20 , 1875, Mr. McGirl left for Montana and 
settled on his present eligible location. He left 
Bozeman with the first mail down the Yellow¬ 
stone river, and began operating a ferry and 
trading post where he now lives. It was util¬ 
ized as a stopping place for travelers. In 1878 
he named this location “Huntley,” and secured 
a postoffice of which he was assistant post¬ 
master for a number of years. At the time of 
the advent of railroad facilities the postoffice 
was moved across the river. At that period 
there were very few settlers in this portion of 
the country. Forty-five miles down the river 
Paul McCormick was settled and Horace 
Countryman was at Columbus. But there were 
no other settlers between. The first year Chief 
Joseph and the Nez Perce Indians came near 
this place. The next year they were followed 
by the Bannacks. The Nez Perces were 
closely pursued by General Howard, who 
camped at subject’s house over Sunday, and 
they had no time to annoy the settlers. In the 
morning the stage left Mr. McGirl’s ranch 
and at Canyon Creek it was captured by In¬ 
dians. Hank Eastward drove this stage. Fan¬ 
nie Clark was on the vehicle, but the passen¬ 
gers and driver finally succeeded in making 
their escape. 

Near this place General Howard’s com¬ 
mand had a brush with Indians and six wound¬ 
ed soldiers lay at subject’s ranch for several 
days. A woman on the stage returned and 
nursed these men. Our subject had four 
brothers in the Civil War. He is the youngest 
of a family of ten. 

Mr. McGirl has succeeded well in business 
life and owns 1,487 acres of fine agricultural 
land. He has paid attention both to general 
farming and as well has been extensively en¬ 
gaged in handling both cattle and sheep. 


GEORGE ’ W. POWERS, who resides 
seven miles east from Miles City, where he has 
28 


a quarter section of irrigated land, is one of the 
industrious farmers of Custer county and has 
had much experience in many sections of the 
west. He was born in Warsaw, Missouri, 
October 23, 1863, the son of Henry Clay and 
Mary Elizabeth (Hudson) Powers. The 
father came from Virginia, his native state, to 
where Warsaw, Missouri, now stands, accom¬ 
panying his parents in the early thirties. His 
ancestors were among the first settlers in 
Jamestown, and they were all through the co¬ 
lonial days and were strictly American before 
there was a United States. His parents were 
among the very first to settle in Missouri near 
Warsaw, and in 1850 he crossed the plains 
with ox teams, accompanied by his two broth¬ 
ers. They visited California and returned to 
Missouri about the breaking out of the Civil 
War. In 1864, he crossed the plains again, 
this time to Bannack, Montana. There he en¬ 
gaged in mining till the fall of 1864, when he 
went to Virginia City with the stampede, and 
later he participated in the Sterling excitement. 
After that he was in at the Last Chance flurry, 
then went on the crest of the incoming tide 
to Silver City, later to Radersburg, thence to 
Uniontown, near, and there he discovered some 
of the properties that afterward proved to be 
great mines. As the excitement died out, he 
went to Helena and remained till one year 
after the big fire, then went to Gallatin valley 
and settled down to farming, determining to 
drop the roving life of prospecting. In 1877, 
however, he went again to Virginia City and 
there the family remained till 1893, while he 
spent most of his time in prospecting. In 1893, 
they removed to Dillon and there they reside 
at this time. All this time Mr. Powers has 
been prospecting and is still engaged in that 
calling. His wife was born near the mouth 
of Mammoth cave, Kentucky, and her people 
discovered the cave and owned the land at its 
mouth. She came to Missouri with her par¬ 
ents when a small child and since her marriage 
has been with her husband on all his journeys. 





434 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


Our subject remembers that when he was yet 
so young as to be unable to hold onto the pack 
horse, he was tied on and so accompanied the 
family in its wanderings as they removed 
from place to place in the work of prospecting. 
In 1883, our subject went to Nevada and 
Arizona and traveled well over the territories, 
prospecting and mining. In 1884, he went to 
Omaha and between that point and Kansas 
City he spent six years in timber contracting. 
In 1890, Mr. Powers came back to Montana 
and settled in Madison county first, whence 
he came to his present place in 1896. Here 
he has remained since and he owns now a quar¬ 
ter section of good land, all under the ditch. 

On January 1, 1895, Mr. Powers married 
Miss Mary M. Love, the daughter of John and 
Jane (Magee) Love. The former was born 
in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, there married 
and later removed to Illinois, whence he re¬ 
turned to Pennsylvania and there remained 
until his death. The mother was of Scotch 
descent and her people were among the very 
first to settle in the vicinity of what is now Oil 
City, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Powers was born 
in Oil City, Pennsylvania. 


IRA M. ALLING, who was born in 

Dutchess county, New York, on September 

16, i860, resides at Sidney, Montana, having 

retired from ranch life, which he successfully 

followed for some years in this state. He is 

now interested in the lumber business and is 

vice-president of the Bank of the Valley at 

Sidney. The parents of our subject, John T. 

and Frances (Mabbett) Ailing, were born in 

Dutchess county, New York, on August 30, 

1830, and in June, 1828, respectively. They 

received their education from the common 
\ 

schools, were married in 1851, followed farm¬ 
ing and died, the former in 1903 and the latter 
in 1892, at Poughkeepsie, New York. They 
were very progressive, industrious and sub¬ 


stantial people and made good success in life. 
The other children besides our subject were 
Mary, the wife of Abraham P. Doughty, and 
Eva Bell, the wife of Silas E. Card, both liv¬ 
ing in Poughkeepsie, New York. After re¬ 
ceiving his education in the schools of his na¬ 
tive county, he finished at the Poughkeepsie 
high school and remained at home until nine¬ 
teen years of age. Then, it being 1879, he 
journeyed west to Greene county, Illinois, and 
remained there on a ranch for three years. In 
1882, we find Mr. Ailing in Glendive, Mon¬ 
tana, where he soon selected a ranch twelve 
miles out. After a two years’ residence there, 
he removed down the Yellowstone river on 
the south side and located a ranch at Smith 
Creek, where he followed ranching eight years. 
In 1891, he settled on Hay creek and there 
continued successfully until 1905, when he 
sold out and moved to Sidney. Here he 
erected a fine residence and is turning his at¬ 
tention to commercial and financial lines, as 
stated above. Mr. Ailing takes a lively in¬ 
terest in political matters, being allied with the 
Democratic party, but he is neither a wire 
puller nor a partisan. 

On November 3, 1896, Mr. Ailing mar¬ 
ried Minnie Hurst, who was bom at Wadena, 
Minnesota, on March 10, 1877. They have 
three boys, John, aged nine; Robert, aged 
three, and Frank, an infant of a few months. 


WILLIAM F. SCHMALSLE, at present 
one of the well-known business men of Miles 
City, is a pioneer of many places in the west 
and was for many years acting in the capacity 
of scout in the military, during which time he 
had many thrilling and most interesting expe¬ 
riences. Hd was born in Germany, February 
22, 1847, the son of Jacob and Caroline 
(Schibley) Schmalsle, who brought him to Cin¬ 
cinnati, Ohio, in 1853. Soon the family came 
on west to Kansas and in 1861 the father 








BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


435 


joined the Twenty-eighth Ohio Infantry, hav¬ 
ing gone back to Ohio, and served throughout 
the Civil War. Our subject was educated in 
the various places where he spent his youth 
and when his father went back to Ohio he was 
left in Kansas and soon was placed by Major 
M. P. Barry as bugler in the army, continuing 
in that capacity till 1861, when he resigned, 
owing to the Major’s resignation from the 
army. In the spring of 1862 they came across 
the plains to Oregon and William F. went to 
work at LaGrande on a pack train. Later 
he went to the Willamette valley and after 
four years returned east again, going as far 
as Helena, Montana, where he was engaged 
about the mines. In the spring of 1867, he 
joined the Salmon river rush and later enlisted 
in Captain Hart's company of Montana mili- 
, tia, being stationed for the summer where 
Livingston now stands. In the fall the sol¬ 
diers took their equipment as pay and all went 
to New Mexico on a mining venture. Here 
Mr. Schmalsle fell in with California Joe and 
Aaron Dickison and the three started to Texas. 
Upon arriving at Fort Dodge, they found the 
Indians on the war path and stopped to assist 
in quelling them. Dickison was killed out¬ 
right, but the other two escaped with their 
lives after some lively scouting. In 1870, we 
find our subject pn a homestead in Osborne 
county, Kansas, and his time was largely spent 
in guiding hunting parties. Being eaten out 
by grasshoppers in 1874, he quit farming and 
returned to Fort , Dodge. Soon he joined an 
expedition led against the Indians by General 
Miles, acting as scout. He was useful in per¬ 
forming some very valuable work and re¬ 
mained with the General till the campaign 
closed. In 1875, he was scout at Fort Elliott, 
and the next year he was attached to the Fifth 
U. S. Cavalry under General Merritt as gov¬ 
ernment scout. He joined the command at 
Fort Hayes and was under Crook the balance 
of the summer. In 1877’, he was transferred 
to General Miles and served him all through 


the Sitting Bull matter and the Nez Perces 
war. When peace was restored he remained at 
the post and became a very warm friend of the 
General. 

Finally he determined to sever his connec¬ 
tion with the military and went into business 
in Miles City, where he has remained. In the 
volume entitled “Personal Recollections of 
Nelson A. Miles,” our subject is frequently 
mentioned and a portrait of him appears. 


ANTON H. JOHNSON is one of the effi¬ 
cient officers of Dawson county, having been 
assessor for six years. His efficiency, excel¬ 
lent judgment and reliability have won him a 
place in the esteem of his constituents that is 
very enviable indeed. He owns considerable 
real estate in Glendive and other places and 
has large stock interests throughout the 
county. 

Anton H. Johnson was born on February 
24, 1845, in Christiana, Norway. His father, 
Jens Johnson, was born at Holstad, Norway, 
in 1804, and married Loviec Halvorson, who 
was born in Christiana in 1797, the nuptials 
occurring in 1825. She died in 1895, aged 
ninety-eight. This worthy couple were the par¬ 
ents of five boys and two girls, those living, 
being our subject, Mrs, Carlson at Butte, Mon¬ 
tana, and Mrs. A. Dahl and John Johnson in 
Norway. Anton H. was educated in the' 
schools of his native country, and in 1865 came 
to the United States, locating in Chicago, 
where he worked for the city for eighteen 
years. In 1883, he came to Glendive and en¬ 
tered the employ of the Northern Pacific Rail¬ 
road, continuing in the same for two and one- 
half years. Then he operated a dairy and 
gradually drifted into the stock business in 
which he is still interested. The marriage 
of Mr. Johnson and Miss Eleanor Blair oc¬ 
curred in Chicago in 1867. Mrs. Johnson was 
born in Ireland in 1846, received her education 








436 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


there and came to the United States in 1865. 
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Johnson 
reside in Dawson county, and are named as 
follow: Mrs. Mason, aged thirty-four; Harry 
L., aged thirty-two; Nora, aged thirty; Mrs. 
Maude W. Schabb; Charlie Anton, aged twen¬ 
ty-six; Vernon, twenty-two, killed on North¬ 
ern Pacific Railroad in 1905; and Francis A., 
aged twenty. 

Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are members of the 
Lutheran church, while he belongs to the Odd 
Fellows and the A. O. U. W. He shows a 
keen interest in political matters and every¬ 
thing for the welfare of the county and state, 
and has always allied himself with the Repub¬ 
lican party. 


JOSEPH LAY is one of Montana’s pro¬ 
gressive and capable agriculturists, at the pres¬ 
ent time dwelling four miles west from Reed. 
He was born in Kirksville, Missouri, on May 
25, 1866, the son of Nathan and Jane (Gil¬ 
more) Lay. The father was bom on May 
27, 1827, in Tennessee, came to Missouri in 
1842, and in 1877 drove across the country 
to the Gallatin valley and returned the same 
year. The next year he brought a large train 
of emigrants to the Gallatin valley, where he 
made his home until his death, February 15, 
1902. His mother had died in January, 1871, 
being then aged 38. Our subject is the 
eleventh of thirteen children, ten of whom are 
still living, all being in the west except one 
sister in Missouri. When eleven years old 
as our subject states, he was loaded into a 
wagon, given the reins of a strong team and 
headed west. The trip occupied the time from 
May 10th to July 29th, and was one of the 
epochs of Mr. Lay’s life. Just at the age 
when everything was vividly impressed upon 
his mind, he can distinctly remember the lead¬ 
ing features of the journey. Even then in 
that early day there were settlers along the 


streams in the Bozeman valley, but they were 
scarce. He recalls driving with his father 
from Salesville to Bozeman when there was 
only one cabin on the road. Schools were 
fairly good, however. Mail was carried by 
stage but there was no postoffice between Boze¬ 
man and Manhattan. The father settled in 
the Bozeman valley and our subject remained 
there with him until twenty-one years of age, 
during which time he learned much of Mon¬ 
tana farming and gained a good education. 
Having arrived at his majority, he started out 
to see something of the state and for three 
years, mined and prospected in various sec¬ 
tions. He developed several claims during 
that time but with indifferent success, so in 
the spring of 1893, the reservation hav¬ 
ing been thrown open the fall previous, he 
came across the mountains and selected him 
a home place. His present property is what 
he homesteaded and singe that time, this has 
been the center of his activity. It is of inter¬ 
est to know that when he got located, he 
found his capital amounted to fifteen dollars 
and for three years he had to work very vigor¬ 
ously to maintain himself and to make any 
show of improvements upon his claim. The 
first three winters he spent in teaching at Reed 
point and Bridger creek. Gradually he began 
to improve his place and he now has a fine 
field of alfalfa and other improvements upon 
the farm. Almost the entire quarter section 
can be put under the ditch and is a valuable 
property. Mr. Lay owns some cattle in addi¬ 
tion to farming and is being prospered in his 
labors. 

Thus far in life, he has never seen fit to 
try the matrimonial seas but is conterft with 
the quieter joys of the jolly bachelor. 

Politically, Mr. Lay is a good strong Dem¬ 
ocrat and was once nominated for the county 
treasurer of Sweet Grass county, but by actual 
count there were not enough Democrats in 
the county to give a majority, so with his 
ticket, he went down. - 








BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


437 


Fraternally, he is affiliated with the M. 
W. A. at Reed Point and is well and favorably 
known throughout the county. 


BERT R. ALBIN, secretary, treasurer 
and general manager of the Hart-Albin Com¬ 
pany, Billings, was born in Germany, April 5, 
1878, the son of August and Ferdinandina 
(Bethke) Albin, natives of Germany, now liv¬ 
ing in Minnesota. The father was a wood 
carver. 

When three years of age our subject came 
with his parents to the United States and was 
reared and educated in Minnesota. When 
twelve years old he entered the service of the 
Dickinson Company as a cash boy at the mu¬ 
nificent salary of two dollars per week. With 
them he remained four years, steadily advanc¬ 
ing, and having charge of the linen stock 
when he left the company. He then entered 
the employment of the Powers Dry Goods 
Company, remaining four years. To Mis¬ 
soula, Montana, he came in 1899, and was for 
six months general manager of the dry goods 
department of the firm of R. Manheim & Com¬ 
pany. Thence he came to Livingston, assum¬ 
ing charge of the Boston Store. Here he re¬ 
mained two and one-half years, then forming 
a partnership with R. M. Hart, of St. Louis, 
and coming to Billings in 1902, the firm name 
being the Hart-Albin Company. It was in 
January, 1906, that the firm moved into their 
present handsome quarters in the Stapleton 
block where they have fifteen thousand square 
feet of floor space—the largest dry goods and 
clothing establishment in the city of Billings, 
and the second largest store of the kind in the 
state. 

July 5, 1904, our subject was united in 
marriage to Alice Dwyer, at Billings. She is 
a native of Illinois. Her father, Patrick D., 
a native of Illinois, is dead, as is also her 
mother. Mrs. Albin was for twelve years in 


the employment of Mandel Brothers store in 
Chicago, in charge of various departments. 
Until recently she has been in the store of her 
husband and has proved an important factor 
in the phenomenal development of the enter¬ 
prise, now carrying a stock of $75,000. The 
company is incorporated. Fraternally our 
subject is a member of the B. P. O. E. 


ORSON MERRITT has resided in Mon¬ 
tana since 1882 a sufficient length of time to 
entitle him to be classed as one of the early 
pioneers and builders of this part of the state. 
His present home is at Lee, in Rosebud county, 
and he holds the position of postmaster, hav¬ 
ing been appointed in 1902. He is a well 
known citizen of the Rosebud valley and has 
not only seen but has taken an active part in 
the development of the country from the wild¬ 
ness of nature to its present prosperous condi¬ 
tion. He has been acquainted with the stock 
industry in various portions of the west, has 
spent much time on the plains and is now 
occupied in general farming and raising cat¬ 
tle. Mr. Merritt was born in Michigan on 
July 20, 1848, the son of Horace and Jane 
(Chambers) Merritt, the former a native of 
New York and the latter of Ontario. They 
moved to Michigan in pioneer times and set¬ 
tled in the wild timber lands and there set to 
the herculean task of opening up a farm. 
Shortly before the father died, he returned to 
New York and there remained- until his death. 
Our subject was left alone when a young lad 
and was forced to secure his education and 
make his way in the world the best he could. 
He gathered the learning he was able from 
the common schools of Michigan, and then 
went to work by the month. At the age of six¬ 
teen he went to New York and remained two 
years. After that he turned his face to the 
west and next we find him in Iowa, where he 
worked for wages for some time. Later on 









438 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


he went to Nebraska and finally in 1882 he 
was engaged by Frank Robertson to assist in 
bringing a drove of cattle from Nebraska to 
the Rosebud valley, Montana. After arriv¬ 
ing here in safety with the cattle, he contin¬ 
ued in the employ of Mr. Robertson for several 
years until he finally succeeded in getting a 
few head of cattle and then started in the stock 
business for himself. Since that time, he has 
given his attention to raising stock as men¬ 
tioned above, with general farming, having 
taken a homestead where he now resides. Mr. 
Merritt is a good neighborly citizen, has dis¬ 
charged his duties as postmaster to the satis¬ 
faction of all, and is one of the men who be¬ 
lieve Montana the greatest state in the union. 


CHARLES E. VOLIN is one of the 
prominent men of Custer county and he has 
gained his standing by reason of real merit and 
worthy labors, which have given him enough 
reward of this world’s goods to make the path 
of life pleasant and happy in the years of his 
pilgrimage yet to come. His home place is 
three miles down the river from Capitol, and 
he owns altogether about two thousand acres 
of good farm land. His estate is divided into 
farms and each farm has good buildings on it, 
some of which are among the best in this por¬ 
tion of the county. In addition to overseeing 
all these properties, Mr. Volin handles much 
stock and is considered one of the wealthiest 
stockmen of the county. 

Stopping to detail the life of our subject 
from early days, we see that he was born in 
Iowa, in the vicinity of Dubuque, February 4, 
1855. His father conducted a blacksmith shop 
in the little village of Recordsville, about 
twelve miles out from Dubuque. The father, 
Louis Volin, was born in the vicinity of Mon¬ 
treal, Canada, and when eighteen years of age 
came with his heart made up to carve out a 
fortune for himself, to Chicago, whence he 


journeyed on to Iowa, settling as has been 
mentioned. Just previous to the Civil War, 
Mr. Volin removed his family to Yankton, 
Dakota, and there he engaged in farming, deal¬ 
ing in cattle and doing government contract 
work on the Missouri. Many Indians were in 
the country then, but they managed to get 
along without bloodshed, although those days 
were rough pioneer times when men and 
women had to endure the hardships that would 
often be considered unbearable in times of civ¬ 
ilization. In addition to the other occupations 
mentioned, the father freighted to the Black 
Hills in early days and became a very wealthy 
man and is now residing in South Dakota. He 
had married Andrine Volin, a native of Can¬ 
ada, who is still living, enjoying the fruits of 
their labors. 

Our subject went with the family when 
they went to Dakota, and as the nearest school 
house was six miles distant he did not receive 
a very good chance to gain an education. How¬ 
ever, he made the most of his opportunities and 
in 1874 he began working on the government 
contracts on the Missouri. In the famous 
centennial year he went to the^Black Hills and 
soon engaged in freighting from Fort Pierre 
to the Hills. In 1884, he came to Custer 
county and went to work for the Continental 
Cattle Company. The very next fall he lo¬ 
cated a ranch, which is a portion of his present 
estate, and since then he has been busily en¬ 
gaged in farming and raising stock. When 
Mr. Volin settled here, he had only fourteen 
head of cattle and three work oxen, but he. was 
a person not to be discouraged at hard things 
and small beginnings, so he pushed steadily 
ahead, and today he has about six hundred cat¬ 
tle, besides the farms mentioned and much 
other property. This gratifying result has 
been accomplished by his industry and skill, 
with that tenacity to stay with the enterprise 
he started. 

In 1880, Mr. Volin married Miss Mary 
Dumont and they have, become the parents of 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


439 


seven children, whose names follow: Albert 
Maud, the wife of H. D. Carrier; Lillian, the 
wife of A. B. McDermott; Frank, Leo, Arthur 
and Victoria. Albert and Maud were born in 
the Black Hills, Victoria was born in New 
York and the others are all native to the home 
place. A portion of the land that belongs to 
Mr. Volin lies in South Dakota. He is a man 
whose wisdom is seen by all and whose long 
career here with success resulting from his. 
hard and continued labors has established him 
in the confidence and esteem of all who are ac¬ 
quainted with him. 


WILLIAM BALL is conducting a hotel 
and livery at Sidney, Montana, and doing a 
prosperous business. He was born May 6, 
1863, in Rochester, Indiana, the son of Will¬ 
iam and Martha (Bright) Ball. The father 
was born in Indiana in 1822, received his edu¬ 
cation from the public schools and followed 
farming. He was a strong Democrat and took 
an active interest in politics, held numerous 
offices and was also treasurer of Fulton county 
for several years. His marriage occurred in 
1843 ar M he died in 1878. His wife was born 
in 1823 in Indiana and died in 1863. After 
that Mr. Ball married again. By his first wife 
he had five boys and four girls, three of whom 
are now living, Minnie Edson, in Spokane, 
Washington; Ida Fowler in Kansas; and Em¬ 
ma Bailey in Eureka, Kansas. By his second 
marriage, Mr. Ball has one son, Thomas, and 
two daughters, Maude and Laura, all living 
in Kansas City, Missouri. Our subject was 
educated in Rochester, Indiana, spending seven 
years in school life. In 1879, the family went 
to Kansas and for two years he did farm work. 
Then he went to Texas and rode the range, 
coming north to Cheyenne in 1882. Return¬ 
ing to Texas, he came north in 1883 with a 
herd of cattle to the vicinity of Wibaux and 
went into the cattle business, which he followed 


until 1896, setttling on Beaver creek. He re¬ 
mained on the range until 1904, then came to 
Sidney and opened a hotel and livery where 
we find him at the present time. 

Mr. Ball is a Democrat and a member of 
the M. W. A. 

June 29, 1896, occurred the marriage of 
Mr. Ball and May Curtis. To them one child 
has been born, Madge, three years of age. Mrs. 
Ball was born in Falls City, Wisconsin, June 
19, 1871, received a good common school edu¬ 
cation in her native state and came to Wibaux 
in 1895. She is an adherent of the Congrega¬ 
tional church as is her husband. Mrs. Ball’s 
father, George A. Curtis, was born in Roches¬ 
ter, New York, August 23, 1843, migrated to 
Dunn county when young and followed farm¬ 
ing from that time until the present. He mar¬ 
ried Celia Carter, who was born in Cleveland, 
Ohio, October 6, 1847, and came to the vicinity 
of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when six years of 
age. Their wedding occurred September 20, 
1868, and both are still living. Mr. and Mrs. 
Carter had seven children, four girls and three 
boys. One of the latter died in infancy. The 
names of the others besides Mrs. Ball are: Mrs. 
J. R. McArthur at Elmira, North Dakota; 
Mrs. G. O. Reed, Claude and Roy Curtis, all 
at Medora, North Dakota, and Lila Curtis at 
Menomonee, Wisconsin. 


ALBERT ALGAARD, one of the young 
citizens of Sweet Grass county, is an example 
of what an industrious, energetic and pro¬ 
gressive young man can do in the state of 
Montana. He was born in Stavanger, Nor¬ 
way, on February 11, 1880, and now resides 
five miles west from Reed. His parents were 
Berent and Greta Algaard, who still live on 
the old homestead in Norway, aged sixty-two. 
The father has been a school teacher there for 
over thirty-two years. Our subject is the 
eldest of five children and is the only one in the 












440 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


United States. He was educated in the com¬ 
mon schools of his country, being well taught 
also by his father, and when nineteen became 
very desirous of trying his fortune in the 
New World. He accordingly provided for the 
journey and came to the United States and 
then on to Melvin, Montana. One year was 
spent there, then he journeyed to Bigtimber 
and for two years was engaged in sheep ranch¬ 
ing by Anderson Brothers. Two years since 
he bought one hundred and sixty acres ad¬ 
joining, being determined to make this his 
home. He had little or no capital after mak¬ 
ing his first payments but with strong resolu¬ 
tion and bright hope, he took hold with his 
hands to make a valuable place and a home. 
He has built a residence, procured teams and 
made various other improvements on the es¬ 
tate. He can put every foot of the two hun¬ 
dred and forty acres under the ditch and now 
has about thirty acres of fine alfalfa that will 
average fully four tons per acre annually. He 
expects to place the larger portion of the land 
into alfalfa as rapidly as possible and will 
take up the sheep industry. Presaging the fu¬ 
ture by the past it is very safe to state that 
barring events over which man cannot have 
any control, Mr. Algaard will in a very few 
years become one of the wealthy and leading 
citizens of Sweet Grass County. He has al¬ 
ready shown splendid ability and energy and 
has now a start that will soon procure him 
wealth. 

In 1902, Mr. Algaard married Mary Hel- 
lern, and the nuptials were scarcely over when 
she fell ill and death claimed her. 

On April 19, 1904, Mr. Algaard married 
again. Miss Mjalie Eglund, a native of Nor¬ 
way, became his bride. She came to Minne¬ 
sota with her parents when seven years old 
and they now reside at Devils Lake, North 
Dakota. One child has been born to Mr. and 
Mrs Algaard, Bernard. 

In political matters, our subject is a Re¬ 
publican, although not partisan. It is well 


known that many of the best citizens of the 
United States are men who have come from 
the northland. Quick, active, keen of per¬ 
ception, full of energy, dominated by strong 
will under the control of wise judgment, it 
is not strange that these people keenly ap¬ 
preciate our institutions of freedom and most 
loyally do help the same. Not least among this 
class of people is Mr. Algaard and Montana 
is to be congratulated upon having such gen¬ 
uine home builders as he and his wife. 


MRS. ANNETTE MEADORS lives at 
Sidney, Dawson county, Montana, and was 
born at Bakersfield, Vermont, October 9, 1849. 
Her father, John F. Betty, was born at John¬ 
son, Vermont, on July 4, 1821. He received 
his education from the common schools, then 
in 1852 came to Iowa, purchasing a farm 
near Walker. He served three years in the 
Civil War and remained in Iowa until 1891, 
when he removed to Sidney, Montana, where 
he died on April 17, 1904. He married 
Phoebe Whittemore, who was born at Eden, 
Vermont, June 13, 1819. She was married 
August 2, 1845, is a very industrious woman 
and a stanch supporter of the Methodist 
church. They became parents of four boys 
and two girls. Two of the boys died, one at 
the age of fifteen and one at thirteen. The 
other left home and has never been heard of 
since. Mrs. Jane E. Kemis lives at Sidney, 
Montana. Mrs. Meadors received her educa¬ 
tion from the common schools at Walker, 
Iowa, her parents having moved there when 
she was three years old and there she re¬ 
mained on the farm until twenty years of age. 
On October 9, 1869, she married William M. 
Meadors. He was born at Ainsworth, Indiana, 
April 22, 1840. After studying in the public 
schools of Indiana he enlisted in Company B, 
Seventeenth Indiana Volunteers and served 
three years in the Civil War, being honorably 










BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


discharged. He came to Walker, Iowa, in 1865 
and there followed farming. After their mar¬ 
riage, they remained there until 1881, when 
they came west to Sidney and engaged in 
farming and stock raising. They had very 
little property when they located here and it 
was up hill work to start; but as both Mr. and 
Mrs. Meadors were persevering and deter¬ 
mined people they finally gathered some prop^ 
erty about them and by general farming and 
stock raising became very well to do. On 
July 2, 1905, Mr. Meadors was drowned in 
the Yellowstone river. He was a faithful 
Christian man and his death was sincerely 
mourned on every hand. At the time of his 
demise he owned sixteen hundred acres of 
land and five hundred head of cattle besides 
other property. He and his wife were mem¬ 
bers of the Methodist church and assisted to 
start the first Sunday school and formed the 
church at Sidney and have both been very 
active in church work. Also they have been 
very prominent in educational matters as Mrs. 
Meadors taught the first school in the valley 
and they have always labored together for 
better schools and educational facilities. 

In political matters Mr. Meadors was a 
Republican and a very active, man in all lines. 
The children born to this couple were six in 
number, one girl and five boys. But one now 
survives, John P. Meadors, who resides at 
Fairvievv, Montana. Eleven years ago, Mrs. 
Meadors took a little girl of five from the 
orphans’ home at Chicago. She is now at¬ 
tending school at Helena, a bright young lady 
of seventeen. 


CHARLES DUMONT, who resides 
about eight miles west from Capitol, Montana, 
was born in Clinton county, New York, Au¬ 
gust 29, i860, being the son of Abraham and 
Annie (Willet) Dumont, natives of New York 


. 441 


and Quebec, Canada, respectively. The mo¬ 
ther came with her parents when a child to 
New York and her death occurred in South 
Dakota. The father came from New York 
state to Dodge county. Minnesota, in 1863 
and settled on a farm there until 1869, when 
he journeyed on west to Lincoln county, South 
Dakota, where he remained on a farm until 
his death. In the public schools of South Da¬ 
kota, our subject received his education and 
he remained there until 1879, when he went 
on west to the Black Hills country, where he 
did teaming and mining for a decade. It was 
1889 when he set foot in Custer county and 
having brought stock with him he commenced 
the occupation of handling stock together with 
farming and has continued thus since. His 
present place is one of the excellent ones of 
Custer county and his labors all the time he 
has remained in Montana have been attended 
with a success and prosperity that have been 
very gratifying to him and his many friends. 
Mr. Dumont possesses a large ranch, all of 
which is attended to in first-class manner, and 
he is one of the extensive stock owners of the 
county. Mr. Dumont has always followed the 
line, which, by the way, is not as often done 
as it might be wished among the pioneers, 
namely, that of making his home place as com¬ 
fortable and attractive as possible. The re¬ 
sult is that Mr. Dumont has one of the best 
houses in this portion of the county and he 
shows an air of thrift about his premises that 
bespeak the man of carefulness and attention 
to business. 

In 1892, Mr. Dumont married Miss Addie 
Ashland, a native of New York state, and to 
this union the following named children have 
been born, Ronald E., Glenden, James, Leoner, 
Lloyd, Carrol, and Margaret. 

Fraternally Mr. Dumont is identified with 
the Modern Woodmen and he is a popular 
and highly esteemed man in the community. 
In the matters of politics and general improve- 








442 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


ment and advancement, he is always active and 
does the part of the loyal and substantial citi¬ 
zen. 


THOMAS KENT is a stock man residing 
six miles east of Greycliff and is one of the 
earliest pioneers in the state of Montana. 
Since coming here he has been almost contin- 
ously within the bounds of the state and is 
personally acquainted with all the leading men 
and occurrences of early days and has seen 
the state of Montana grow from a wilderness 
inhabited by hostile Indians to its present 
wealthy and prosperous condition. Since of 
age, he has taken an active part, having pro¬ 
duced much wealth and shown a progressive 
spirit in the work of development that he has 
done. Being thus a pioneer and one of the 
builders of the state, it is very fitting that a 
history of his life be incorporated in this vil- 
ume. 

Thomas Kent was bom in Westmoreland 
County, Pennsylvania, eighteen miles from 
Greensburg on January 3. 1842, being the son 
of Samuel and Mary (Brown) Kent. The 
father was born in the eighteenth century, 
moved to Iowa in early days and there died 
in 1862. The mother came from an old Mary¬ 
land family. Her parents moved to PennsyL 
vania long before the war and there gave lib¬ 
erty to their fifty slaves. Mrs. Kent came to 
Montana in 1888 and spent the balance of 
her days with her son. Her death occurred in 
1891, she being of a ripe old age. Our sub¬ 
ject is the second of twelve children. -He has 
two sisters living, Mrs. Joseph Kemph, at Ab- 
sarokee, Mrs. C. H. Embury, in Medford, Min¬ 
nesota, and another sister, Mrs. Garrigus, who 
died here a few years since. When Mr. Kent 
reached his majority, he determined to see 
the west and made his first trip west from In¬ 
diana, driving across the country to the North 
Platte river. There he joined James Boze¬ 


man’s expedition and drove to Virginia City 
by way of the Big Horn mountains and then 
up the Clark’s Fork. Here they struck the old 
Bridger trail and followed it to where Liv¬ 
ingston now stands and it is of interest that 
on July 4, 1864, Mr. Kent was right in the 
neighborhood where he now lives. He was 
then impressed with the country so much that 
in later years, when selecting land, he came 
here. The trip west occupied him two months 
and during this time he saw no white men 
save those in the train. Game was exceedingly 
abundant and here we would remark that 
during all his career in the west, Mr. Kent 
has been a very successful hunter. The game 
was so abundant in early days that it is impos¬ 
sible to realize the condition of things. Mr. 
Kent remarks that in 1872, he saw a band of 
antelope traveling two or three abreast that 
continued twelve hours in passing a given 
point. 1864 were the palmy days of Alder 
Gulch and Mr. Kent then took part in mining. 
Those days of road agents and vigilantes, of 
fortunes made in a month and lost in a night 
are those never to come again in Montana and 
with the others he made his fortunes and lost 
them too. In 1868. he went into the Lincoln 
Gulch in the Black Foot country and later 
went into the Last Chance Gulch before the 
stampede to that place. He had become dis¬ 
gusted with it and thought it no good. Min¬ 
ing occupied him until 1870, in which year he 
gave away enough claims to his friends to 
have kept him washing steadily from that day, 
and retired from that business. Then he came 
down from Yellowstone river, prospecting and 
trapping for a few seasons. About 1876, he 
began the business of cattle raising and con¬ 
tinued steadily at this until the big outfits 
were driven out, and about 1884, disposed of 
his cattle and took up sheep raising, which in¬ 
dustry he is still following. He has made his 
home on his present place since 1878, more 
than a quarter of a century, and now has a 
home place considered by all who see it, one 








443 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


of the best places in the northwest. It is cer¬ 
tainly a beautiful spot and he has added many 
improvements. Mr. Kent has had many ups and 
downs and if half the fortunes he has made 
were in his hands today, he would be consid¬ 
ered one of the very wealthy men of the coun¬ 
try. At one time he lost five thousand head 
of sheep, worth from four to five dollars 
apiece. Still no reverses have discouraged and 
he has always taken hold with renewed vigor 
and has overcome. Although he resided here 
during all the fierce days of Indian conflict 
and war, he never took part in any of the 
troubles and was never molested. He was with¬ 
in a mile of the place when Dr. Frost was slain 
by the Sioux and in those days when a Sioux 
and a white man met one or the other or both 
died. So thoroughly was this known that no 
hesitation occurred at those meetings to see 
if there were friendly overtures but it was 
war to the bitter end. 

In 1875, Mr. Kent married a Crow In¬ 
dian woman and they have five children. Mrs. 
Ella Cashen, living near Billings; Mrs. Mary 
Stevens and Mrs. Josie Williams, living on 
Lodge Grass Creek near the Wyoming line; 
Mrs. Lizzie McComas, living at Greycliff, and 
Magaret Stevens, the youngest, living at 
Greycliff. 

Mr. Kent is a member of the K. P. order 
and in politics is a Democrat. He has.fre¬ 
quently been offered office but has always re¬ 
fused, and while he likes to see things pro¬ 
gressing properly, he has not shown any parti¬ 
sanship in political affairs. 


KIRK E. HERBERT was born September 
18, 1859, at Red Wing, Minnesota, and now 
resides a mile southeast of Ridgelawn where he 
follows general farming. He was justice of 
the peace at Newland township and is one of 
the substantial men of this part of the county. 
His father, Alvin Herbert, M. D., was born 


October 21, 1829, near Sandusky, Ohio. After 
receiving his literary education, he matricula¬ 
ted at the Hahnemann Medical College, from 
which he was graduated in 1866. He prac¬ 
ticed at Albia, Iowa, then on account of the ill 
health of his wife went to the Ozark Mountains 
in Arkansas and four years later to Barton 
county, Missouri; in 1877 to Minnehaha coun¬ 
ty, South Dakota, in 1883 to Chautauqua coun¬ 
ty, Kansas, and six years later he settled in Cus¬ 
ter county, South Dakota, where he died July 
11, 1897. His wife, Nancy L. Kirkpatrick in 
maiden life, was born in Illinois in 1841 and 
was taken by her parents when an infant to 
Henry county, Iowa, where she lived until her 
marriage. Our subject had four brothers and 
two sisters and at present two of his brothers 
are living, Alman H. in Custer county, South 
Dakota, and William B. at Ridgelawn, Mon¬ 
tana. Mr. Herbert was educated in the schools 
at Red Wing, Minnesota, and Palisade, South 
Dakota, finishing when twenty years of age. 
After that he traveled here and there and fol 1 
lowed various occupations and for about eight 
years was on the range in different portions of 
the west. After this, he operated a saw mill 
in the Black Hills for eight years. In 1896, 
he removed to Ekalaka, Montana, where he 
remained for four years. In 1900 he took his 
present place as a homestead and since that 
time has been occupied in farming and im¬ 
proving the same. 

On December 16, 1890, Mr. Herbert mar¬ 
ried Mary Bell Stanhope, who was born in Vir¬ 
gil City, Missouri, May 27, 1870. She was 
reared and educated in her native place and 
came to Custer county, South Dakota, when 
nineteen. Eight children have been born to 
Mr. and Mrs Herbert, Leslie A., aged four¬ 
teen; Willie H., aged twelve; Lucy C., aged 
ten; Evelyn and Earl, twins, aged eight; Milo 
T., aged six; Nettie M., aged four; Gertrude 
B., aged one. 

Mr. Herbert has always been allied with 
the Republican party but is not especially ac- 











444 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


tive. However he is very active in promoting 
school interests and has been director for 
several years. He is a member of the M. W. 
A. and consul of local camp. 


CEDERGREN BROTHERS. This en¬ 
terprising firm comprises Money O. and Rich¬ 
ard E., both natives of Chicago, Illinois, the 
former having been born October 20, 1873; 
the latter June 21, 1882. In the excellent pub¬ 
lic schools of the Garden City they received 
good, practical business educations, later learn¬ 
ing thoroughly the tinner’s trade, which they 
industriously followed until 1899, when both 
came to Billings, Montana, Money O. being 
the first to arrive. Previously he had opened 
a tin shop at Fargo, North Dakota, where he 
remained about one year. He was employed 
as a foreman for A. L. Babcock, and when the 
later disposed of his interest in the business 
Money O. and Richard E. opened a tin shop 
under the firm name of Cedergren Brothers. 
November 1, 1905, the boys, with Gwen Burla, 
their brother-in-law, and Edward Sandy, or¬ 
ganized the Western Hardware Company, at 
Billings, and merged their business into the 
same. 

Politically the brothers are Democrats, and 
as active in the various campaigns of their 
party as their business will permit. They have 
become recognized as leading citizens of the 
city and are highly esteemed. 

On May 1st they disposed of their interest 
in the Western Hardware Company and have 
erected a large brick structure in which they 
conduct a sheet metal cornice works. 


ARTHUR C. LOGAN, an extensive Yel¬ 
lowstone Valley stockman, resides at Billings. 
He was born in New Milford, Connecticut, 
June 9, 1853, the son of James and Ann (Den¬ 


ning) Logan. James, the father, was also a 
native of Connecticut as was the paternal 
grandfather of our subject. They were of Scotch 
ancestry. Of an old New England family the 
members were participants in the Revolution¬ 
ary war. The mother of our subject w r as a 
native of Ireland, coming to the United States 
about 1849. She died in 1900 at Brookfield, 
Connecticut. The father of our subject also 
passed from earth, near New Milford, Con¬ 
necticut, in 1881. 

Arthur C. Logan was a graduate from the 
Danbury, Connecticut, High School at the age 
of fifteen. At sixteen he began teaching school, 
and at the age of eighteen years he was prin¬ 
cipal of public schools in New Milford, Con¬ 
necticut, which profession he followed fifteen 
years. During that time he was principal of 
three graded schools. He went to Bismarck, 
Dakota, in 1880, and for one year was a school 
principal in that city. He then came to Miles 
City, Montana, where he edited the Miles City 
Press, a daily paper, which for one year he 
conducted with marked ability. He was prin¬ 
cipal of the schools there six years, and really 
organized the schools, and in 1886 was appoin¬ 
ted school superintendend by Governor Hauser, 
of the then territory of Montana, and reap¬ 
pointed by Governor Preston B. Leslie. He 
refused the nomination for the same office, 
after statehood, and engaged in the stock busi¬ 
ness, raising sheep and cattle. He has a ranch 
of 1,000 acres, located eight miles west of . Bil¬ 
lings. He has been extensively interested in 
the importation and breeding of imported 
stock, and is at present the heaviest importer 
of blooded stock in the state. 

In 1884, at Bismarck, our subject was mar¬ 
ried to Grace Southmayd, born in Columbus, 
Wisconsin. She died in 1892, April 2d. June 
17, 1893, he was married, at Chicago, to Bessie 
Southmayd, a native of Wisconsin and sister 
of his first wife. Her father was Captain 
Ogden Southmayd. a native of Middletown. 
Connecticut, his father having been born in 










BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


445 


the same place. He was a lineal descendant of 
Elder Wm. Brewster, who came from England 
on the Mayflower. Her mother was a native 
of New York. 

Since 1874, when our subject joined St. 
Peter’s Lodge, A. F. & A. M., New Milford, 
Connecticut, he has taken an active and enthus¬ 
iastic interest in masonry, having passed all 
the chairs in Yellowstone Lodge, No. 26, Miles 
City. In 1889 he was elected Grand Master 
of Montana. He is a member of the Blue 
Lodge and Commandary in Billings, and Past 
High Priest of the Chapter at Miles City, and 
is a charter member of Algeria Temple, Shrin- 
ers, of Helena, and is Past Grand Potenate of 
the same. He assisted in organizing the shrine 
at Spokane. 

Mr. and Mrs. Logan have five children, 
Fay, aged twenty; Tom, seventeen; Dick, fif¬ 
teen; Harrie, a girl, thirteen and Grace aged 
nine. These children are remarkable for their 
musical talent, forming an orchestra that is 
famous throughout the state. Both Mr. and 
Mrs. Logan are members of. the Episcopal 
Church. 


ALBERT T. GARRISON, who resides 
one-half mile north from Lee, is giving his at¬ 
tention to farming and stockraising and is to 
be numbered with the earliest settlers in what 
is now Rosebud county. Since his advent to 
this section, he has been continuously engaged 
in the labors above mentioned and has shown 
himself to be a worthy citizen and a true fron¬ 
tiersman. Bom in Franklin, Indiana, on No¬ 
vember 27, 1855, the son of Lindsley and Mary 
Reese Garrison, he has been steadily coming 
west since until he reached the mecca, Montana, 
which satisfied his desires and where he de¬ 
termined to make a permanent home. His 
father was a native of Ohio and about 1865 
moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he re¬ 
mained until his death. The mother had died 


when Albert was five years old, so of her he 
remembers but little. When Albert had reached 
the age of twelve years, he was called to mourn 
the death of his father and thus an orphan and 
a young lad, he was forced out into the. world 
upon his own resources. The result was he 
had scant opportunity to gain an education but 
applied himself well when he had a chance to 
attend the common schools in Iowa. When he 
was eighteen, he started west with Denver as 
the objective point of his journey. He soon 
was occupied in farm work and shortly after¬ 
wards secured a bunch of cattle for himself 
and located on the Stillwater in the stockrais¬ 
ing business. In the winter of 1881, owing to 
severe weather, he lost his entire herd and so 
gave up any further work in that section, but 
in 1882 journeyed into Montana. He came 
into the country now occupied by Rosebud 
county and located some three miles from 
where he now lives and again engaged in the 
cattle business, also raised some horses. As the 
years went by Mr. Garrison prospered and he 
is today one of the well to do men of the 
county. He has a good place, considerable 
stock, and other property. During all these 
years of residence in Montana, nearly a quar¬ 
ter of a century, he has shown himself an in¬ 
dustrious and progressive man always inter¬ 
ested in the affairs of the county and state and 
a wealthy citizen. 

In 1885 Mr. Garrison married Miss Della 
Taylor, the daughter of B. G. and Mary 
(Kurshner) Taylor, pioneers of Iowa. Mrs. 
Garrison was born in Quasqueton, Buchanan 
county, Iowa, and there was reared and edu¬ 
cated. They have one daughter, Mary, wife of 
Marion Drown, residing in Rosebud county. 

Many changes have taken place in Mon¬ 
tana since the days when Mr. Garrison first 
settled here and his own labors have been in¬ 
strumental in leading others to locate here, see¬ 
ing the success he has enjoyed and the excel¬ 
lency of the country. He is well satisfied with 
Montana, believes it one of the best places of 











446 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


the northwest and while still in the prime of 
life can look back upon life in which he has 
won good success in his calling. 


A. McC. HOWARD. Montana has very 
many wealthy and prominent men who give 
their time and attention to breeding and hand¬ 
ling stock. Among this number is the gentle¬ 
man above mentioned, who lives twenty miles 
south from Sabra, in Rosebud county. He 
owns seven sections of land in the home ranch 
and handles principally cattle and sheep in 
which business he has spent the major portion 
of his life in various parts of the United States. 

Mr. Howard was born in New Hampshire 
on September 14, 1826’. His father, Algernon 
Sidney Howard, was born in Bridgewater, 
Massachusetts, and went to Stafford county 
with his parents when a school boy. When 
grown, he married and settled in New Hamp¬ 
shire and in 1833 went to Maine as a timber 
explorer and surveyor. He was much pleased 
with the country so in 1835, he settled in Ban¬ 
gor, where he continued to reside until the 
panic of 1837, then moved to Piscataquis 
county, Maine, where he remained the balance 
of his life. He married Mrs. Almira Chapman, 
a native of Parsonsfield, Maine, and a daughter 
of a prominent citizen of that place. The chil¬ 
dren born to this worthy couple were five girls 
and six boys. The father was very well edu¬ 
cated and a prominent and substantial busi¬ 
ness man who was widely known for his in¬ 
tegrity and uprightness. Our subject went 
from New Hampshire to Maine with his par¬ 
ents when a small child and in the latter place 
received his education but as school was held 
only two months out of the year he had scant 
opportunity to perfect himself in branches of 
learning. However, by diligence he was en¬ 
abled to gain a good English education and 
what time he was not occupied in this, he was 


busied on the farm. He and his brother 
cleared up a large farm out of the solid forest. 
At the age of 21, Mr. Howard started out for 
himself and during the first few years, fol¬ 
lowed lumbering. After that, he became what 
was known in those early days as a drover, 
which corresponds now to the stock buyer. 
Before the country was threaded with rail¬ 
roads it was the custom to go to the outlying 
sections, purchase stock and gather them in 
large herds to be driven to the leading cities. 
Mr. Howard attended to this business until 
1883, when he came out west to join his 
brother, A. D. Howard, then dwelling in Madi¬ 
son County, Montana. He entered into part¬ 
nership with him and took charge of a large 
band of sheep that A. D. was at -that time 
bringing from Oregon. He drove the sheep 
on to what is now Rosebud county and for a 
number of years was occupied here in handlirtg 
this kind of stock. Later on he took a home¬ 
stead and desert. Finally the brothers dis¬ 
solved partnership and in 1904, Mr. Howard 
purchased the .property where he now resides. 
He had an excellent stock ranch and is one of 
the wealthy men of the county. Mr. Howard 
is a progressive man and has always taken a 
marked interest in everything for the upbuild¬ 
ing of the county and state and is one of the 
leading citizens of this part of Montana. 

In 1868, Mr. Howard married Mrs. Susan 
A. Rollins, of Hancock county, Maine, and 
three children were born to them, Isabel, Alice 
and Mary. In 1870, the mother died. In 
1883 Mrs. Martha H. Haynes brought the 
three daughters to Anoka, Minnesota, and in 
September of the same year joined Mr. How¬ 
ard at Rosebud, Montana. The marriage of 
Mr. Howard and Mrs. Martha H. Haynes oc¬ 
curred in 1883. Alice died in 1885. Isabel 
married Captain A. E. Nease of Carbon coun¬ 
ty. He served in the South African war. Mary 
married Mr. Freeman Philbrick of Rosebud 
county, who is a, prominent stockman and 
president of the first National Bank in Forsyth. 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


447 


HENRY S. AMOS has passed a very act¬ 
ive career and is at present time engaged in 
operating a stage line out from Clyde Park, 
while also he is owner of the townsite of Clyde 
Park, and in addition to handling these affairs 
he does general farming. He is one of the 
leading men of Park county and has performed 
well his part in assisting to build it up and 
develop the resources of this part of Montana. 
The birth of Mr. Amos occurred in Munroe 
county, Iowa, May 27, 1865, being the son 
of Gilbert B. and Caroline (Knapp) Amos, 
the former born in West Virginia in 1819, 
and the latter a native of Ohio. The father 
was brought to Ohio when a child and when 
arrived at manhood’s estate he followed car¬ 
pentering and farming and taught school in 
the winters. 

When ten years of age Henry S. started 
in the world for himself, beginning his active 
work in a store. He was economical and saved 
his money and so paid his way through the 
well known normal school at Valparaiso, In¬ 
diana. Having completed his studies, he came 
west, landing in Montana in April, 1885. He 
taught in Gallatin, Meagher, Jefferson and 
Lewis and Clark counties this state and in 
1891 accepted a position as assistant to Dr. 
King, the surgeon for the Drumlummond 
Mining Company at Marysville, Montana. In 
this capacity he remained until 1896, in which 
year he began farming and buying and sell¬ 
ing land. Later we see him in charge of the 
Winslow Hardware Company and then op¬ 
erating the Chambers Hardware Company. In 
June, 1903, he put on a stage line to Clyde 
Park, laid out the town and since then he has 
been conducting sales of lots in this bright 
village. The sale has been more than was 
expected and he has recently surveyed thirteen 
more blocks to add to the townsite. Mr. Amos 
has also continued to operate his farm and 
does a good business in that line. He has 
never seen fit to embark on the matrimonial sea 
and is still one of Montana’s jolly bachelors. 


He is a member of the Methodist church, 
votes and works with the Republican party 
and fraternally is allied with the Yeomen. 

-♦♦♦»-- 

WILLIAM EGBERT GOODWIN, more 
familiarly known as “Dr.” Goodwin, is one 
of the best known men in the Rosebud Valley, 
being one of its earliest pioneers and having 
maintained continuous residence here since. 
On July 8, 1882, he took his present place, 
six miles south from Sabra, by squatters right 
and with this as his headquarters, he has op¬ 
erated in fanning and stock raising ever since. 
For a quarter of a century he has continued 
his business here, being always blessed with 
excellent success so that now he is rated as one 
of the wealthy men of Rosebud county. Mr. 
Goodwin has gained his present holding en¬ 
tirely since coming to Montana as he started 
here with very-little capital and while doing 
this, he has made himself also one of the es¬ 
teemed and respected men of the state. He 
was born in Ohio on November 18, i860. His 
father, Egbert Goodwin, was born in New 
England on July 7, 1816, and came to Ohio 
when that was a very new country. Later on 
he journeyed on west and settled in Nauvoo, 
Illinois, being there at the time that the Mor¬ 
mons were creating a stir in that section. He 
was one who assisted to arrest Joseph Smith, 
who was given a hearing and discharged. 
Later on he moved to Bushnell, Illinois, and 
there remained until his death on October 3, 
1876. He had followed farming all of his 
life and was a substantial and respected man. 
The mother of our subject, Ellen (Markley) 
Goodwin, was born October 5, 1804, and died 
September 30, 1862, consequently he remem¬ 
bers very little of her personally. Mr. Good¬ 
win was educated in the common schools of 
Illinois and spent considerable of his younger 
days in working for wages. When twenty- 
one, he went to Minnesota and entered the 








448 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


lumber camps, spending one winter in that 
business. The next spring found him in Mon¬ 
tana, this portion of which was a very wild 
section then. After due research, he selected 
the place where he now resides and took it as 
stated above. He has given his attention in 
the stock business mostly to raising cattle, 
as he prefers them to horses and sheep. 

On November 28, 1888, Mr. Goodwin 
married Nettie Rowley. She was born in 
Grant county, Wisconsin, where she was reared 
and educated and married then accompanied 
her husband to Montana. Her parents, George 
and Lucy (Walhart) Rowley, now reside on a 
fine farm in Wisconsin. The father was reared 
in Illinois and the mother was a native of New 
York, coming west when a child. Mr. and 
Mrs. Goodwin have six children, Nellie L. 
Arley Lester, Alta M., Ralph L., Eggie G. 
and Idyll I. 

Mr. Goodwin has spent many years in 
Montana, has labored faithfully to bring about 
the development and advancement that is so 
evident in the state, has won many friends, 
has gained fine property holding and is still 
just beginning the prime of life. Judging the 
future by the past, we may expect that he will 
accomplish much yet for his state and for 
himself. 

-- 

ED. O’DONNELL, one of the prosperous 
ranchers and general farmers of Yellowstone 
county, residing two miles west of Billings, 
was born in the north of Ireland in 1858- His 
parents, John and Ann O’Donnell, were na¬ 
tives of the same district, the mother having 
been before marriage, Ann Boyle, daughter of 
Neil Boyle, the wife of the latter having been 
Miss Sharkey. Evidently our subject, Ed. O’¬ 
Donnell, comes of an old resident family of the 
vicinity of his birthplace, his paternal grand¬ 
father and grandmother, Louis and Mary 
O’Donnell, having also been natives of the 
north of Ireland. 


The elementary education of Ed. O’Donnell 
was received in Ireland, where he made good 
progress in his studies, alternating his school 
terms with industrious work on his father’s 
farm and in the employment of others in his 
immediate neighborhood for wages. Here he 
remained until 1884 when at the age of 
twenty-six he came to America, located at first 
in eastern Canada. One year subsequently he 
removed to Billings, Montana, and here he 
resumed farming, working for wages as in 
Ireland. But our subject was frugal, industri¬ 
ous and ambitious to acquire that competency 
which laid ready at the hand of every pioneer 
of this western country. That he was emi¬ 
nently successful is attested by the fact that he 
now possesses three hundred and seventy acres 
of excellent farming land in the far-famed Yel¬ 
lowstone valley of Montana, and is surrounded 
with all that adds to the enjoyment of rural 
life in one of the most prosperous states in the 
union. It was in 1891 that Mr. O’Donnell 
purchased his land and the estate all lies under 
a most excellent system of irrigation. • 

One year after coming into possession of 
this property, in 1892, our subject was united 
in marriage to Miss Mary Loftus, a native of 
Ireland, who came to the United States in 
1883, one year previous to the emigration of 
her husband. She is the daughter of Patrick 
and Delia (Sullivan) Loftus, both born in 
Ireland. 

To Mr. and Mrs. O’Donnell have been 
born nine children, viz: John, Eddie, Delia, 
James, Anna, Charlie, Mary, George and Au- 
driey. 

In one of the garden spots of the state 
this couple are happily and comfortably situ¬ 
ated, surrounded by a community of enterpris¬ 
ing and well-to-do citizens. 


JAMES B. HAWKINS, one of the well 
known pioneers of Montana, and more fa- 












ED. O’DONNELL 


JAMES B. HAWKINS 




EDWARD B. KENNEDY 


FRANK KELLETT 




















BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


449 


miliarly called “Jack” Hawkins, is one of the 
directors of the state reform school located at 
Miles City. He was born in Utica, New York, 
July io, 1848, the son of Martin and Henrietta 
(Ballou) Hawkins. The father, a native 
Irishman, came to the United States when a 
lad and settled in New York state. He died 
when our subject was eight years old. The 
mother was born in New York state,, the 
daughter of Levi and Sarah (Austin) Ballou, 
who were among- the very first settlers in the 
Mohawk valley, and Mr. Ballou’s father 
fought in the French and Indian war. After 
her husband’s death, Mrs. Hawkins removed 
with her four children to Kane county, Illi¬ 
nois, it being 1857, and settled on a farm. 
There the family remained until i860, when 
they removed to Dekalb county, the same 
state. There they grow up and in 1885 Mrs. 
Hawkins came to Montana and is now residing 
in Forsyth. Our subject spent his early life 
in working on the farm in summer time and 
attending the district schools in winter until 
April, 1870, when he started to join a friend in 
Montana, for whom he expected to work. At 
Omaha he found his funds were short to make 
the entire trip and he took the position of deck 
hand on a boat and at Atchinson hired out to 
a nurseryman. In the fall he started for 
Montana again. Arriving at Abilene, Kansas, 
which was then a distributing point for the 
cattle which were brought up over the trail, 
he hired out to take a drove of cattle north to 
Fort McPherson. After delivering the cattle 
he took the outfit of horses and wagons back 
to Texas and he was back and forth on the 
trail from Texas to Kansas for four years, 
taking cattle north and horses south. Finally 
on May 24, 1874, Mr. Hawkins enlisted in 
the Frontier Batallion, Company D., which is 
better known as Texas Rangers. It was the 
purpose of this military organization to quell 
Indian uprisings and to deal with outlaws, as 
well as do scout work. While in this capacity, 
where he remained thirty-one months, he re- 
29 


ceived the nickname, “Soda-Water-Jack,” and 
to this day “Jack” has remained with him 
among his friends. Mr. Hawkins was ser¬ 
geant in the Rangers and had much thrilling 
and active work in that body. After his hon¬ 
orable discharge in November, 1876, he, in 
company with two others, started to the Black 
Hills, Dakota. Arriving in Custer City, 
March 12, 1877, they traded their wagon for 
provisions and packed their horses and started 
for the Big Horn mountains. After prospect¬ 
ing until their provisions were low they started 
to the Rosebud and put up hay at Fort Keogh. 
Since that date Mr. Hawkins has been a son 
of Montana and is one of the substantial men 
of the state. In 1882, he was appointed deputy 
sheriff, in 1886, deputy sheriff and jailor and 
in 1892 he was elected sheriff of Custer coun¬ 
ty. His re-election promptly followed in 1894 
and in 1898 he was appointed, by Governor 
Smith, trustee of the state reform school. He 
held that office until January 1, 1903, when he 
was appointed director and since that time he 
has acted in that capacity. 

In 1888 occurred the marriage of Mr. 
Hawkins and Nannie Watson, the daughter 
of W. B. and Elizabeth (Porter) Watson, na¬ 
tives of Scotland. Mr. Watson was a mem¬ 
ber of the First Connecticut Heavy Artillery 
and served through the Rebellion. Mrs. 
Hawkins was born in Hartford, Connecticut, 
and in 1886 came thence to Montana. 

M*r. Hawkins has the following named 
brothers: Thomas B., who enlisted in the 
Fifty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry at six¬ 
teen and now lives in Texas; William, chief 
of police in Miles City. The children born to 
Mr. Hawkins and his wife are, Mazie, on Jan- 
uary 1, 1889, William W., on December 25, 
1890, Hazel M., deceased, and Nannie Sarah, 
on January 13, 1901. 

Mr. Hawkins is a member of the K. P. and 
the Masons and in politics is Republican. He 
is a hard worker and has passed a life of ac¬ 
tivity and is well informel on various lines 








45° 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


of business. He is abreast of the times in 
questions of importance and is held in high 
esteem by all as is evidenced by his popularity 
in his official capacities. 

- +—+ - 

EDWARD B. KENNEDY, deceased. 
The subject of this biographical memoir was 
born in New Brunswick, April 13, 1851, the 
son of Michael and Mary (Barry) Kennedy, 
the former a native of Prince Edward s Island; 
the latter of Ireland. 

In New Brunswick our subject received the 
rudiments of an education, up to the age of 
sixteen. He came to the United States and lo¬ 
cated in Michigan, remaining there, however, 
only a brief period. Thence he went to the 
Black Hills and settled in Deadwood, Dakota. 
This was about 1878, before the state had been 
divided into the North and South halves. Mr. 
Kennedy remained here until 1881. The fol¬ 
lowing year he came to Billings, Montana, us¬ 
ing horse teams. Of course, in that early day 
there was no town of Billings, but we have 
indicated the site of the future city. Here 
Mr. Kennedy secured work running a ferry 
boat, at Coulson, at that period the only town 
in the immediate vicinity. Subsequently he 
purchased the boat, and thus secured a pe¬ 
cuniary start in the world. This profitable craft 
he conducted for a number of years, at the same 
time investing his surplus profits in sheep and 
Billings real estate, in which he had great faith. 
Being a good business man, Mr. Kennedy soon 
accumulated quite a fortune, and at the time of 
his death had many thousands of sheep and 
considerable real estate in the prospering City 
of Billings. At the time of the opening of the 
Crow Reservation in 1895, he secured a home¬ 
stead under Government patent, March 17, 
1903. Here he continued to make his home 
until his death which occurred the 22nd of De¬ 
cember, in the same year, at Helena, Montana, 
while there on business. 


The widow of our subject is Mrs. Catherine 
(Hart) Kennedy, born in the county Sligo, 
Ireland. She came to the United States and 
took up her residence in New York City. In 
1880, she went to Deadwood, Dakota, on a visit, 
and here met and married the subject of this 
memoir. To Mr. and Mrs. Edward B. Ken¬ 
nedy was born one child, Mary F., a student 
of the Billings High School. Mrs. Kennedy 
and her daughter have taken up the work be¬ 
gun by Mr. Kennedy. Although she has dis¬ 
posed of the sheep business she still continues 
to deal in Billings property. 


FRANK KELLETT is one of the early 
pioneers of eastern Montana and for more than 
a quarter of a century he has labored in the 
territory now embraced in Yellowstone county 
and he has won the respect and esteem of all 
who know him, while his worldly possessions 
have increased in a commensurate degree to 
the wisdom and skill he has manifested in his 
investments and his business affairs. For in¬ 
stance, in 1880. when Mr. Kellett first came 
here, the land about the place where the pros¬ 
perous city of Billings is now situated was 
considered worthless, absolutely. Mr. Kellett 
did not believe that and showed his belief by 
taking a homestead of one hundred and sixty 
acres. That place is his home today and is 
worth one hundred dollars per acre. The es¬ 
tate lies about two miles west from Billings 
and is one of the excellent ones of the county. 

Frank Kellett is, by birth, a native of the 
Emerald Isle, Drogheda being the place where 
he first saw the light, but most of his life has 
been spent apart from the native heath and 
like most of those who come to this country 
| from Ireland, he is a genuine American in 
heart and spirit and a loyal supporter of the 
I Stars and Stripes. The father, John Kellett, 
was born in the same place as our subject and 
j later in life removed to Manchester, England, 










BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


45i 


where he remained until his death, some five 
years since. He married Mary Campbell, a na¬ 
tive of Drogheda, also, but descended from 
Scotch ancestry. Our subject was but a small 
boy when the family home was transferred to 
Manchester, England, and his education was 
secured in that city. After completing his 
studies, he worked in various capacities until 
1870, in which year he set sail for the United 
States. For a time he was employed in Con¬ 
cord, New Hampshire, and then traveled some 
until 1880, when he came into eastern Mon¬ 
tana. He was satisfied, even at that early day, 
that this would be a wealthy section of the 
state and that the prospects, so little seen 
then by the ordinary man, were good. His faith 
led him to act and he secured the land above 
mentioned and he has continued steadily in 
labor and prosecuting the business of farming 
since that time. 

Mr. Kellett has a very extended circle of 
acquaintances and hosts of warm friends who 
esteem him highly. He has seen the country 
develop from a barren waste with few settlers 
to be one of the prosperous counties of the 
great state of Montana and with, even now, 
prospects that indicate the future improve- ! 
ments and development will entirely over¬ 
whelm and far exceed anything that has been 
done in the past. Mr. Kellett is worthy of the 
good success he has achieved and as he enjoys 
the fruits of his labors, he has never forgotten 
the days of pioneer hardship nor the demands , 
of the country on every good and loyal citizen. 


EDGAR BOYD CAMP, one of the lead¬ 
ing citizens of Billings, Montana, is engaged 
in the real estate, loan and insurance business. 
He was born November 25, 1856. in Bloom¬ 
ington, Illinois, the son of Edgar B. and INIary 
(Porter) Camp, both natives of the Empire 
State. His grandfather was Elisha Camp, a 
colonel of the war of 1812, and two of his 


father s brothers, each colonels, in the Civil war 
were buried in the Arlington cemetery, with 
military honor in Washington. His father, 
a banker, lost his health and died at the age 
of 36 shortly after leaving his native home at 
Sackets Harbor, New York, for the then far 
! west, Illinois. 

Mr. Camp’s mother was born and educated 
in New York City, where she lived until her 
marriage, a daughter of David C. Porter, a 
i wealthy business man of that city, and Rose 
j Ann Hardy, daughter of Sir William Hardy 
| of England. The families on both sides were 
noted for their literary attainments, and their 
i descendants are known down to these later 
j years, Miss Rose Porter, whose death occurred 
I September 9th, 1906, at her home in New 
• Haven, Connecticut, was a well known author- 
1 ess of some forty odd books. Mrs. Laura Por¬ 
ter Sanford of Genoa, Italy, although only 
having published one volume of poetry, in her 
own name, is sought for, as a contributor to 
magazines and papers, both the latter being 
sisters of Mr. Camp’s mother. The subject of 
this sketch certainly has cause for pride in the 
religious, musical, art and literary attainments 
of his ancestors. 

Mr. Camp was reared in Illinois, living at 
Odell, Normal and Pontiac, and in that state 
he received his education in the public schools. 
On leaving school he was employed, in a dry 
goods store in Pontiac five years, and in the 
spring of 1880 engaged in the same business 
he now follows in Pontiac. In the fall of 1881 
he disposed of his interest and came to Mon¬ 
tana, arriving November 21, 1881 at Glendive. 
He went to work in the N. P. R. R. yards, 
and the first day's work was helping load three 
cars of buffalo hides. Finding this employ¬ 
ment too heavy work, he pushed on to Miles 
City, reaching there on the first train to enter 
that place, after the construction outfit had 
reached there the day before, November 30, 
1881. and here he found employment with 
Miles & Stravell in the hardware business. 











452 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


remaining' with this firm until February 26, 
1882. He then formed a partnership with 
Arthur W. Miles, of Livingston, Montana, 
who was then paymaster’s clerk at Fort 
Keogh. Our subject went to Coulson, a then 
lively frontier town located on the bank of 
the Yellowstone River two miles east of the 
now city of Billings, traveling by stage a dis¬ 
tance of 160 miles, being followed by their 
merchandise hauled by freight teams from 
Miles City, and on their arrival he opened a 
hardware store in a tent. Later he was able 
to secure some green cottonwood lumber cost¬ 
ing $60 a thousand, and erected a frame store 
building. Here he remained waiting for the 
town of Billings to develop. As soon as lots 
were on the market and a townsite laid out he 
moved their stock and on May 12, 1882, 
opened the initial store in the “Magic” city 
of Billings. He disposed of his interest in the 
business that summer to his partner Mr. 
Miles. At that time he also became interested 
in a brick yard, known as the firm of Camp 
& Penny, the first yard in the Yellowstone val¬ 
ley, they manufactured the brick for the 
Northern Pacific round-house and many of 
the first brick buildings in Billings. 

In October of that year 1882 he re-entered 
the hardware business in partnership with his 
brother, Charles D. Camp, under the firm name 
of Camp Brothers, and this became one of the 
largest concerns in eastern Montana, build¬ 
ing and occupying the entire building that is 
now known as the Commercial Hotel, corner 
of Montana avenue and 26th street. Owing 
to commercial depression in the city and sec¬ 
tion of the state the firm was obliged to make 
an assignment for the benefit of its creditors 
in July, 1886. In the January following, after 
making full settlement with all their creditors, 
the new company was formed known as Will- 
iston Camp Company, which was soon 
changed to that of The Williston Hardware 
Company. On January 15, 1887, after having 


retired from the above mentioned firm, Mr. 
Camp purchased the plant of the Gazette Pub¬ 
lishing Company which had just consolidated 
with the other three newspapers, the Post, 
Herald and Rustler, thus becoming the owner 
of all the papers published in Yellowstone 
county. He conducted the Gazette, daily and 
weekly, for one year, then discontinued the 
daily edition but continued the weekly, known 
as the Montana Stock Gazette until in Septem¬ 
ber, 1888, he disposed of all his interest to E. 
H. Becker. During the years from March 4, 
1885, to March 4, 1887, Mr. Camp also was 
treasurer of Yellowstone county, and besides 
being an alderman for a time was .elected 
mayor of the city of Billings in 1888 which 
position he filled until in January, 1889, he re¬ 
moved from the city with his family, living 
at various times in Helena, Spokane and Chi¬ 
cago, returning from the latter city to Bill¬ 
ings’in March, 1897, and being with Yegen 
Brothers for one year, with his brother opened 
a general mercantile store at Laurel, where he 
platted and owned the townsite of that now 
growing little city, disposing of most of his 
interest in the town in December 1905. In 
May, 1902 he reurned to Billings and engaged 
in his present business, he js interested in 
several ranches in the valley. 

January 21, 1886, Mr. Camp was united in 
marriage to Ida L. Carter, a native of Bridge¬ 
port, Connecticut. The ceremony was solemn- 
. nized in Jersey City. She is a daughter of Gil¬ 
man and Ila A. (Hudson) Carter. The father 
was a native of Boston, Massachusetts; the 
mother of Newburg, New York. 

Mr. and Mrs. Camp have no children, but 
have adopted two orphan children of her 
brothers Lila Gilman and Ruth Esther. Mr. 
Camp has one brother, Charles D. Camp, a 
farmer near Laurel, and one sister, Mrs. Rose 
Coombs, of Los Angeles, California. Mrs. 
Camp has one sister, Mrs. Emma A. Ander¬ 
son, in San Francisco, California. 

Fraternally our subject is a member of 










BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


453 


the Modem Woodmen of America, Brother¬ 
hood of American Yeomen, and the Mountain¬ 
eers, and is director on the board , of the Inter- 
Mountain Mutual Life Insurance Company of 
Billings, Montana. 

Both himself and wife are members of the 
Congregational church and Mr. Camp was one 
of the organizers of the first church in Billings 
in the spring of 1882. He has always taken 
a keen interest in all that pertained to the best 
interest of the city and community in which 
he lived. 


WALTER O. COWAN has resided in the 
state of Montana for thirty years and more 
and has gained the reputation of being one of 
the state’s thrifty and substantial business 
men, having wrought in various capacities and 
localities during these days. At the present 
time Mr. Cowan is the owner and operator of 
the largest livery business in the city of Liv¬ 
ingston. His is known far and near as one of 
the finest outfits in the country and is enjoying 
as it deserves, a splendid patronage from all 
classes. Mr. Cowan is a careful and skillful 
man and spares neither pains nor expense to 
have his stock, his rigs and everything of the 
best and so insure the safety and comfort of 
his patrons. 

Walter O. Cowan was born in Pulaski 
county, Kentucky, on November 27, 1851. His 
parents, James D. and Nancy (Newell) Cowan, 
were natives of the same county as their son, 
the former born in 1810 and the latter in 1812. 
The mother’s parents were Samuel and Nancy 
Newell. After receiving his education in his 
native state, our subject came west to Mon¬ 
tana in 1876, settling in the Gallatin valley. 
There he was occupied until 1899 when he pur¬ 
chased a farm in the Shields river country, 
where he also raised stock. In 1903, Mr. 
Cowan sold out all his holdings on the Shields 
river and bought a ranch five miles up the 


Yellowstone from Livingston, near Carter’s 
Bridge. On June* 14, 1906, he closed the deal 
that gave him the title to his present large 
business and since that time he has given his 
personal attention to its supervision. It is 
prospering and with his wise and efficient 
management is assuming proportions that are 
very gratifying. 

Mr. Cowan married Miss Fanny Mc¬ 
Creary, the daughter of Jefferson and Ange- 
line McCreary. To Mr. and Mrs. Cowan four 
children have been born, Harry N v May 31, 
1892, Edwin W., December 13, 1893, Mattie 
A., June, 1896, and Helen M., in 1898. Mr. 
and Mrs. Cowan are members of the Congre¬ 
gational church and are highly esteemed peo¬ 
ple. Politically our subject is a Democrat and 
takes a lively interest in the elections and in 
school matters. 


JOHN FORSTER, although not a man 
of many years, is still a pioneer of Montana 
and has had a career of marked success as 
will be seen in the following: He was born in 
Bavaria at the foot of the Alps on December 
6, 1872, and now lives in Montana, where 
he owns a farm of one hundred and 
eighty-four acres, half of which is now 
under cultivation. Simon Forster, his fa¬ 
ther now resides in Billings, where he came 
in 1881. He was a butcher in Miles City in 
very early days. He came to the west as a 
buffalo hunter, later had a contract on the N. 
P. R. R. and since has been a farmer, being 
located at the mouth of Alkali creek. He mar¬ 
ried Regina Reichart, who is also living, aged 
fifty-nine. Our subject is the only child of this 
marriage and he came to Montana in 1891 
with his mother, to the home the father had 
prepared for them. Five years were spent in 
laboring with his father and then he worked 
on a sheep ranch for eighteen months. Dur¬ 
ing that time, Mr. Forster saved five hundred 










454 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


dollars. With this capital, he bought eight 
hundred sheep, taking a partner with him in 
the deal, and kept them for a year. They then 
purchased seven hundred more, making twen¬ 
ty-two hundred sheep with the two bands and 
their increase. The following spring they sold 
out so advantageously that they cleared thirty- 
five hundred dollars a piece. With this money 
they purchased another band of sheep and his 
present farm. He kept the sheep for a year 
and a half then traded them for cattle. -He 
was six months in disposing of his homed 
stock and did so at good figures. Mr. Forster 
does diversified farming, raising some stock 
and is in dairy business. His experimenting 
with Durum wheat, hulless barley, oats, and 
rye in dry fanning and has done some very 
interesting work. 

In April, 1900, Mr. Forster married Ter¬ 
esa Wimmer, a neighbor girl in Bavaria. They 
have five children, Teresa, Regina, John, Luit- 
pold, and Rudolph. 

Mr. Foster is a member of the Yeomen 
and a good strong Republican. 

He has always taken a special interest in 
assisting to organize and build up the country 
and for five years has been on the school board. 
He is a very ardent supporter of educational 
matters and works hard for a good school. 
He and his wife are consistent members of the 
Catholic church and very industrious and 
thrifty people. 

Mr. Forster’s ranch is beautifully located 
and is one of the finest along the Yellowstone. 
In the background rises the prominent cliff 
with groves of the waving poplar ornamenting 
its base, while the farm stretches its fertile 
acres, the completion of the charming scene. 


WILLIAM HARRISON CHENEY. 
Among the brave pioneers who blazed the 
trails through what is now the state of Mon¬ 
tana in those early days when the only human 


beings to be seen were the savages, ready at 
every opportunity to take life, a prominent 
place must be given to the gentleman whose 
name appears above. Rich in frontier exper¬ 
ience, his life has practically been spent thus 
far in the west and a somewhat detailed ac¬ 
count can but prove very interesting to all 
lovers of the history of their state. At pres¬ 
ent, Mr. Cheney lives about one and one-half 
miles southwest -from Ridgelawn and gives his 
attention to general farming and stock raising. 
He was born August 1, 1839, in Harrison 
county, Ohio. His father, Elzey Cheney, was 
born in Maryland in 1781, received there a 
good school education, went to Ohio when a 
young man and after teaching school for sev¬ 
eral years turned his attention to farming, 
Ohio then being on the frontier. In 1844 he 
took his family to Iowa and died a month 
after landing there. He had married Susan¬ 
nah McDaniel, who was born in Lancaster 
county, Pennsylvania, in 1800. She was a very 
bright and capable woman and very bravely 
took up the task of providing for herself and 
little ones in the then wild sections of Iowa. 
There were ten children in the family, three 
boys and three girls of whom lived to reach 
majority. Besides our subject, there is but 
one other, Alfred P., now living and his resi¬ 
dence is in Missouri. Mrs. Cheney lived to 
a good ripe age, her death occurring in 1886. 
One son, Elzey, fought in the Civil War. Our 
subject received his early education in the 
common schools then attended the Wesleyan 
Academy at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, finishing 
his studies in 1857. Then he purchased an 
interest in a threshing machine and operated 
the same for two years. In 1859 he went to 
Kansas, started for California and stopped at 
Leavenworth. Then he drove to Denver for 
a Pikes Peak Company, that now great city 
being then just starting. He returned via 
Julesburg to Nebraska City and then freighted 
to Fort Laramie for the Overland Express, 
wintering thirty-fivS miles above Laramie. 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


In i860, he started for Santa Fe with General 
Harney, but before reaching their destination 
they were ordered back to Fort Laramie. 
He then acted as wagon master between Fort 
Scott and Leavenworth. In 1862 he acted as' 
wagon master for General W. F. Sherman in 
Arkansas, also spent some time under General' 
Ewing, their headquarters in 1863, being at 
Kansas City, Missouri. Later, he returned to 
Fort Scott and went thence to Fort Leaven¬ 
worth. Early in the spring of 1864 he went 
to Fort Smith and under orders of the quarter¬ 
master of the northwest, joined Sully’s ex¬ 
pedition as wagon master. They came up the 
Missouri by boat to St. Joe, then overland to 
Sioux City and in May the expedition left 
that place and from that time on it was almost 
continual excitement because of the many 
fights they had with the Indians. In the Bad 
Lands in Dakota and Montana they were on 
almost constant duty. They finally reached 
Yellowstone forty-five miles above its mouth, 
forded and then recrossed to Fort Union on 
their way back to Sioux City, having been out 
six months. After this, he was one of a party 
under Captain Pope sent to rescue a bunch 
of gold hunters and in 1865 was under Gen¬ 
eral Sully in an expedition to Devil’s Lake. 
After this he accompanied the Reeves expedi¬ 
tion to Camp Cook at the mouth of the Judith 
river and then returned to Omaha. Finally 
in 1871 he quit the service of the government 
and then went to freighting from St. Cloud 
to Winnipeg and along the Northern Pacific 
line from Moorhead to Bismarck. In 1873, he 
was with Col. D. S. Stanley’s party which 
came west surveying the Northern Pacific 
Railroad as far as Pompey’s Pillar. After 
remaining three months there, he returned to 
Fort Lincoln. In 1873, Mr. Cheney engaged 
on the stage line in Canada and remained 
until 1876, when their horses were all killed 
by disease, then he returned to Moorhead and 
wintered at Fort Totten on Devil’s Lake. In 


I ^ 77 , we find him at Bismarck cutting wood 
for the steamboats. After this, he was em¬ 
ployed at Fort Custer, Montana, for a short 
time and then acted as fireman for a brief pe¬ 
riod on one of the steamboats down the river 
and back. In the fall of 1877, he embarked 
in the wood business on the Yellowstone and 
remained there, doing a good business until 
1883, at the close'of which time he moved to 
the north side of the river and located near 
his present residence and since that time he 
has been giving his attention to general farm¬ 
ing and stock raising. He owns eight hundred 
acres of excellent land as fine as there is in 
the Yellowstone valley, has it reasonably well 
improved, owning considerable stock and other 
property. 

Mr. Cheney has never seen fit to embark 
on the matrimonial seas. 

In political matters he is always active and 
is ever allied with the Republican party. He 
is a stanch supporter of educational interests 
and has a school on his land, the site for which 
he donated. Mr. Cheney is highly respected 
by all who know him and it may be truthfully 
said of him that he is a man who can “do 
things,” as was aptly remarked by our presi¬ 
dent. Had we the space to outline the hard¬ 
ships, the thrilling incidents, the trials, self- 
denials and dangers and wonderfully arduous 
labors that have been in the path of Mr. Che¬ 
ney, they would be instructive and interesting 
to all. During the earlier part of his life he 
was intimately associated with all those his¬ 
tory making incidents so common among the 
events of the northwest. 


B. M. MELUM is counted the very first 
settler in that part of Custer county that lies 
about Capitol. He has been United States 
commissioner for that section of the county 
and is, also, surveyor for Custer county, hav- 







456 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


ing held the office continuously since 1904 a 
period of fifteen years, which speaks much for 
his ability and his faithfulness to the interests 
of the people. The postoffice of Capitol was 
secured by the efforts of M. Melum in 1891 
and for the first four years he was the post¬ 
master and then his wife was appointed and 
she still holds that position. The office is in 
the Melum home and in addition to the things 
mentioned, Mr. Melum carries on his farm and 
does some stockraising. 

B. M. Melum was born in Norway, May 
20, 1863, the son of Mons and Bertha Melum, 
natives of Norway. The father was a farmer, 
and also,, a tanner and merchant. He remained 
remained in Norway until his death, and was 
a very wealthy and influential man. Our sub¬ 
ject came to the United States when a lad of 
four years, accompanied by his foster parents. 
Wisconsin was the point of settlement and 
there he remained for four years. Then he 
went to South Dakota and there received his 
education. In 1884, being then just at his 
majority, Mr. Melum came to Custer county 
and engaged in the cattle business. He took 
land by squatter’s right which was not sur¬ 
veyed until 1892. Previous to being elected 
surveyor in 1904) Mr. Melum had filled the 
position of constable and other public offices 
and was known as an efficient officer. 

In 1887 occurred the marriage of Mr. 
Melum and Miss Inger Oleson, a native of 
Norway and the daughter of Torkel Oleson, 
with whom she came to the United States 
when a child. To our subject and his wife 
eight children have been born, Clara, Theodore. 
Martin, Olive, Oscar, Bernard, Melvin and 
Bernt. In political matters, Mr. Melum is a 
stanch Republican and is always active in the 
campaigns in the interests of the principles he 
believes to be for the good of the country. He 
has shown his zeal in the various things he has 
accomplished in the building up and improve¬ 
ment of the country and he is considered one 


of the leading citizens of this portion of the 
county. 


JOHN FLYNN has a fine residence two 
miles east of Greycliff and devotes his atten¬ 
tion to general farming and stockraising. He 
handles about fifteen hundred well bred sheep, 
besides cattle and horses and is classed among 
the leading agriculturists and stock men of 
Sweet Grass county. It is only in the latter 
portion of his life that he has given attention 
to these industries and that he has made a first 
class success in their prosecution speaks well 
for his business ability. Mr. Flynn has seen 
much of the mining west and in his time was 
considered one of the best experienced miners 
and mine managers who operated in the west¬ 
ern districts. He was born in Iowa county, 
Wisconsin, on December 14, 1861. His father, 
Thomas Flynn, was born in Ireland and became 
one of Wisconsin’s earliest pioneers. He joined 
the rush to Pikes Peak in 1862 and settled at 
Black Hawk. His death occurred at Denver in 
1885, being then aged sixty. The mother of 
our subject, Mary Wall in maiden life, died in 
Colorado on August 29, 1896, aged sixty-two 
Mr. Flynn is the third of a family of six chil¬ 
dren, all of whom live in Colorado, and Mon¬ 
tana, except one brother, Michael Flynn, who 
is now in Australia. When the family went 
west to Colorado, our subject was left with his 
grandparents, with whom he remained until 
he was twelve years of age, then he joined his 
parents in Colorado, where he was educated. 
While still a boy he had his first experience in 
mining, becoming first an ore sorter. For 
twelve years he was occupied in every capacity 
about a mine, mastering each portion thor¬ 
oughly as he went along, remaining all of this 
time in Colorado. Then he journeyed to the 
Black Hills and assisted in the famous Home¬ 
stead mine, near Deadwood. For a short time 











BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


457 


just before going to the Black Hills, he tried 
farming in Medison county, Nebraska, but dis¬ 
continued the same, owing to the severe win¬ 
ters. After leaving the Black Hills, Mr. Flynn 
went to North Idaho and dwelt for a short time. 
Then he was foreman on the famous A. D. & 
M. property at Gibbonsville, Idaho. After this 
he went to British Columbia and was in full 
charge of the Highland mine at Ainsworth, for 
a Philadelphia corporation. Later, the world 
famous Leroy mine at Rossland was under his 
management. Altogether, he spent consider¬ 
able time in British Columbia and finally in 
1901, decided to quit mining altogether. He had 
purchased a ranch in Montana, the place where 
he now lives, some years before he gave up min¬ 
ing and thither he directed his steps in 1901. 
He immediately began the work of improve¬ 
ment on his estate and since that time has stead¬ 
ily followed general farming and stock raising. 

Fraternally, Mr. Flynn is affiliated with the 
Yeomen and M. W. A. at Big Timber. 

In political matters, he adheres to the prin¬ 
ciples of the Republican party, although not an 
active partisan in these lines. He is one of the 
energetic, substantial and successful men of 
Sweet Grass county and has a fine large family 
who bid fair to all become respected citizens 
of Montana. 


DAVID HARRISON RUSSELL has had 
an experience in the various callings of the pio¬ 
neer and frontiersman that would fill a book to 
overflowing with thrilling scenes and interest¬ 
ing data. He had always been on the frontier 
and his every trip to the west was fraught with 
incidents that can hardly be understood by those 
who now have the comforts and accommoda¬ 
tions that civilization has brought. Born on 
December 3. 1843, i n Henderson county, Illi¬ 
nois, the son of Levi and Mary (Finley) Rus¬ 
sell, he has passed a long life and now is just 
beginning to enjoy the golden days that come 


to the honest laborer and pioneer of many sec¬ 
tions. The father crossed the plains in 1852 and 
settled in Linn county, Oregon, and one year 
later removed thence to Marion county. In 
1846, our subject, being then but three years of 
age, the father started across the plains and 
when the full train assembled at Saint Joseph, 
Missouri, the dread cholera broke out with sev¬ 
erity and Mrs. Russell died. This so dishearten¬ 
ed the father that he turned back to Illinois but 
his children came on with their grandmother, 
Mrs. Finley, and an uncle, Alexander Finley. 
They had an ox team and after a hard and try¬ 
ing trip, for the reader must remember that in 
1846 the country was exceedingly new, they fin¬ 
ally arrived at the place where The Dalles, Ore¬ 
gon, now stands and camped preparatory to 
making boats to carry their baggage 
down the Columbia. The falls where 
Cascade Locks are now were very dan¬ 
gerous but finally they were passed, but 
it was not until the fall of 1847 they camped 
twelve miles from the old Fort Vancouver or 
where Portland now stands. In the chill days 
of that fall the measles broke out among the 
immigrants and Mrs. Finley went to Fort Van¬ 
couver to secure medicines. The rain set in 
while she was gone and it detained her some 
time and when she came back it was to the 
melancholy scene of death for over ninety of 
the train died, mostly children. She found 
her son Alex, and our subject’s two brothers 
and one sister dead. This was a terrible blow 
in this wild and new country so far from home 
and loved ones. How trying, only those who 
have passed through it can tell. The melan¬ 
choly woods and the pouring rain only added 
to the horror for the months until the grand¬ 
mother and our subject were taken by General 
Scott to Fort Vancouver where they were 
housed until spring. Then they journeyed 
to what is now Lynn county and seven years 
later the grandmother died, leaving David H. 
with neighbors. He had already learned to 
drive cattle going with different ones on the 










45 8 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


long trails to the various mining camps in dis¬ 
tant parts of the country. He in turn visited 
California, Nevada, Montana, Washington. 
Idaho and the Cariboo country of the Frazer 
river district. In 1865, Mr. Russell came to 
Montana and spent one winter with the Nez 
Perce Indians on the Yellowstone river. He had 
participated in all the Indian wars before that 
such as the Cayuse and the various uprisings 
but had escaped with his life. Mr. Russell be¬ 
came a very skillful Indian fighter and being 
naturally a courageous and resourceful man he 
was feared by the savages far and near. On 
one occasion when he was with General Har¬ 
ney who was establishing the boundtry line 
between the United States and Canada, he was 
attacked in the Okanogan country and received 
seven arrows in his back as he was making for 
cover. Owing to the fact that the arrows were 
not poisoned and that Mr. Russell had on a very 
thick overcoat, they did little damage, aside 
from some painful flesh wounds. Finally, in 
1881, Mr. Russell became tired of the danger¬ 
ous drives of cattle and fighting Indians, and 
he came to Montana and settled down where 
we find him at this time, four miles south of 
F.kalaka, on Russell creek. He has given his un¬ 
divided attention to farming and is one of the 
well known and esteemed men of the county. 

In 1874. at Fort Laramie. Mr. Russell was 
married and he has fourteen children, ten liv¬ 
ing at this time. 


HON. WILLIAM LINDSAY is one of the 
leading men of the state of Montana. His life 
has been filled with active labor during which 
time he has met and overcome many formid¬ 
able obstacles, and by reason of his merit and 
stability has won a brilliant success in every 
line. At present, he resides in Glendive and 
his financial interests are largely in Dawson 
county. 

William Lindsay was born in Poland, 
Ohio, on April 20, 1852. James M. Lindsay, 


his father, was born and raised in New Jersey 
being the descendant of an old Lutheran family 
from Scotland. He was a quiet unassuming 
man, noted for his temperate habits and integ¬ 
rity and was looked up to by all. He conduc¬ 
ted a barrel factory in Ohio until 1896. The 
mother of our subject was in maiden life, Eliz¬ 
abeth M. Bebout, a native of New Brighton, 
Pennsylvania, and she was married to Mr. 
Lindsay when sixteen years of age. The 
children born to this worthy couple aside from 
our subject, not following the order of their 
birth, are Oliver, who died at Kansas City, 

! Missouri in 1898; Benjamin G. lives at Newell, 
Iowa; Charles lives at Youngstown, Ohio; Eli, 

; died when eight years old; Bamer G., died 
when three years old and Edward lives at 
Leavenworth, Kansas; Mrs. Elizabeth Shook 
of New Brighton, Pennsylvania; and Mrs. 
Ella McArthur, of Brooklyn, New York. 

During his school life, Mr. Lindsay was 
closely associated with the McKinley family 
and remembers well Abner and his sister who 
were a brother and sister of the late President 
McKinley. When thirteen years of age, our 
subject quit school life and began to work for 
himself. He first learned the tinsmith trade 
then went to Menominee, Michigan, and 
worked in the lumber woods until twenty-one 
years of age. After that we find him in Beaver 
Falls, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in the 
hardware and house furnishing business until 
1883, in which year he removed to Montana 
and located near the Missouri river some sev¬ 
enty miles north of Glendive and herded 
sheep for the first year, thus beginning at the 
bottom in this state. The next year he se¬ 
cured a band of sheep on shares and began to 
lay the foundation of his present fortune. He 
did very well until the winter of 1886 and 
1887 practically wiped out his holdings, but 
Mr. Lindsay was not made of the stuff that 
gives way at the first attack, so he gathered 
together some more sheep and continued in the 
I same business and by 1893 he not only had re- 







BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


459 


trieved his fortune and more, but was backing- 
three other men. Again he suffered from 
heavy losses but owing to his excellent grit 
and hard work, he again recovered and now 
is one of the wealthy sheep men of the state 
of Montana. At present he is handling about 
fifteen thousand sheep and owns thirty thou¬ 
sand acres of land besides a considerable town 
property. His residence in Glendive is a hand¬ 
some modern structure and is the center of re¬ 
fined hospitality. In 1905, Mr. Lindsay in¬ 
corporated his business into the Lindsay Land 
& Live Stock Company for one hundred and 
thirty-five thousand dollars, nearly all of this 
stock being held by himself and members of 
his family. Nearly all of Mr. Lindsay’s land 
lies north and „west from Glendive and his op¬ 
erations are largely in Dawson county. 

At Glendive, Montana, in 1886, Mr. Lind¬ 
say married Miss Alice M. Reehl, of Beaver 
Falls, Pennsylvania, and to this union two 
children have been born, William Leroy, aged 
nineteen and Grace M., thirteen years of age, 
both attending school in Glendive. Mr. Lind¬ 
say has always been an active and stanch Re¬ 
publican. He is a man of force and weight 
and his influence is felt all over the state. He 
was elected to the office of county commis¬ 
sioner of Dawson county in 1892 and served 
until 1896, then he was chosen a member of 
the lower house of the fifth legislature. Was 
re-elected to the sixth legislature and ran for 
state senator for the seventh legislature, but 
was defeated. In 1902 he was chosen chair¬ 
man of the Republican state central committee 
and secured the first Republican victory in 
Montana in eight years. In 1904, Mr. Lind¬ 
say was nominated for governor of the state 
of Montana and although he made a splendid 
run, he lost the election. He has always 
stood as a champion for clean politics and a 
proper administration of justice. During the 
Clark and Daly contest of the sixth legisla¬ 
ture he was one of the four who refused to 
join the Clark faction. 


Mr. Lindsay is a member of the Metho¬ 
dist church, an ardent advocate of his faith 
and liberal supporter of the same. He was 
elected lay delegate from Montana to the Chi¬ 
cago General Conference in 1900 and also to 
the same at Los Angeles, California, in 1904. 
He has always been very active in educational 
matters and takes a deep interest in forward¬ 
ing everything that is for the building up of 
this important part of our government. He 
was largely instrumental in securing the estab¬ 
lishment of the free high school at Glendive 
and is president of the board of directors of 
that institution and is also a director of his 
home district. 

It is with great pleasure that one is per¬ 
mitted to review a career like that of Mr. 

I Lindsay, pleasant because one loves to chron¬ 
icle such labors and such successes and because 
it is very important and a task to be desired' 
to lay before the great state of Montana an 
example like that which the life of Mr. 
Lindsay sets forth. A strong and forceful 
business man, meeting and overcoming obsta¬ 
cles which would have swamped an ordinary 
man, a kind father and husband, a champion 
of right at all times and in every place and on 
whom had passed a life that commands the re¬ 
spect and admiration of all—Mr. Lindsay’s 
career is therefore properly set forth in this 
public manner. 


JOHN H. FROST resides three and one- 
half miles west of Grey Cliff and was born on 
an island in the Yellowstone river where Liv¬ 
ingston now stands, the date being December 
31, 1872. His father, John H. Frost, an army 
surgeon and a native of New York, was killed 
by the Indians near Livingston when our sub- 
the daughter of an Indian woman and a Span- 
ject was seven months old. The mother, El¬ 
len Lewis, still lives, aged fifty-one. She was 
ish father, he having come from Spain to 









460 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


the Pacific coast in the early part of the 19th 
century. Our subject is the only child of his 
father and he has a half sister, Julia Jackson, 
now a student at Carlisle. Immediately upon 
finishing his education he returned to Mon¬ 
tana and entered the military service at Fort 
Custer as interpreter and drill master for the 
Indian soldiers. After two years in that ser¬ 
vice, he decided to return to his, ranch on the 
Yellowstone, where he has spent his time 
since. When ten years of age, Mr. Frost took 
an overland trip to the Grand Ronde valley 
in Oregon and after two years spent there, 
came to the Crow Indian reservation, whence 
he went to Carlisle. Mr. Frost is a man of 
almost ideal physique, is well educated, of 
good judgment and discusses the matters 
which we are taking up freely and with energy. 
Of the twenty-seven who went with him to 
Carlisle, he has ascertained that twenty-two 
went back to their blankets, the balance hold¬ 
ing out merely through mental stamina. Mr. 
Frost has had much opportunity to study the 
conditions of the Indians and above everything 
else, he deplores the awful effect of whiskey 
upon them. This was especially evident 
among the soldiers at Custer. It is interesting 
to note that many times when giving drill 
orders, he was obliged to coin words in the 
Indian language as the English words had 
no Indian equivalent. Since coming to his 
ranch, Mr. Frost has taken an active interest 
in agricultural developments as the country 
was given largely to stock but in the past two 
years has put several hundred acres under the 
plow. He has a fine farm and is one of the 
respected and well-to-do men of this section. 

On March 10, 1895, Mr. Frost married 
Amelia Ledux, who was born near Medicine 
Hat, Canada, where her parents still live. Five 
children have been born to Mr. and * Mrs. 
Frost: Daniel L., John H., May, Henry S., 
and Alice. 

As Mr. Frost has not severed his tribal 


rights he has no political privileges, yet takes 
a keen interest in political matters and is well 
informed on the questions of the day. 

The following account is giveja direct from 
Mr. Frost’s lips. While a student at Carlisle, 
one day when Colonel Pratt was having some 
trouble with the Indian boys, he addressed Mr. 
Frost, saying, “John, are there not any good 
Indians here?” Mr. Frost saluted and 
promptly replied. “Yes, sir.” “Where are 
they?” asked the Colonel. Mr. Frost pointed 
to the college burying ground and replied, 
“There are several out there.” “Go to your 
quarters at once and consider yourself under 
arrest,” said the Colonel. Without changing 
expression Frost saluted and said, “Yes, if I 
am to be arrested for speaking the truth,” and 
turning on his heel he walked away. He had 
only gone a few paces, however, before the 
Colonel called him back and dismissed him 
with a laugh. Mr. Frost holds as a very dear 
friend, Mr. Pratt, and says, “He took the 
blanket off me both literally and metaphoric¬ 
ally.” When one studies the Indian races and 
sees the magnificent blood of some men who 
stand out among them really great men of the 
world, one longs to see this race brought under 
the pale of civilization that the world might 
witness the power of brain, inventive genius 
and the magnificent spirit of the Indian work¬ 
ing in the highways that civilization alone can 
give, where they would certainly make a pro¬ 
found impression of the world. Slowly this 
is coming about and such men as Mr. Frost 
who can and do look intelligently upon the 
question are enabled to do much to bring 
about the happy end. 


GWEN F. BURLA, treasurer of Yellow¬ 
stone county, Montana, was born in Ohio, 
October 4, 1867, the son of Lucus and Mary 
A. (Kalbe) Burla, the father of French and 










BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


461 


the mother of German nativity. In 1865 the 
father came to the United States and settled 
in Randolph, Portage county, Ohio, removing 
later to New Baltimore, Stark county. He 
was a general farmer and, stonecutter con¬ 
tractor and builder, and, although an enthus¬ 
iastic Democrat, was not an office-seeker. He 
died in New Balitmore in 1900. In the esti¬ 
mation of the community in which he was 
long a resident he stood very high and was 
a highly respected citizen. The mother of our 
subject passed from earth in New Baltimore 
in 1889. Her father was of French Huguenot 
ancestry. 

The subject of this article grew up with 
his parents and received an excellent and lib¬ 
eral education in the public schools and the 
high schools of Marlborough, Ohio. Later 
he was matriculated in the Ohio -Normal Uni¬ 
versity from which he was graduated in the 
class of 1890 with honors. Thence he went 
to Cleveland, Ohio, where he held a clerical 
position with the East Cleveland Railroad com¬ 
pany until August, 1893. At that period his 
health failing he came to Billings and at first 
taught school in the Newman District two 
terms, thence going to Reed, in what is now 
Sweet Grass county, now Battle Flat. Here he 
taught one winter term, and later was three 
years at Laurel. Before the ending of the last 
term he was elected superintendent of schools 
of Yellowstone county which position he held 
two terms, near the close of the last of which 
he was elected cashier of Yegen Brothers 
Savings Bank, Billings, where he remained 
two years, and then resigned, when he was 
elected county treasurer in 1902 and served 
four years. 

April 26, 1901, at Billings, Mr. Burla was 
united in marriage to Elizabeth Cedergren, 
born in Chicago, Illinois. She is the daughter 
of C. Victory and Matilda (Carlson) Ceder¬ 
gren, natives of Stockholm, Sweden. Our sub¬ 
ject has five brothers and one sister, viz.: 
August; contractor and builder; Albert, An¬ 


drew and William, all well known business 
men of Akron, Ohio; Edward, living at Lau¬ 
rel, and Mrs. Theresa Kuntze, of Akron, Ohio. 
Mrs. Burla, the wife of our subject, has three 
brothers, Money, Richard and Henry, the two 
former members of the Western Hardware 
Company, Billings, mentioned elsewhere. 

Mr. Burla is a member of all the Masonic 
orders in Billings, Algeria Temple, A. A. O. 
N. M. S., is'past C. C. of the Rathbone Lodge, 
K. of P., B. P. O. E., Eagles, and past presi¬ 
dent of same, also past district deputy. At 
present he is the efficient secretary of the 
Western Hardware Company. 

In March, 1906, Mr. Burla was elected 
commissioner of Yellowstone county to serve 
six years from March, 1907. 


WILLIAM LOWE, a retired hardware 
merchant living in Glendive, was born in 
Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, February 
7, 1828. His father Richard Lowe was born 
in the same place in February, 1802, and in 
1824 married Esther Cox, who was also born 
in Shrewsbury in 1802. The children bom to 
this marriage were Edwin, at Baldwin, Iowa; 
John, at Providence, Rhode Island; Mrs. Es¬ 
ther Van in Pottawatomie county, Iowa, and 
Charlotte Johnson born at Canton, Iowa. Mr. 
Lowe was educated in the common schools of 
England and at Providence, Rhode Island, 
having come to the United States when fifteen 
years old and settled at Providence, Rhode 
Island. In 1853, the family came west to Can¬ 
ton, Iowa, and our subject took up the business 
of a hardware merchant there, continuing in 
the same until 1864, when he came west to 
what was then Idaho territory but is now 
Montana and settled in Emigrant Gulch. Two 
years later, he went thence to Virginia City 
where he lived one year and then went to the 
Madison river country and did prospecting. 
Later he was on India creek and moved 






462 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


around prospecting until about 1870 when he 
returned to Canton, Iowa, where he engaged 
in the hardware business. This remained his 
residence until 1881 in which year he came 
to Glendive, embarking in the hardware busi¬ 
ness and this he followed continuously until 
1902, when he turned his business over to the 
active management of his sons. 

When twenty-eight Mr. Lowe married 
Miss Ellen Baird of Providence, Rhode Island, 
who died in 1885. Seven children were born 
to this marriage, three of whom survive. They 
are Guy Ralph Lowe, Ray Garfield Lowe and 
Mrs. Ellen Fleming. All reside in Glendive, 
Montana. 

Mr. Lowe was public administrator and 
held the position for some time. He always 
takes a keen interest in political matters and 
has done much to assist in .building up the 
country. Mr. Lowe is very enthusiastic over 
school matters and never allows an opportunity 
to slip to assist in the advancement of educa¬ 
tional interests. He is a member of the Meth¬ 
odist church and finds much comfort and de¬ 
light in his church work and relations and is 
looked upon as a man of reliabilty and worth. 
In early days Mr. Lowe participated in many 
Indian fights but was never wounded. In 1867 
he was in a fight at Pease Bottom where fif¬ 
teen white men going to Fort Buford 
in boats were attacked by a large force 
of Sioux Indians. Also in 1864, he 
participated in a fight up the Powder 
river, where sixty-five whites were at¬ 
tacked by a large number of Sioux Indians. 
In the former one white man was killed and 
nine Indians. In the latter fight a good many 
of the Indians were killed but the whites lost 
none. He has also been in many other hard 
places on the frontier, but has always escaped 
without injury. Mr. Lowe is now enjoying the 
golden years of his life amid plenty, sur¬ 
rounded with loving and kind friends and is 
renowned as one of the builders of this coun¬ 
try, having won friends ever since came here. 


JOHN W. LANEY was born in Andrew 
county, Missouri, on November 22, 1863, the 
son of David H. and Martha (Waugh) Laney. 
The latter was born in Westmoreland county, 
Pennsylvania, and died in 1888. The father 
was born in Pennsylvania December 15, 1821, 
He grew up and received his education in his 
native state and then migrated to Louisiana, 
where he was ordained a Methodist minister. 
Just prior to the Civil War he returned to 
1 Pennsylvania and engaged in the drug busi¬ 
ness. In 1863 he sold this business and jour¬ 
neyed west to Andrew county, Missouri, 
where he has since made his home, being alive 
at the present time and enjoying remarkable 
health for one so advanced in life. 

John W. was reared in Missouri and edu¬ 
cated at the Wesleyan University, at Mount 
Pleasant, Iowa. Subsequent to his graduation 
from this institution he engaged in farming 
and followed it in Missouri, with stock rais¬ 
ing until 1892, when he came to Custer county. 
He immediately took up sheep raising and soon 
came to the place where now lives. Success in 
a liberal measure has attended him and he has 
one of the choicest ranches in the vicinity 
where he resides, his home being four miles 
north from Ekalaka. Mr. Laney is a man of 
taste and as he has prospered he has made ex¬ 
penditures from time to time in improving 
his place and the result is that he 
has a very fine homelike ranch. His res¬ 
idence is one of the finest in this por¬ 
tion of the country and other things 
are in evidence that show the thrift and 
taste of the proprietor of the estate. Mr. Laney 
has given his attention to raising sheep and 
does some general farming, being considered 
one of the leading sheep and stock men of the 
county. 

In 1888, Mr. Laney married Miss Sallie 
Heren, who was born in Andrew county, Mis¬ 
souri, where she was reared and educated. Her 
father, William Heren, was born in Zanes¬ 
ville, Ohio, and in 1843 came to Missouri, 








BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


463 


where he was occupied in teaching school. 
During this time he studied law and was, in 
due time, admitted to the bar, it being 1850 
that he took his place there. He became one 
of the leading criminal lawyers in the entire 
state of Missouri and at the breaking out of 
the war enlisted as a private in the state fed¬ 
eral militia., He was soon chosen colonel of 
the Forty-first Missouri and the same year 
was elected to the state senate. In 1864, be 
was elected judge of the circuit court and he 
continued a prominent man in the state of 
Missouri until his death, May 7, 1893. He 
had married Miss Miriam Small, who died 
when Mrs. Laney was a small child. 

Mr. and Mrs. Laney have become parents 
of eight children, named as follows: J. Carl, 
Dollie M., Martha M., David H., Eveline 
Montana, Willie Bryan, Sarah Ann and Opal 
Heren. 

Mr. Laney is an active member of the I. O. 
O. F., and in political matters he always takes 
an interested part. He is a man of thorough 
information in these lines and in 1896 allowed 
his name to be used as a candidate for sheriff 
of Custer county. 


WILLIAM DUFFEY. The Emerald Isle 
has produced some of the most prominent 
names known in English history and literature 
and there is no battle too desperate to fight, 
no effort too hard to put forth and no obstacle 
too high to be overcome by the genuine Irish¬ 
man, and despite the fact that one finds the 
Irishman in the front ranks in these things, 
facing the brunt, it is well known that it is 
a very uncommon thing to find an Irishman 
who is not happy, bright and genial and doubt¬ 
less herein lies the success of the individual 
efforts of this race. From genuine North 
Ireland stock comes the subject of this sketch, 
having been born in County Armagh January 
3, 1854. His father, John Duffey, was born 


and lived and died in Ireland. The last named 
event taking place when our subject was twelve 
years of age. The father married Miss Mc¬ 
Lean, who also was a native of Ireland and 
died there years ago. William was the eighth 
of a family of nine children, all of whom live 
in Ireland except himself and one brother, 
Alex, who is an industrious farmer near Big- 
timber. In the common schools of his par¬ 
ish, William was educated and as early as sev¬ 
enteen years of age, began life’s battle on his 
own account. About that time, he came to 
Canada, where an uncle was living and for 
four years thereafter, he was engaged in farm¬ 
ing in that vicinity. Then being tw.enty-one, 
he went to Mont Clair, New Jersey, where 
he married and took up the hotel business, 
continuing same until 1891, in which year he 
journeyed to Elliston, Montana. When he left 
New Jersey, the weather was so hot that it 
was distressing. Arriving in Elliston, he was 
greeted with a genuine blizzard. He at once 
opened a hotel and four years later was burned 
out, losing everything except a small bunch 
of cattle. The fact that he had to start all over 
again in life and with a family to support did 
not deter Mr. Duffey, however, and he went to 
work with a will. He secured employment in 
the yards of the N. P. R. R. at Elliston and 
wrought there continuously for five years. 
Then he was enabled to take his present ranch 
and moved his family on to the desert plain. 
He had but little capital and no water was 
handy but he struggled on until he got his 
ditches made and then prosperity began to 
come. He has recently added another quarter 
section to his land holdings and he has one 
hundred and seventy-five acres under ditch 
which produces him three tons of first-class 
alfalfa per acre annually. This sells for five 
dollars per ton in the stack and thus it is seen 
Mr. Duffey has -wrought out a dividend payer 
which is worth many thousands of dollars. - 
On April 5, 1883, Mr. Duffey married 
Mary A. Hughes, who was a neighbor girl 













464 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


in Ireland and who came to New Jersey with 
her parents, Samuel and Margaret (Devine) 
Hughes. Her parents made their home in New 
Jersey until the time of their death. Mrs. 
Duffey was the second of a family of nine 
children, five of whom are still living. It is 
proper in this connection to state that during 
all the labors of Mr. Duffey, his wife has been 
a faithful helpmeet and no small credit for 
their excellent success now is due to her wis¬ 
dom and thrift and it is very pleasant to know 
that while for many years they have labored 
and struggled together they are now permitted 
to enjoy the efforts of their labor, with their 
four children, Samuel A., Margaret, Martha 
and William, all of whom are at home. One 
cannot enter the Duffey household without be¬ 
ing struck with the genuine kindness and hos¬ 
pitality that are extended at once. Their hospit¬ 
able kindness is certainly a fulfillment of the 
old proverb that the stranger and wayfaring 
man should be treated kindly in the land. Some 
one has said that “True politeness is true kind¬ 
ness delicately expressed.” This is genuine hos¬ 
pitality, the kind that greets one from Mr. and 
Mrs. Duffey and their children. 


J. O. L. BURKE, a builder by profession 
and one of the leading citizens of Billings, 
Yellowstone county, at present resides in that 
attractive city. He was born in Baltimore, 
Maryland, August 11, 1848, the son of Frank 
and Susan (Haswell) Burke, the former born 
in Washington, D. C., the latter a native of 
Pennsylvania. 

In 1828 Frank Burke, the father removed 
his lares and penates to Baltimore,, where he 
remained until 1855, going thence to Lesueur 
county, Minnesota, where he located on a farm 
eight miles east of St. Peter. In 1865 again 
removed with his wife and children to Man¬ 
kato, same state, where he and his son, our 


subject, engaged successfully in the business of 
contracting and building. In 1871 he returned 
to Baltimore where he followed the same line 
of employment. Many of the most ornate 
buildings in the national capital were erected 
by Frank Burke, among others the first patent 
office. He. had previously cultivated a garden 
on the identical spot upon which he erected the 
office. He also built the Old Maryland Insti¬ 
tute at Baltimore. During the Civil War he 
was captain of K company, Seventh Minnesota 
Infantry, the members of which mainly lived 
in the vicinity of St. Peter. He was officer of 
the day December 26, 1863, when thirty-eight 
Sioux Indians were hanged in Mankato for 
participating in the Minnesota Indian mas¬ 
sacres of 1862. His father, another Frank 
Burke, was a native of Ireland. He was a 
second cousin to Sir Edmund Burke, coming 
to America and locating at Washington, D. C., 
at the age of eleven years. Here he was reared 
and engaged in gardening. 

The mother of our subject was of Pennsyl¬ 
vania Dutch descent, and a native of the Key¬ 
stone state. She died in Baltimore, June 25, 
1884, her husband passing away at the same 
place September 25, 1886. 

Our subject received his early education in 
Baltimore and the excellent schools of Minne¬ 
sota, and worked with his father until 1870, 
when he removed to St. Paul, Minnesota, and 
engaged in contracting and building, erecting 
many of the finest structures in the city. He 
superintended the erection of the magnificent 
court house of St. Paul and some of the most 
ornate residence structures in the city. In 1898 
he went to Bismarck, North Dakota, and did 
building and contracting. In 1901, he came to 
Billings where he .engaged in the cement build¬ 
ing and sidewalk business. While our subject 
was living on a farm near St. Peter a messem 
ger came through the country, August 2, 
1862, through the big woods, yelling at the top 
of his voice that the Indians were coming. At 
that period there were very few men in the 














J. 0. L. BURKE 







465 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


country, they being 1 at Fort Snelling mostly 
for Civil War purposes. Within three or four 
days men returned to their homes or camped 
on an island in Lake White. The Indians were 
driven back from New Ulm. There were no 
settlers for miles around except a few families, 
the rest having gone to small towns around. 


FREDERICK J. GOULDING, at the 
.present time treasurer of Dawson county, 
Montana, is one of the popular and capable 
young men of Glendive. He was born in Lon¬ 
don, England, January 14, 1868, where also 
his parents, Joseph and Emma Jane (Free- 
mantle) Goulding, were born, both in the year 
of 1824, the former in the month of April. 
Mr. Goulding is one of a family of eleven 
children, in which there were six boys and five 
girls. Two of the brothers are deceased and 
one of the sisters. The remainder all dwell 
in London, England. As soon as he was 
ready for school, he was sent to what is called 
the board schools in London and in this insti¬ 
tution received his education. At the age of 
twelve he was a choir boy in St. John’s Epis¬ 
copal church in London. Twenty years of 
Mr. Goulding’s life were spent in his native 
country, and then he decided to come to the 
United States, landing here in 1888. He came 
direct to Glendive and for five years was en¬ 
gaged in the sheep business. At the end of 
that time, he decided to sell his holdings and 
later, in 1893, accepted a position as day clerk 
in the Hotel Yellowstone, at Glendive. In 
this capacity and as night clerk he has served 
in the above hotel and in the Hotel Jordan all 
told eleven years. So popular had Mr. Gould¬ 
ing become that in 1904, without his request, 
his name was pushed forward as candidatte 
for treasurer of Dawson county, the same ap¬ 
pearing upon the Democratic ticket. He was 
promptly elected and since that time he has 
been a very efficient and accommodating of- 
30 


ficer. Mr. Goulding has always taken a keen 
interest in political matters and enjoys the 
campaigns very much. He is a well posted 
Democrat and a strong man in the field. 


FRED H. FOSTER, the present mayor 
of the attractive and enterprising City of Bil¬ 
lings, is a popular citizen, as his many re-elec¬ 
tions to the office will demonstrate. He was 
born in Minnesota, February 2, 1856, the son 
of Robert and Lucinda (McMillan) Foster. 
His grandfather, Alexander, was born in Ire¬ 
land. Robert at present resides with his son 
m Billings, at the age of eighty-two years. 
Reuben McMillan was the father of the 
mother of our subject, and was a native of 
the state of New York. His father was born 
in Scotland, and was named James. The lat¬ 
ter was of an old Highland Scotch family, 
some of whom served in the War of the Revo¬ 
lution. Orpha Partridge, one of her maternal 
ancestors, was born in the state of Vermont. 

It was in the excellent public schools of 
Minnesota that our subject received his early 
education, which was; subsequently supple¬ 
mented by a partial course at the State Uni¬ 
versity. He first came to Montana with a 
Northern Pacific engineering corps, then oper¬ 
ating in the Yellowstone valley. This was on 
August 18, 1879. I n December, 1881, Mr. 
Foster located at Coulson, where he formed a 
partnership with P. W. McAdow in the gen¬ 
eral merchandise business. This was contin¬ 
ued until 1883. In April, 1882, he patented 
a quarter section of land, now a part of the 
thriving city of Billings, known as Foster’s 
Addition. He was also engaged in the real 
estate business. His interest in this enter¬ 
prise he disposed of in 1883, to his partner, 
and then devoted his attention exclusively to 
Billings realty and the upbuilding of the city. 
He was a member of the first board of com¬ 
missioners of Yellowstone county; member of 











466 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


the board of school directors, and was elected 
mayor in 1889, re-elected in 1893, again in 
1903 and in 1905, being now the present 
mayor of the city. From 1889 until 1893 he 
served as county clerk and was elected clerk 
of the district court in 1904. He was secre¬ 
tary of the state senate in 1895, which was 
the fourth legislative assembly. 

In 1892 Mr. Foster went to Washington, 
D. C., and was instrumental in securing the 
passage of a bill authorizing the appointment 
of a commission to.treat with the Crow In¬ 
dians for the opening of the western portion 
of the Crow Indian reservation. Of this com¬ 
mission he was, also, a member. 

April 19, 1882, Mr. Foster was united in 
marriage to Miss Georgia McLaughlin, a na¬ 
tive of Minnesota. She is the daughter of 
Horace and Margaret McLaughlin, both na¬ 
tives of Massachusetts, and both descendants 
of an old and prominent New England fam¬ 
ily, Horace McLaughlin being of Highland 
Scotch ancestry, which came to New England 
about 1650. The mother of our subject was 
of English ancestry. Mr. Foster has one 
brother residing in New Orleans, a retired 
lieutenant of the United States Navy, and one 
sister, Mrs. Clara L. King, living at Van¬ 
couver, B. C. Our subject has six children 
living, viz : Herbert H., residing at Billings; 
Clara L., Robert, Annabel, Henry W., school 
children, and Dorothy, an infant. 

Fraternally, Mr. Foster is a member of 
Billings Lodge, No. 394, B. P. O. E., of which 
he is a past exalted ruler, past W. P. of Bil¬ 
lings Aerie, F. O. E., past council commander 
of the W. O. T. W., and a member of the A. 
O. U. W. and is auxiliary Degree of Honor. 
Politically he is a Democrat. 


ELMER WILDER, the postmaster at 
Sabra, Montana, was born in Wisconsin, Au¬ 
gust 1, 1865, the son of Joe and Phoebe 


(Finch) Wilder, natives of Wisconsin, where 
they now reside, having followed farming all 
their lives. In his native state, our subject was 
reared and educated and there remained until 
1886, when he journeyed west to South Da¬ 
kota. He worked for wages in various ca¬ 
pacities there until 1890, in which year he 
came to Rosebud, Montana. Here he was em¬ 
ployed at different things for five years, when 
he took a homestead, where he now resides, 
and began the cattle industry. He has fol¬ 
lowed ranching and stock raising there since 
and has met with reasonable success. 

In 1895, Mr. Wilder married Miss Annie 
Straw, who was born in Missouri, and came 
in 1882 with her parents to Montana. Her 
father, O. H. Straw, was a native of Virginia 
and married Sarah Larkins, who was born in 
Iowa. He was a volunteer in the Nineteenth 
Iowa and was wounded in the battle of Prai¬ 
rie Grove. Mr. and Mrs. Wilder have two 
children, Ruth and Jesse, both born in Rose¬ 
bud county. 

Mr. Wilder is affiliated with the I. O. O. 
F. and is a man of excellent standing. He was 
appointed postmaster at Sabra in 1903 and 
has held the office since, having given general 
satisfaction to all of the patrons. 


JOHN H. HALL, who now resides in 
Carbon county, about one and one-half miles 
south from Belfrey, where he follows ranch¬ 
ing and stock raising, is one of the well-known 
men of the county and is an aggressive, wide¬ 
awake citizen, who takes a great interest in 
the upbuilding of the country, which he has 
chosen for his permanent home. He hails 
from the good old state of Missouri, being 
born in Franklin county July 1, 1861, when 
the turmoil of war was shaking this fair re¬ 
public through and through. His father, 
John Hall, was born in the same locality as 
this son and followed farming in Missouri 










BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


467 


until his death there. His father, the grand¬ 
father of our subject, came to Missouri from 
North Carolina in 1816. John Hall married 
Miss Martha C. Jeffers, a native of Missouri. 

John H. Hall was educated in his native 
state, commencing in the common schools and 
later finishing this important preparation for 
life’s battles in the State Normal, at Warrens- 
burg. When fourteen he laid aside the books 
of school life and went to Indian Territory, 
where he wrought on “the trail” for several 
years. In 1880, he went to No Man's Land 
and followed ranching for three years. 
After this he returned to Indian Territory and 
was inspector for a large Indian stock asso¬ 
ciation. Also he held the position of deputy 
United States marshal for four years, as well 
as other offices of trust. In 1895, Mr. Hall 
determined to try the farther west, and as he 
was a man who loved the out-door life thor¬ 
oughly, he fitted out a mule team and jour¬ 
neyed on toward the setting sun until he ar¬ 
rived in the country now occupied by the Big 
Horn county, Wyoming. Here he halted and 
was instrumental in assisting to organize the 
county and put its machinery of conduct in 
motion. He erected the first hotel in Basin. 
Wyoming, and conducted it for two years. It 
was 1897 when he came to his present location 
and purchased a ranch. This property he 
later sold and secured the land where he now 
resides, which is one of the good ranches of 
the section. Since that time, Mr. Hall has 
been one of the substantial men of the county’ 
and is a hard worker for the advancement of 
it in every line. At present he is handling the 
stage line from Bridger, Montana, to Clark. 
Wyoming. Mr. Hall has held many offices of 
trust and has always proved himself a man to 
be relied on and who discharged the responsi¬ 
bilities of his position with credit to himself 
and to the satisfaction of his constituency. 

In 1893 occurred the marriage of Mr. Hall 
and Miss Laura Payne, a native of Missouri. 
Her father, Wiley Payne, was also a native 


of Missouri, and conducted a bank on the line 
between Kansas and Indian Territory and also 
handled a large amount of stock, being one of 
the large stockmen of the section. He was 
killed by bank robbers. To our subject and 
his wife two children have been bom, Edgar 
and Joy. 


WILLIAM J. KNAPP has followed two 
distinct lines of industry during his life, hav¬ 
ing been forced from one by adhering to his 
convictions of right, he was possessed of suf¬ 
ficient vigor and determination to enter upon 
another calling and make a success of it, thus 
in a large measure bringing victory out of de¬ 
feat. A brief outline of his life will be inter¬ 
esting, especially to those who have at heart 
the problem of the day, namely, labor and cap¬ 
ital. 

William J. Knapp was born in Conklin 
county, New York, January 11, 1867. His 
parents, Zopher and Orilla (Chalker) Knapp, 
are mentioned in the biography headed Lewis 
R. Knapp, found in another portion of this 
volume. William J. is the third of a family 
of seven children, all living except one sister, 
who died in childhood. Lewis R. Knapp, 
above referred to, is a brother. Mr. Knapp is 
a twin, the other being Mrs. Lillie Mangold, 
in Fargo, North Dakota. Educated in Moor¬ 
head, Minnesota, where his parents moved 
when a small child, as early as fourteen he en¬ 
tered the employ of the St. Paul, M. & M. 
railroad. During those fourteen years, he 
learned what pioneer life was, as his parents 
came into that portion of Minnesota with ox 
teams and opened the farm from the wilds. Be¬ 
ginning as a car repairer, our subject worked 
up through the shops, caring for sleepers and 
supply stores until he was installed as fireman 
on a locomotive for five and one-half years and 
from long service in that capacity he fired an 
engine and then was given one to run. He 









468 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


fired the engine that hauled the material for 
the construction of the Devil’s Lake and Minot 
road and worked on west to Troy. He contin¬ 
ued steadily in the railroad work until the 
great strike of 1894, when active participation 
in that caused his name to be placed on the 
black list. At that time he was located at 
Glasgow, Montana, and he immediately started 
a stock ranch, which occupied him for several 
years. In April, 1898, he sought out his pres¬ 
ent place while looking for a stock ranch and 
immediately located. It was an excellent 
stock company, but as settlers came in condi¬ 
tions changed and he turned his ranch into an 
alfalfa field. Coming directly from the cab of 
a locomotive to the ranch without any experi¬ 
ence in agriculture or stock raising was no 
small undertaking. He had everything to con¬ 
tend with, a seven mile ditch to build and prac¬ 
tically no capital and but one pair of hands to 
do it all with. However, he succeeded and now 
has one hundred and ten acres in the alfalfa, 
which average more than four tons per acre 
annually. For this, Mr. Knapp finds a ready 
market and he is becoming one of the substan¬ 
tial, well-to-do men of the county. 

On December 25, 1888, Mr. Knapp mar¬ 
ried Julia E. Lafayette, a native of Iowa, and 
of the same family as General Lafayette. Her 
father, John L., died April 5, 1889, aged sixty. 
Her mother, Mary (Hofines) Lafayette, still 
lives, quite aged. Mr. Knapp and wife have 
two children, Orville M., born December 15, 
1891, and Lillian A., who owns August 9, 
1901, as her birthday. 

Fraternally, Mr. Knapp is affiliated with 
the A. F. & A. M. 

In politics, he is a wide-awake Socialist. 
In 1904, he ran for state senator on that ticket. 
Mr. Knapp says the black list on the Great 
Northern forced him into a study of these 
matters and he saw very plainly that the only 
true principle of settling this question properly 
is embodied in the conservative doctrines of 
Socialism, as held and propounded by think¬ 


ing and experienced men. The practice that 
might makes right and adopted by so many is 
not true and a reasonable principle of arbitra¬ 
tion, as set forth by Socialism, is yet the truth 
and one day will obtain throughout the civil¬ 
ized world. Mr. Knapp is a believer in true 
Socialism, not the nihilism or anarchism, 
which are simply taking the might makes right 
principle and using it against them they abuse 
for using it. Socialism is nothing of the kind. 
Socialism, as propounded by Mr. Knapp, is a 
practical application of the beautiful command, 
“Do unto others as you would have them do 
unto you;” it is the principle of right and jus¬ 
tice obtaining between all people, whether 
workman or employer, and the mild and equit¬ 
able method of wise arbitration to settle all 
differences and all disputes between all classes 
of persons. 


CLAUDIUS D. YOUST. The writer 
who said, “The west, the west, the bright, free 
west; that is the place for you and me,” cer¬ 
tainly expressed the thought of our subject, for 
even a cursory view of his life’s career dem¬ 
onstrates the fact that his path way has clung 
as loyally to the west as does the needle to its 
pole of attraction. Born in Sumner county, 
Kansas, when that portion of the state was 
well “out west” he has been on the frorttier 
ever since and is today one of those who as¬ 
sisted in making the great state of Montana 
what it is at this time, so that he is rightly 
classed as a pioneer. 

Gilford E. Youst, the father of our sub¬ 
ject, was born in Marion county, West Vir¬ 
ginia, settled on a farm in Kansas in 1874, 
went thence, in 1879, to New Mexico, locat¬ 
ing near Raton, where he was engaged in 
handling cattle. In 1879, he came to Sheridan 
county, Wyoming, there, also, taking up the 
cattle business. In the spring of 1893. he 
came to Carbon county and located where our 







BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


469 


subject now resides, near Belfrey. In 1901, 
he returned to Kansas and settled On a ranch 
just over the line into Oklahoma, where he 
resides at the present time. From the schools 
of Raton, New Mexico, Sheridan county, Wy¬ 
oming, and Red Lodge, this county, our sub¬ 
ject received his education and was with his 
father in every trip he made until the last one 
to Kansas. As soon as he was of age, he 
took up the place where he now resides as a 
homestead and since then he has devoted him¬ 
self to its culture and improvement. The re¬ 
sult is that he has one of the fine ranches in 
the county and it is very valuable. 

In 1905, Mr. Youst married Miss Mary 
Kelsey, a native of Utah, who came to Mon¬ 
tana in 1901 with, her parents. Mr. Youst’s 
mother was, in maiden life, Miss Virginia Vic¬ 
toria Cuinningham. She was born in West 
Virginia and is now residing in Red Lodge. 
His brothers are James A., born in Kansas, 
having a farm adjoining that of our subject, 
and George B., born in New Mexico. 


ROBERT BROWNLEE. In presenting 
to the reader of this work this appreciative I 
notice of Mr. Robert Brownlee, we do it feeling 
that it will not only serve to keep green the 
memory of one of Sweet Grass county’s most 
progressive citizens, but will in after years 
give to some young man the necessary courage 
to face and overcome such obstacles as must 
lie in the way of all who have the ambition to j 
rise above the mediocre in any walk of life. 
Born in Berwickshire, Scotland, January 17, 
1859, the subject of our sketch can still re¬ 
member when the home in the land o’ the 
heather was broken up to move 'to Ontario, j 
where his parents settled near the then small 
town of Barrie, on Lake Simcoe. There the 
parents still reside, spending their declining 
years in a comfortable abode that the deter¬ 
mined Scottish home maker carved out of the 


forests of birch and maple. The father, Alex¬ 
ander, born in the town which our subject 
also claims as the place of his nativity, first 
saw the light of day in 1832. The mother, 
Mary Ann (Stoddard) Brownlee, fit helpmeet 
for the pioneering husband, was born a year 
later. Since settling on the shores of the beau¬ 
tiful Lake Simcoe, they have made it their 
home and there raised a family of eleven chil¬ 
dren, of which Robert was the fifth. Nine of 
the eleven still live, scattered over all of the 
earth, from Germany, where a sister is study- 
| ing in a musical conservatory, to Australia, 

I where two brothers reside. A sister, Mrs. 

! James B. Elliott, is a resident of Billings, Mon¬ 
tana. Mr. Brownlee tells an amusing story 
of how he induced his mother while on a visit 
| east in 1904 to go to a theater to see the vet- 
j eran actor and her kinsman, J. H. Stoddard, 
in “Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush.” This was 
j her first visit—at the age of seventy-one—to 
j a theater, having always held to the strict 
Presbyterian views. 

Our subject’s early life was spent more in 
helping make a living for the large family of 
younger children than in study and his early 
schooling was barely that prescribed by the 
school laws. In his early teens he learned the 
trades of blacksmithing and carriage building, 
at which he wrought in Ontario until 1886 
when, impelled by energy, he came to Billings 
and there took a working interest in a sheep 
ranch with J. B. Elliott. This he held for four 
years and at the end of that time paid a visit 
to the eastern states and his Canadian home. 
After a few months spent in this way, he re¬ 
turned to Montana and purchased a black¬ 
smith shop at Melville, where he set out to lay 
the foundation of the comfortable fortune 
which his energy and business acumen 
has enabled him to provide. In 1895, 
he took as a partner George Taylor 
and with him purchased a ranch on 
what is known as the Big Coulee, 
where Mr. Taylor looked after the interests of 












4/0 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


the firm until 1900, when he retired. Mr. 
Brownlee then sold his business the same year 
and devoted his time to the ranch until 1903, 
when he sold out his band of sheep and rented 
the ranch. That fall he took twenty-five 
thousand sheep to Schuyler, Nebraska, where 
he fed and marketed them during the winter. 
The care of such a band may be best understood 
when it is stated that they devoured one thou¬ 
sand tons of hay and the contents of two ele¬ 
vators of corn for their winter’s keep. The 
summer of 1904 was spent in Billings lpoking 
after property interests, but in the fall he re¬ 
turned to Canada for the winter. The spring 
found him again in Montana, where business 
kept him until winter, when he left for a trip 
to California, visiting Seattle, Portland and 
Vancouver, B. C., en route. The winter was 
pleasantly spent among orange groves, but in 
March he returned, stating that “while orange 
groves were good to look at, sage brush was 
the right thing to live amongst.” Since re¬ 
turning, he has bought one hundred and sixty 
acres of land eleven miles up the Boulder river 
from Big Timber, where he plans to make his 
home. While in California, he paid several 
visits to the new camp, Searchlight, Nevada, 
and invested in property known as the Black 
Bear, adjoining the famous Quartet Mine, and 
operated by the Searchlight Mining & Devel¬ 
opment Company. 

How well he has proven the possibilities 
of Montana for men of industry is evidenced 
by the fact that besides his home ranch of one 
hundred and sixty acres, which he recently 
bought for six thousand dollars, he owns twen¬ 
ty-three hundred acres on Big Coulee, besides 
city real estate and buildings in Big Timber. 

Years of toil and study have been fully re¬ 
warded, for by keeping in touch with the af¬ 
fairs of the country, he found himself in 1900 
the choice of the people of his county for their 
representative in the state legislature and was 
returned in 1903 and 1906 to that same office. 
Republican in politics, active and energetic, 


courteous and progressive, with a keen sense 
of right and an equally keen sense of humor, 
unspoiled by success and broadened rather than 
made narrow by the confidence reposed in him 
by the people without any solicitations on his 
part, Mr. Brownlee is what might be classed 
as a typical Montana man, and is yet as he has 
always been to his many friends, plain “Bob” 
Brownlee. 

Fraternally, he is a member of the K. P. 
lodge No. 25, Big Timber, and Livingston 
Lodge, No. 246, B. P. O. E. 


HENRY ALEXANDER SAMPLE, one 
of the younger business men of Dawson coun¬ 
ty, holds the responsible position of clerk of 
court and dwells at Glendive. He was born 
at Greenfield, Indiana, August 22, 1875, being 
the son of James M. and Charlotte (Hum¬ 
phries) Sample. The father was born Sep¬ 
tember 23, 1842, and enlisted in the Fifty- 
fourth Indiana Volunteers, serving three years 
in the Rebellion. He was in the siege of 
Vicksburg and was with General Grant on his 
Mississippi campaign. After being honora¬ 
bly discharged, he turned his attention to 
farming, teaching school during the winters. 
When thirty-two years of age he married and 
in 1888 moved to Livingston, Montana, in the 
vicinity of which he is farming at the present 
time. Politically, he has always held with the 
Democratic party and during his younger days 
was a personal friend of James Whitcomb Ri¬ 
ley. Mrs. Sample is the daughter of Henry 
and Cynthia Humphries, of Greenfield, Indi¬ 
ana, and previous to her marriage taught 
school in Indiana and Kentucky. Our sub¬ 
ject has one sister, Elsie May Linn, whose hus¬ 
band, C. E. Linn, is an employe of the North¬ 
ern Pacific railroad at Wrenshall, Minnesota. 
Henry A. went with his parents to Fairfield, 
Indiana, when six years of age and attended 
' the common schools there until thirteen and 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


47i 


then accompanied them to Livingston, where 
he finished his education. After that he en¬ 
tered the employ of the Northern Pacific rail¬ 
road in the capacity of call boy and later the 
desk of billing clerk, but lost his job in the? 
strike of 1894. Following that he was em¬ 
ployed in the Merchants’ bank at Livingston 
until 1897, when he occupied a position in the 
store department with the Northern Pacific. 
While engaged with the bank, Mr. Sample 
took a correspondence course in bookkeeping 
and was given a diploma. In September, 
1897, he was transferred to Glendive and 
given charge of the local division store, which 
he conducted until 1899, when he was trans¬ 
ferred to the office of the division superintend¬ 
ent and successfully occupied all chairs ex¬ 
cept that of chief clerk. In 1902, Mr. Sample 
was appointed to the office of public adminis¬ 
trator and two years later was elected clerk 
of the court for Dawson county, where we 
find him at the present time. 

On April 19, 1902, Mr. Sample married 
Nellie E. Hurst, the daughter of W. S. and 
L. M. Hurst, of Glendive, Montana, In 1899, 
she completed the high school course at Glen¬ 
dive and received her diploma. One child has 
been born to our subject and his wife, Lillian 
Alma. Mr. and Mrs. Sample are both mem¬ 
bers of the Episcopal church and he is a Re¬ 
publican in politics, always taking a keen in¬ 
terest in these matters. 


ALLEN B. LaMOTT is one of the lead¬ 
ing and well-known stockmen of the Yellow¬ 
stone valley, having his home and his head¬ 
quarters in the city of Billings. Since the date 
of his arrival here in 1885, he has been fol¬ 
lowing steadily the occupation of raising and 
handling stock of all kinds and his experience 
and success in this line of enterprise have 
placed him among the best stockmen of the 
eastern portion of the state, while a con¬ 


tinuous residence here for more than twenty 
years entitles him to representation with the 
pioneers of the state of Montana. 

Allen B. LaMott was born in Tompkins 
county, New York, January 8, 1847, the son 
of Lucius and Emily (Mix) LaMott, the 
former a native of Vermont, and the latter of 
New England, also. The father followed 
farming all his life and died in 1901. The 
mother was the daughter of Ethan Mix, a 
New England farmer, and she is now living 
in New York state, aged eighty-one years. 
The other children of the family are Lucius, 
living on the old homestead; Emily Robinson, 
and Nettie E. Hart, living in New York state, 
and Pearl Carr, in Massachusetts. 

Mr. LaMott was reared and educated in 
his native place and there remained associated 
with his father until 1883, when he decided to 
try the west, coming first to Dakota, where two 
years were spent. Then he came direct to 
Billings and was here only a few weeks before 
he had a herd of stock of his own and com¬ 
menced the business that has occupied him 
steadily since that time. Success has attended 
Mr. LaMott, owing to the industry and wis¬ 
dom that have characterized his ways here and 
his care of details, that great necessity that 
always accompanies successful enterprises, is 
as well displayed as is his ability to manage 
affairs and execute successfully well-laid plans. 

Twice has Mr. LaMott been married, the 
first time in New York state and Miss Loretta 
Fulkerson being his chosen companion. Later 
he led to the altar Elizabeth F. Dudley, a rela¬ 
tive of his former wife, and this last wedding 
occurred on June 1, 1904. 

Politically, Mr. LaMott is a well-informed 
Democrat and his votes while not cast from a 
partisan spirit, since he is independent in 
thought, have, nevertheless, been put forth for 
the advancement of the principles of genuine 
Jeffersonian Democracy and his belief is that 
such is the proper method of governmental 
administration in national affairs, at le^st. 










472 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


CHARLES CARLSON. A striking il¬ 
lustration of what can be accomplished in the 
resourceful state of Montana, is vividly set 
forth in the case of Mr. Carlson, whose biog¬ 
raphy it is our privilege to outline at the pres¬ 
ent time. To the traveler who had wandered 
to the upper Clarke’s Fork in the early nine¬ 
ties there, perhaps, would not have been much 
to invite him to stay, nor could he see anything 
enticing in the wilderness that stretched in 
every direction; but not so with Mr. Carlson, 
who carefully studied the country. So well 
was he pleased with it that in 1894 he took a 
quarter section as his homestead, which lies 
just three-fourths of. a mile from the present 
post office of Belfrey. Should the same trav¬ 
eler chance to come through the country now, 
he would never realize that the magnificent 
ranch under the charge of Mr. Carlson is the 
same place he passed by a decade ago, refus¬ 
ing to stop to even test its merits. But such 
is the case. No better farm is in the country 
than Mr. Carlson’s. It is kept, too, in the pink 
of condition for the best returns, and this is 
the work of the gentleman, who came with 
his bare hands and set to work to build a home 
on Montana’s wilds. How well he has accom¬ 
plished this, let any one judge who sees the 
fine outbuildings, the good barns, the comely 
residence, and the broad acres well tilled and 
productive of wealth. So much for what 
Montana has to offer to the intelligent and the 
thrifty, with all due credit, too, to the man 
whose hand has wrought and whose brain has 
planned the successful outcome of it all. 

Born amid the hills of Sweden, whence 
came the sturdy Norsemen that ploughed the 
rough Atlantic hundreds of years before the 
trade winds ever kissed the sails that Colum¬ 
bus flew, our subject was well taught in that 
thrift and industry that is the making of any 
successful man. The date of his advent into 
life was February 2, 1855, and his parents 
were Carl and Carrie (Holt) Carlson, natives 
also of Sweden, where they remained until 


their death. His grandfather was a veteran 
of the war of 1807 between Sweden and Rus¬ 
sia and the conflict between Norway and Swe¬ 
den. The father was a carpenter by trade and 
taught this son in the art of wood working 
and building. The public schools of his native 
land furnished the educational training of our 
subject and in due time he was fitted, by this 
training and the excellent instruction of his 
father, to meet the responsibilities of the world 
for himself. He continued at his trade until 
1879, when he came to Illinois and for two 
years was occupied on the farm, for the pur¬ 
pose of thoroughly learning the business of 
farming. Then he went to St. Paul and 
worked as a carpenter until 1889, when he 
came on to Red Lodge and engaged with the 
Rocky Fork Coal Company, continuing there 
until he came to his present location in 1894, 
to begin the work of transforming the wild 
homestead to the pleasant and valuable farm 
of today. 

Mr. Carlson married Miss Annie Peter¬ 
son, a native of Sweden, and to this union 
eight children have been born, namely: 
Anne J., Carl H., Florence, Sidney, Peter, Su¬ 
san, Lillie and an infant yet unnamed. The 
children are all at home and Mr. Carlson has a 
very interesting family. Mr. Carlson takes an 
interest in all things for the advancement of 
the country, is a worker for good schools and 
maintains an excellent standing in the com¬ 
munity. 


LOUIS R. KNAPP has decided that 
Montana is to be his permanent home. He has 
seen much of the northwest. He has been on 
various places in the Sweet Grass county, but 
his present abode, three miles south of Big 
Timber on the Boulder river, has been and is 
being fitted as his home and will be known as 
the Knapp homestead in years to come. In far 
away Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, on January 








BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


473 


8, 1870, Louis R. Knapp first saw the light. 
His father, Zopher Knapp, was born near 
Binghamton, New York, April 7, 1818, and 
died at Lisbon, North Dakota, on December 
24, 1890. He had followed tilling the soil all 
of his days and was a greatly esteemed and 
substantial citizen. He led to the altar Aurilla 
Chalker, a native of Pennsylvania, and until 
his death they lived a happy and bright life. 
They were the parents of six children, four of 
whom dwell in North Dakota, and their 
mother resides in Fargo of that state, aged 
seventy-seven. The other two children are in 
Montana, W. J. a,nd our subject both in this 
county. Very early in life, Mr. Knapp be¬ 
came self supporting and gained his educa¬ 
tion by taking the money he would earn from 
day to day in attending the state normal school 
in Moorhead, Minnesota. His plan was to 
work a season, then attend school until his 
money was exhausted, then again he returned 
to work. In the winter of 1881, we find him 
at Fargo, North Dakota, and the family settled 
on a ranch some sixty miles from that town, 
which was their principle marketing place. 
Living there in those days was much like 
roughing it out west and there he re¬ 
mained until the country settled up 

and then he determined to come still 
further west. It was in 1898 that Mr. 
Knapp arrived in Livingston, and after 
spending one winter there, he immediately came 
the following spring to Big Timber. He was 
so well pleased with this section that he lo¬ 
cated a ranch. The only settlers on the creek 
where he took his place were old time stockmen 
and farming had hardly begun. People had 
not fully realized the worth of the agricultural 
pursuits, for they confined themselves, almost 
entirely to stock raising and did not experi¬ 
ment much with irrigation. The first loca¬ 
tion Mr. Knapp made was on Dry creek, but 
he sold that place and traded back and forth 
several times until he finally secured the prop¬ 
erty where he now resides. It was about a 


year ago that he settled here, and he has three 
hundred and twenty-five acres under the ditch 
and makes a specialty of raising alfalfa. So 
certain is the crop in this section that Mr. 
Knapp is enabled to count accurately on three 
and one-half tons or better of alfalfa to the 
acre with a good stiff market every year. He 
is so well pleased with the combination of 
things here that as stated before, he has de¬ 
cided to make this valuable farm his perma¬ 
nent home. 

On November 27, 1895, occurred the mar¬ 
riage of Louis R. Knapp and Miss Maude 
Finley, the latter a native of Brockville, On¬ 
tario, Canada, and a daughter of William and 
Jane (Welsh) Finley. Mr. Finley died in 
June, 1881, aged forty-two, and his widow 
died May 5, 1903, aged fifty-seven. After 
her husband’s death, Mrs. Finley had moved 
out west to Lisbon, North Dakota, Mrs. 
Knapp being then about eight years of age. 
Three children have been born to this union, 
Arthur, August 19, 1897; Gladys, March 27, 
1900, and Gertrude, June 7, 1902. 

Politically, Mr. Knapp is a well-informed 
and live Socialist. While he never aspires to 
office, he is always well informed on the issues 
of the day and takes a keen interest in political 
matters. 


ELMER T. BOSTIC, who has for more 
than a decade been connected with the inter¬ 
ests of Carbon county, is now residing about 
three miles south of Bridger, where he has 
a well improved and valuable farm of one 
quarter section of irrigated land. He was 
born in Columbia county, Wisconsin, June 5, 
1866, the son of William H. aijd Martha Jane 
(Emerson) Bostic, natives of New York 
state, and now living in Carbon county. The 
father came from his native place on the St. 
Lawrence river to Michigan in early days with 
his parents, he being then but seven years old. 









474 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


In 1848 they journeyed thence to Sauk county, 
Wisconsin, and in 1861, he enlisted in the Sev¬ 
enteenth Wisconsin and served through the 
Civil War, participating with Sherman in the 
famous march to the sea. Following the war 
he returned to Wisconsin and there remained 
until 1871, when he removed to Nobles county, 
Minnesota, and took government land. In 
1880, with his three sons, he took construction 
work on the Northwestern railroad and for 
four summers followed that work. Then they 
returned to Minnesota and two years later 
went to Nebraska and there dwelt for six 
years. They were there at the time of the Pine 
Ridge Indian outbreak and furnished the 
soldiers with wood. In 1892, they came on 
to Montana and when the Crow reservation 
opened they all settled in Carbon county. He 
had three brothers, namely: Charles, who died 
from the effects of a wound, fighting the In¬ 
dians in Florida; Frank, who died in Michi¬ 
gan ; and T. G. Bostic, now residing in Carbon 
county. 

Our subject received the major portion of 
his education in Minnesota and when they first 
went there their nearest postoffice was sixty 
miles distant. He remained with his fa¬ 
ther in all the travels mentioned alx>ve and 
came with him to Montana. In 1894, he took 
the place where he now resides as a homestead 
and since that time has continued in the quiet 
labors of improving his farm. 

In 1891 Mr. Bostic married Miss Cora B. 
Barrow, who was born in Sauk county, Wis¬ 
consin, her parents being Richard and Frances 
(Fessenden) Barrow, natives of Sussex, Eng¬ 
land, and descended from old and wealthy 
English families. The children born to this 
union are: Kenneth C., Richard H., Ivan 
George and Edward A. The' oldest was born 
in Billings, and the others in Carbon county. 
Our subject had two brothers, George, de¬ 
ceased, and Charles H., now living in Carbon 
county, and one sister, Ida, the wife of W. S. 
Cabbon, of Butte, Montana. 


JOHN C. HOOPER, one of Carbon coun¬ 
ty’s agriculturists, though now confining his 
labors to producing fruits of the field and stock 
breeding, has, formerly, been active in various 
lines and is well acquainted with many por¬ 
tions of the west and northwest. He resides 
five miles south from Bridger on a well im¬ 
proved and irrigated farm, which he pur¬ 
chased in 1900, and which is the family home 
today. John C. Hooper was born in Indian¬ 
apolis, Indiana, on November 26, 1856, the 
son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Swift) Hooper, 
natives of Pennsylvania. The father came 
on to Indiana when the country was first being 
settled and followed buying and selling stock 
and other speculation. He became very 
wealthy, but he and his wife both died when 
our subject was young. The father was a 
veteran of the War of 1812, and had two 
brothers in the Civil War. He died in Indi¬ 
ana, as did his wife, also. She was a cousin 
of the Swift now well known as a pork packer. 
She came from Pennslyvania Dutch stock. 
Owing to his being left an orphan when young, 
John C. went to Iowa to dwell with an uncle. 
After finishing the common schools, he went 
to college in Kirksville, Missouri, there com¬ 
pleting his education. He had prepared him¬ 
self for teaching, but after following that for 
a short time, he decided he would prefer an¬ 
other life and so went to buying stock for his 
uncle, Stephen Hooper, and later' followed the 
commission business in Iowa. He bought and 
sold stock for many years, operated a hotel 
in Fairfield, Iowa, for one year and in 1876 
journeyed west. He traveled over most of the 
country west of Nebraska, and that state as 
well, finally settling down in the employ of the 
Horse Shoe stock outfit in Wyoming. In 
1895. Mr. Hooper brought his family to Sher¬ 
idan, Wyoming, then started on a trip over¬ 
land through Idaho, Oregon and adjacent 
states, seeking a location. It was 1900, as 
stated above, when he lighted on his present 
holdings and since that time he has devoted 







475 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


himself to farming and stock raising. Mr. 
Hooper has also during his life done much 
freighting, especially in Montana, and is, 
therefore, well acquainted with the country. 

In 1884, Mr. Hooper married Miss Addie 
Thompson, a native of Missouri, and there 
have been born three children, Stella May, 
Lloyd Ray and John Otis. 


PETER W. NELSON is the effi¬ 
cient chief of police of Livingston and 
has held that office many years, being 
appointed under each administration, 
whether Republican or • Democratic. For 
twenty-three years Mr. Nelson has been 
a resident of ’ Livingston and ■ is one 
of the best known men in the city and is thor¬ 
oughly imbued with the Montana spirit of pro¬ 
gression and energy. He is a native of Pos- 
grund, Norway, the date of his birth being 
July 19, 1863. His father, Marcus Nelson, a 
tanner by occupation, came with his family to 
Racine, Wisconsin, in 1869, having crossed 
the ocean in a sailing vessel and landed in 
Racine in June of that year. He soon built 
a tannery and so lucrative was his business 
that he soon had to enlarge it and he continued 
in the management of the enterprise until 1880 
when he turned it over to his eldest son. His 
death occurred May 20, 1903. His father, 
' Marcus Nelson, the grandfather of our sub¬ 
ject. was a pilot and died in 1867. Our sub¬ 
ject’s mother was Mary Hawkinson in maiden 
life and her parents were John and Mary A. 
Hawkinson, the father being a pilot. 

Peter W. was educated in the public 
schools of Racine and when sixteen years age 
went to work for his father in the tannery. 
This continued until 1883 when he came west, 
landing in Livingston in April of that year. 
He soon found employment with Major 
Pease, but in a short time left that and opened 
a livery stable, which in 1886 he closed out 


to take up the saloon business. This occupied 
him until 1891 when he was elected chief of 
police by the Republican party. In the fall of 
1892, in company with George Davis, Mr. 
Nelson opened the Davis & Nelson saloon. In 
1897 Mr. Nelson was appointed chief of police 
and fire chief by Mayor Thompson and since 
that time he has continued in these offices, be¬ 
ing successively appointed by both Democratic 
and Republican mayors, although in politics 
he is a Democrat. 

On March 19, 1890, Mr. Nelson married 
Miss Addie Dale, the daughter of John and 
Christina (Narham) Dale, natives of Norway, 
but immigrants to this country when children. 
Mrs. Nelson was born in the town of Norway, 
Racine .county, Wisconsin, August 23, 1861. 
Three children have been born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Nelson, two of whom are still living, 
namely: Franklin M., born December 10, 
1891, and Alice J., born June 3, 1893. Mrs. 
Nelson is a member of the Congregational 
church. Mr. Nelson is affiliated with the 
Yeomen and the Elks. 


SILAS C. PREWETT has a quarter sec¬ 
tion of fine irrigated land three miles south 
from Bridger and is one of the prosperous 
ranchers of Carbon county. He was born in 
Daviess county, Missouri, on April 16, 1870. 
His father was Thomas Prewett, also a native 
of Daviess county, Missouri. There he re¬ 
mained engaged in farming until 1892, when 
he journeyed west to Montana, settling on a 
farm in Park county. Later he secured land in 
Carbon county and in 1897 settled here where 
he now resides. He married Sarah E. Clark, 
a native of Indiana, and now residing with 
him. Our subject’s paternal grandfather, Wil¬ 
liam Prewett, was a native of Kentucky and 
came among the earliest white men to Daviess 
county, Missouri. 

Silas C. Prewett was reared and educated 










476 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


in Daviess county, and when twenty years old 
came on west to Livingston, Montana. He 
was on the range for a time and then secured 
some stock and went into stockraising for 
himself. His headquarters were on the Shields 
river and there he continued till 1897 when he 
came to Carbon county and bought an Indian's 
allotment near Gebo. This was the scene of 
his labors until 1905, when he sold that and 
purchased the land where he is now making 
his home. As stated before, this is all under 
the ditch and is valuable property. Mr. Pre- 
wett gives his attention to general farming and 
raises some stock. 

In 1905 Mr. Prewett married Miss Bertha 
Ridgway, who was born and reared in Boze¬ 
man, Montana. Her parents, Millard A. and 
Lavina (Corbly) Ridgway, are natives of Mis¬ 
souri and Iowa, respectively, came to Mon¬ 
tana in very early days and are now residing 
in Carbon county. 


HON. CHRISTIAN YEGEN and 
PETER YEGEN, in business known as 
Yegen Brothers, stand at the head of some of 
the most important enterprises of the state of 
Montana, which form a principal integral por¬ 
tion of the business transactions of the entire 
Yellowstone valley besides reaching exten¬ 
sively into other parts of the state. Merchants, 
bankers and general capitalists, whose early 
business experiences were in a most humble 
way, as will be seen from the following, the 
story of their doings for the last quarter of a 
century is not only intensely interesting and 
instructive, but demonstrates, most emphat¬ 
ically, two things, namely: The princely re¬ 
sources of the great state of Montana, and the 
wisdom, stability, executive force and business 
capacity of the men who have wrought these 
most gratifying results. From the time of 
their birth, in the far distant republic of Switz¬ 
erland, the former on November 19, 1857, and 


the latter on August 7, i860, through the 
carefully and wisely selected courses of in¬ 
struction for their early and more complete 
educational training, for their father, Con¬ 
rad Yegen, was an educator by profession and 
was scrupulously careful to fortify his sons 
by the best instruction possible to be given to 
the youth, on to the time of starting in a new 
and barren land without capital, through its 
hardships and trying experiences, losses, sick¬ 
ness and the succeeding inception of a primi¬ 
tively small business, on to better things and 
steady growth while they climbed the ladder 
of commercial success and business prosperity 
to the position of capitalists and financiers, 
theirs have been exceedingly busy lives, 
crowded with action for existence, then plans 
for enlargement and the conception of move¬ 
ments that required active executive ability to 
put into operation and maintain to the culmin¬ 
ation a mammoth and lucrative series of 
businesses. Busy lives, indeed, wherein has 
never been found the hour to allow their spir¬ 
its to be depressed, nor the moment to fold 
the hands and “wait for something to turn 
up," nor an instant to hunt for “luck," but ac¬ 
tion, wise, ceaseless, forceful action dominated 
everything and every moment and has pro¬ 
duced its legitimate progeny, a success, which, 
for volume and worth, is not duplicated in 
any city in the entire L T nited States of the class 
of Billings. What a splendid picture of actual 
fact to exhibit as an object lesson to the youth 
of the land, wrought out, as it has been, by 
painstaking industry and wise thought. Away 
with those hateful, demoralizing and soul be¬ 
numbing tales of woe so frequently heard from 
the lips of lazy youths in this day, “There are 
not so good chances as father had,” “I am 
down on my luck,” “Everything is against 
me,” they are all lies, hatched by laziness and 
effemiinateness brought on through lack of 
good, honest, noble work. The plain Anglo- 
Saxon word, work, stiff and plenty, is the only 
antidote to this degenerate spirit. Look and 






BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


477 


see, here is an example and to get the per¬ 
spective properly pore over the long years of 
patient industry these men went through with 
no better prospect than you have. They gained 
success, but they did not do it with kid gloves 
on their hands, neither will you. Pull off 
your coats, roll up your sleeves and take hold 
of good, honest work and success will follow 
your wise efforts, now and in the future, as 
it has in the past. 

But let us read the story of these lives told 
simply and plainly. The living children of the 
family besides the men mentioned above, are 
Margaret Alleman and Dorothea Plater, in 
Switzerland; Elizabeth Copman, in Wyoming; 
and John, in Bismarck, North Dakota. The 
dear old parents, Conrad and Emerita (Pra- 
der) Yegeri, passed away in Switzerland, their 
native land, in 1885, having passed industri¬ 
ous and honorable lives, the father following 
the work of the educator. Christian was ed¬ 
ucated to take his father’s place, but he pre¬ 
ferred a business life and so in 1879, he came 
to Bismarck to join his brother John and sister 
Dorothea. From him Christian learned the but¬ 
ter trade and the next year he took a small 
farm and in 1881 sent for his brother, Peter, 
who had been farming in a small way in the 
old country. With the help of their sister, 
Dorothea, they all spent one season on the 
farm and then purchased a small restaurant 
in Glendive, Montana, whence they went the 
last of 1881 to conduct the section house at 
Terry station. It was days of palmy buffalo 
hunting and they served buffalo meat, some 
cranberries and bread for seventy-five cents 
per meal and did well, as there was a rush 
of people; and in 1882 landed in Billings with 
three thousand dollars. This was in April and 
they rented a small bakery, but as the rail¬ 
road moved on, Billings became dead and all 
three of them fell sick simultaneously with 
mountain fever. 1884 saw them broke and four 
hundred dollars in debt. They again opened a 
small bakery and baked their materials in the 


morning and peddled it in the afternoon. Five 
dollars was a good day’s receipts in those 
times. Later it came up to thirty dollars a day 
and inside of a year they purchased for twenty- 
seven hundred dollars their first building. 
Soon after this they added a small stock of 
groceries, being now on the south side, near 
their present location. The next move was a 
structure, two stories, twenty-eight by eighty 
feet on their present location. In 1893, they 
built an addition about the same size as their 
former building to be used for hardware. The 
next year they added fifty feet to the rear of 
the grocery and built a new structure as large 
as all their other buildings and filled it with 
dry goods of the best kinds and well assorted. 
Still their growing business demanded more 
room and they extended the hardware back 
fifty feet and added another story, this being 
in 1898. After this they erected a cold stor- 
age plant, thirty by thirty-four feet. It 
was in 1900 that the Yegen Brothers 
embarked in banking, opening a savings bank 
in Billings, the first of its kind in 
the city, and during that year they 
added a building seventy-five feet by one 
hundred and thirty to accommodate their in¬ 
creased hardware and implement trade. In 
1903 other savings banks were started, one at 
Anaconda and one at Gardiner, and the fol¬ 
lowing year one was opened in Butte. In 
1903 they purchased the wholesale grocery 
business of Millis & Company, together with 
the spacious warehouses of that concern and 
added that to their own already immense busi¬ 
ness. In 1902 the Yegen Brothers incorpor¬ 
ated under the same title and aside from some 
stock sold to a-few of their trusted employees, 
they retain it all. They have platted two ad¬ 
ditions to the city of Billings and aside from 
their business they have found time to mani¬ 
fest themselves citizens of keen interest in the 
development and growth of the city and 
county,.to which they have contributed in no 
mean way. 









478 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


Peter Yegen was married in September 
1890, to Margueritte Tripp, a native of Switz¬ 
erland. Her parents live near Lewiston, 
Montana. The fruit of this marriage is three 
children, David, Peter, and Elizabeth. 

The marriage of Christian Yegen and 
Laura B. Clark was celebrated on August 27,- 
1893, and they have five children, Louise, 
Dora, Mildred, Virginia, and Christian. Mrs. 
Yegen’s father, W. R. Clark, was formerly of 
Bozeman, this state, but he now resides in 
Vancouver, Washington. 

The Yegen brothers are Republicans in 
politics and have ever striven to set in 
action those principles they believe to be 
for the welfare of the % country. In 
1892 Christian Yegen was chosen aider- 
man of Billings, two years later he was 
sent to the lower house of state repre¬ 
sentatives, in 1896 he was chosen mayor of 
Billings, and in 1902 he was called by the 
people to serve as state senator, being re¬ 
elected to succeed himself in 1904. Thus it 
is evident that the people are appreciative of 
the integrity and ability that has won the suc¬ 
cess that is now crowning the labors of Mr. 
Yegen and have determined that he should 
have ample opportunity to use the same in 
public matters, and it is known to all that he 
has faithfully discharged the -duties of public 
life as he has those of private business. 


DANIEL W. TRIPP resides at Gardiner, 
Montana, where he conducts a liquor store. 
He was born in Fredonia, Maine, April 27, 
1866, the son of Daniel and Emile (Higgins) 
Tripp. The father was born in Bedford, 
Maine, in 1821, followed sailing in his youth 
and then farmed until his death at the age of 
fifty-four. The mother was a native of Geor¬ 
gia. They were the parents of five children. 
Our subject received his education from the 
common schools of his native place and then, 


when eighteen, started in life for himself. He 
determined to see the west and from the infor¬ 
mation obtainable, he decided Montana was 
the proper place and soon we find - him at 
White Sulphur Springs in Meagher county 
and for some years he was employed with the 
stage company. After this he followed the 
fortunes of freighting and the arduous labor 
connected with that activity until 1890, in 
which year he removed to Gardiner and was 
employed by the transportation company un¬ 
til 1901. At the last mentioned the opened 
his present business and has remained in it 
since. 

On September 27, 1903, Mr. Tripp mar¬ 
ried Miss Jessie May Fitzgerald, the daughter 
of S. M. and Mary Fitzgerald, mention of 
whom will be found in another portion of this 
work. Mrs. Tripp is a member of the Epis¬ 
copalian church. Mr. Tripp is a Republican 
in politics and is always interested in the cam¬ 
paigns. Fraternally he is affiliated with the 
Eagles. 

It is of interest to note that Mr. Tripp’s 
great-grandfather was the commander of a 
war vessel during the Revolution while his 
mother’s father was a colonel in the southern 
army at the time of the Rebellion. 


WILLIAM CALAWAY ADAMSON, 
who resides about three miles south from 
Bridger where he has a fine ranch well watered 
and productive, is a native Kentuckian. Crit¬ 
tenden county of the Blue Grass State is his 
native heath and February 29, 1850, is the date 
of his birth. His parents were born in Ken¬ 
tucky, also, and both died when this son was 
a small lad. They were William and Salina 
(Dempsey) Adamson, both from old Ken¬ 
tucky families. Our subject followed coal min¬ 
ing in his younger days and continued in the 
native state until ~i 889, when he came west to 
Sheridan, Wyoming. There, also, he mined 









479 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


the black diamonds and later went to the Black 
Hills. Soon, however, he returned to Wyom¬ 
ing and finally came out to Red Lodge. When 
the Crow Indian reservation was opened he 
came to his present location and here he has 
labored since, in the cultivation of the soil 
.. and in stock raising. 

The marriage of W. C. Adamson and Miss 
Frances A. Necum was celebrated in Kentucky 
on October 9, 1868. Mrs. Adamson was born 
in the same county as her husband, her parents 
being Wesley and Margaret (Hoyt) Necum, 
natives, respectively, of Kentucky and New 
York State. 

To our subject and his wife the following 
named children have been born, Nancy L., 
Florence E., Myrtle B., Estella G., and Mary A. 


BENJAMIN S. HOLLOPETER resides 
three miles southwest of Bigtimber, on one of 
the largest rural places in Sweet Grass county 
He is one of the very successful men of the 
county and has gained his entire property 
holding by reason of his careful efforts, wisely 
bestowed, since coming to the state of Mon¬ 
tana. His birth occurred at Covington, Ohio 
on November 7, 1863. Samuel Hollopeter, his 
father, was brought from the Keystone State 
overland by his parents, John Hollopeter and 
wife, when a small child. They were pioneers 
to Ohio and opened up a farm in the wilds of 
that country. Samuel was born in 1833 in 
Pennsylvania and spent the larger portion of 
his life on and near the old home place in 
Ohio and died there in 1895. He married 
Katherine Shellabarger, whose father, Jacob 
Shellabarger, also brought his family from 
Pennsylvania to Ohio in those primitive days. 
Katherine Hollopeter was born in Pennsyl¬ 
vania in 1829 and died in Ohio 1875. Our 
subject is the third of seven children, the old¬ 
est of whom died when three years of age. 
He has one sister, Mrs. David McAllister, now 


living in Oregon. His brother, Jacob, lives 
in Alabama and the rest of the family in Ohio. 
Our subject served his time faithfully in the 
common schools of Ohio and as early as 1875 
went to Darke county, Ohio, and took up life’s 
battles for himself. For six successive years 
he labored there for wages and then returned 
to Miami county and followed agricultural 
pursuits for nine years. It was about 1889 
when he determined to see the west and shortly 
after that we find him in Illinois, whence 
after a brief stay, he came on to Montana, 
arriving in 1890. A few months were spent in 
the employment of W. P. Franklin near Mel¬ 
ville and then for a year he was to be found 
with Charles Severance in Judith Basin. Sub¬ 
sequent to that time, he moved to Bigtimber 
and took up carpenter work in which he had 
perfected himself years before and Mr. Hollo- 
I peter well remembers the celebration of July 
4th, 1891, which was properly carried out by 
laying the floor of the Grand Hotel. About 
that time he purchased a team and took a con¬ 
tract to furnish the stone for the Montana 
Trading Company’s store and the Kellogg 
and Walbridge buildings and while engaged in 
this business, he located a ranch five miles 
from Bigtimber, the property he still owns. 
Thus Mr. Hollopeter launched out in farming 
and stock raising for himself. Beginning in 
a very small way, he soon found himself con¬ 
fronted with the panic times of 1893 and sub¬ 
sequent and it required every vestige of de¬ 
termination and power on his part to maintain 
himself without going to the wall. However, he 
succeeded in pulling through those days with¬ 
out loss of his stock or ranch and began his ca¬ 
reer of success which was very fittingly pre¬ 
faced by those years of hardship, which instead 
of lessening his courage only increased his spirit 
and hardened him for the battle to come. With 
a renewed vigor obtained by thus overcoming, 
Mr.Hollopeter began operations in such a man¬ 
ner that success could but abide with him and 
all the years along from that time until the 












480 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


present, have seen him steadily increasing in 
wealth and favor the becoming results of his 
worth and operation. He has doubled his land 
holdings, has made himself a reputation as a 
stock breeder that is excellent throughout the 
state, having both short horn cattle, Shrop¬ 
shire sheep and other animals. At the present 
time, however, Mr. Hollopeter is disposing of 
his cattle interests and giving his entire at¬ 
tention in the stock line to breeding horses. 
He has a nine-fifteenths interest in the Belgian 
Horse Company which owns a thoroughbred 
Stallion, known as Colas II, one of the finest 
horses in this part of the state. In addition to 
these labors of stock breeding, Mr. Hollopeter 
has been doing general farming and the man¬ 
ner in which he has improved his home place 
bespeaks the taste, thrift and ability of which 
he is possessed. Excellent orchards of cherry, 
apple and plum trees are in evidence and he 
has recently added to these a thousand more 
fruit trees. His dwelling is a comfortable and 
fine structure and stands on a sloping flat 
overlooking Boulder Creek and surrounded by 
natural cottonwood trees. On one side of the 
dwelling stretch out his well kept orchards 
and pleasant alfalfa fields to the hills a quarter 
of a mile away. Up the creek the scenery is 
grand and diversified ending in the snow¬ 
capped mountains of a distant range. Alto¬ 
gether it is one of the most pleasant and beauti¬ 
ful places to be found in the county . 

On December 23, 1895, Mr. Hollopeter 
married Anna Mary Wetzel of Carlisle, Penn¬ 
sylvania and since that happy day she has been 
a faithful helpmeet, assisting in the good work 
of providing their present competence and 
building their pleasant home. They have one 
child, Bertha A., born January 17, 1905. Mrs. 
Hollopeter is the daughter of Moses and 
Susan (Waggoner) Wetzel, the father a na¬ 
tive of Carlisle and the mother of Perry county, 
Pennsylvania. The family moved to Coving¬ 
ton, Ohio in 1876 and twelve years later, went 
thence to Oxford, Indiana where they now re¬ 


side. It was 1895 when this daughter came 
to Montana. She is a descendant of Lewis 
Wetzel, whose father and brother were killed 
by the Indians on the Ohio river. Owing to this 
dastardly massacre Lewis became enraged and 
vowed to reap vengeance on the Red Skins, 
which for many years he did with such awful ^ 
effect that he was a terror to the Red Skins 
and his name is placed among the celebrated 
Indian fighters. 

Everything pertaining to the Hollopeter 
estate shows forth those marks of thrift, pains¬ 
taking taste and progressiveness bestowed by 
the proprietors even from the smallest detail 
to the largest operations and improvements. 
The place is very valuable, being well irrigated 
and provided with all kinds of substantial im¬ 
provements and certainly Mr. and Mrs. Hollo¬ 
peter are to be congratulated upon the excel¬ 
lent success that they have wrought out by 
their own labors and the pleasant home which 
they now have the privilege of enjoying in 
these days of their lives while yet they have 
not reached the zenith of their powers, though 
fit for keener enjoyment than in the days when 
age shall have circumscribed them. 


HENRY CLAY HOWARD has done 
work in Custer county that entitles him to be 
mentioned among the very leading settlers and 
capable men of this section of Montana and 
it is a matter of instruction to all to recount 
his labors and achievements in this country. 
At the present time he resides in the Tongue 
valley, three miles above Etna, and has one of 
the choice ranches of the entire valley. It 
consists of two thousand acres, much of which 
is under irrigation, all well improved, and all 
the result of his own careful and persistent 
labors and keen foresight. His stock consists 
of cattle, horses and sheep. 

Turning more particularly to the details of 
Mr. Howard’s career, we will see the spirit that 








HENRY C. HOWARD JOHN LEWIS GUILER 



GEORGE HIRSCH 


JAMES H. CALHOUN 






























BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


481 


has won this success, and will admire it more 
as we become acquainted with the great odds 
against him. 

Henry C. Howard was born in Tam worth. 
New Hampshire, in 1828. His father, Alger¬ 
non S. Howard, a native of Bridgewater, Mas¬ 
sachusetts, descended from one of the leading 
colonial families, immigrants from the Brit¬ 
ish Isles, who participated in all the early 
colonial wars, as well as the struggle for free¬ 
dom, Mr. A. S. Howard, himself, being also 
a soldier in many of these. He grew up in 
Massachusetts, removed to New Hampshire, 
later to Maine, Bangor, thence to the rural dis¬ 
tricts and there spent his remaining days. He 
came from stanch, old Puritan stock and was a 
man who commanded respect and esteem from 
all classes. His family was long lived and pos¬ 
sessed all those virtues so characteristic of 
those grand old colonists who braved every 
‘danger for the privilege of freedom of consci¬ 
ence and the establishment of those institu¬ 
tions which were and are productive of such 
abundant good to their descendants and 
through this nation to the whole world. A. S. 
Howard married Miss Almira 'Chapman, a 
native of New Hampshire and a descendant 
from Dutch ancestors, who were, also, early 
settlers among the colonists. 

When the family went to Maine in 1836, 
our subject was a young lad, but remembers 
the journey and in the new location he was 
educated and reared. He studied in the com¬ 
mon schools, worked on the farm in sum¬ 
mers, did lumbering in the winters, and by 
1851, having been of an economical turn, had 
sufficient capital to try the far west and set 
sail in October of that year from Boston, via 
Cape Horn to San Francisco, arriving in the 
latter port in March, 1852. He was ready 
for the gold excitement that was filling the air 
and at once went to the front with bright 
hopes. For two years he mined, prospected 
and wrought in the new Mecca of the west, 


and then turned his face toward his home in 
Maine, this time trying the journey via the 
isthmus. He arrived safely, married, and soon 
had selected a farm for his future labors. 
Lumbering with farming occupied him there 
for twenty years, and his success was most ex¬ 
cellent for he gathered a fortune in his labors. 
This was in the vicinity of Fort Fairfiejd, 
Maine. Then, he began to long for the west 
again. In 1882, his desires took definite form 
and he came via the Northern Pacific to Miles 
City, with the intention of seeking out a good 
stock ranch and embarking in that business. 
He scoured the southeast portion of the state 
well and finally located where we find him at 
the present time, taking a homestead. Remem¬ 
ber that the country was new then, and opera¬ 
tions were attended with all that that means, 
which is always patent to the pathfinder, but 
never can be fully described to one who has 
never passed through those environments. Mr. 
Howard at once set to work improving his land 
and getting a start in the stock business, in¬ 
vesting heavily in animals for a start. In those 
days wild grass was so abundant that no one 
thought of providing' forage for the winter 
and adopting the rule of the country, Mr. 
Howard increased his herds rapidly without 
any thought for winter hay. All went well till 
the memorable winter of 1886-7, which is so 
deeply marked in the annals of Montana, that 
hundreds of thousands in money could not 
cover the losses in stock alone to these sections. 
Mr. Howard was no exception to the rule, and 
in that dread winter he was forced to see the 
accumulations of years taken from him, and , 
that, too, right before his eyes. Ninety-five 
per cent of his entire holdings succumbed to 
the inevitable. By dispensing what little meal 
he could secure at the railroad and by cutting 
down the cottonwood trees for the poor ani¬ 
mals to browse on, Mr. Howard succeeded in 
saving a few cows, but in the spring he found 
he was out of business. His accumulations for 


31 








482 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


years were represented by bleaching bones on 
the plains, and he had the problem of support¬ 
ing a family without means in a new and 
strange country. He had nothing to return to 
Maine with and if he had had, we doubt not he 
would have spent it in some enterprise here, for 
he is not the man to put his hand to the plow 
and look back. He went to gardening, mak¬ 
ing butter and so he gained food and clothes 
for his household. Indians brought in wild 
game which he could purchase cheaply and this 
aided much. Everyone had lost faith in cat¬ 
tle, so Mr. Howard, believing as the others 
did, began raising horses, but by the time he 
had a good band, horses were not worth the 
price of shipping out of the country and there 
was no sale here for them. Thwarted again, 
Mr. Howard, determined never to give up, 
began the problem of irrigation, working on 
it in his own thoughts. He had no capital to 
lift the water from Tongue river, no other 
water could be reached, what should he do? A 
dry creek had its course over his land, and he 
conceived the idea of making dikes across this 
at different places to hold the water of the 
spring freshets and showers, so that he could 
at intervals let this water go down into the 
levels below the dike. He believed the little 
lake bottom thus soaked would raise a crop, 
and he put his belief into practice by making 
some of these dikes. His neighbors laughed at 
him. So people did and have done at all ad¬ 
vanced ideas. But Mr. Howard was right and 
he soon had crops growing. Then he con¬ 
tracted for more land and extended his sys¬ 
tem of irrigation, and it has been in successful 
operation to his great financial advantage ever 
since. During these years, the few head of 
stock Mr. Howard had saved from the snow 
had increased and after disposing of his horses, 
he turned the cattle oven to his son on shares 
and took up sheep raising himself. He began 
this by taking a band of seven hundred on 
shares. He had a struggle in this line for in 
Cleveland’s administration he sold wool for 


five and six cents per pound, but he continued 
and soon success came to him, the success that 
rewards genuine intelligent effort. He has 
continued in this line o'f business since and 
has regained what he lost in the ravages of 
winter and the low prices of horses. His herds 
number ten thousand all the time, besides 
horses and cattle, of which he has a few 
hundred. 

It is interesting to note some of the exper¬ 
iences Mr. Howard relates. He needed a 
wagon, but had none nor had he the money to 
buy one with. So he conceived the idea of 
making one and his ingenuity soon had the 
vehicle ready for use, having utilized some old 
rake wheels and supplied other indispensable 
parts of his own handiwork. In fact it is said 
of Mr. Howard, owing to his skill and prac¬ 
tical ideas, that if he needs anything he can 
take his pocket knife and whittle it out. Such 
are the men who have opened the west and 
made it what it is today. Mr. Howard is one 
of twelve children who are scattered all over 
the world and all the winners of abundant 
success. 

Mr. Howard has the following named 
children: Nellie, the wife of Edward Phil- 
brick; Annie, the wife of C. W. VanHom; 
Grace, the wife of Charles Harris; Bessie, sin¬ 
gle; and H. M. Howard. 

Nearly one-fourth of a century has rolled 
by since Mr. Howard drove his stakes in Cus¬ 
ter county and during that time almost every 
conceivable obstacle has confronted him in his 
path, but despite it all he has overcome by 
sheer determination and resourcefulness, and 
has so managed all that today he is counted one 
of the wealthy men of the county and 
is known as one of its builders. Al¬ 
though nearly four-score years have passed 
by since his birth, he is still hale and 
hearty and looks with bright hopes and expec¬ 
tations on the path of life, while the golden 
years of his days are being spent amid the 
plenty his labors have provided. 








BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


483 


JOHN LEWIS GUILER, a prosperous 
farmer and earnest and conscientious minister 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, residing 
two and one-half miles east of Laurel, Mon¬ 
tana, was born in Noble county, Ohio, August 
2 7 > j 85o. His father, Alexander Guiler, was 
born near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1818. 
He was a farmer and at the age of 16 he went 
to Noble county, Ohio, where he made his 
home in the woods, and where he remained 
until his death in 1884. He accompanied his 
uncle, Alexander Franklin, and the family 
came in 1836. He was a leader in church work 
in the Methodist Episcopal Church. His father 
came from the north of Ireland, and was of 
Scotch-Irish stock, and member of the Presby¬ 
terian Church. He came to the United States 
during the French and Indian war. Not be¬ 
lieving in the policy of that war he came to 
America, so that he would not have to fight 
for a cause he did not believe in. Having 
started for America, he discovered he had for¬ 
gotten something, and returned. He then 
sailed on another ship, and in this manner be¬ 
came separated from his wife, and did not 
again find her for two years, when she was 
discovered in New York City. Following the 
death of his first wife he married Miss Mary 
Franklin, a relative of Benjamin Franklin. 

The mother of our subject, Sarah E. 
(Wharton) Guiler, was born near Barnesville, 
Ohio, in 1822. She was of English origin, and 
her people were pioneers of Ohio. 

Our subject received an excellent education 
in Delaware, Ohio, at the Ohio Wesleyan Uni¬ 
versity. He then entered the ministry and for 
two years preached in eastern Ohio. Was 
ordained deacon in 1884, and elder in 1888, 
the latter in Montana. During the first two 
years he had three hundred converts in Monroe 
and Washington counties, Ohio. In 1885 he 
came to Billings, where he became pastor of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, remaining 
two years, he built the church and thence he 
went to Boulder, Montana, and there for four 


years was a popular minister. Thence he went 
to Butte for two years, and became one in a 
corporation of three that purposed to build up 
a temperance town in the Yellowstone Valley. 
This company erected the first flouring mill in 
eastern Montana, at a cost of $15,000. It was 
in 1892 that Reverend Guiler came to his pres¬ 
ent location. Since that period he has con¬ 
fined his attention chiefly to farming, although 
still supplying the church circuits. He has 
developed the bee culture and thoroughly dem¬ 
onstrated that bees can be successfully reared 
with profit in Montana. He has 160 hives, his 
being the largest apiary in the state. This, 
alone, has added thousands of dollars to the 
industries of Montana. 

During the panic of 1893 he lost all of his 
property. At present he has 213 acres of land, 
all paid for and under good system of irriga¬ 
tion. On April 11, 1880, he was united in 
marriage to Lottie V. Summers, born in Free¬ 
dom, Noble county, Ohio, where she was 
reared. Her father, John Summers, was a 
pioneer of Montana, coming to Billings in 
1880; her mother was Harriet (Milner) Sum¬ 
mers. They have seven children: Jennie N., 
wife of Henry S. Nutt, living on adjoining 
farm; Hattie E., wife of Francis H. Porter, a 
farmer, living nearby; Aroma, a teacher in 
Rosebud county; Mabel P., William L., 
Homer L., John A. 


GEORGE HIRSCH is one of the well-to- 
do residents of the Tongue valley and has the 
distinction of being a pioneer of Custer county 
for he came into these regions in 1882, nearly 
a quarter of a century ago. From the sub¬ 
stantial country of Germany hails the subject 
of this sketch, and Bavaria is his native state. 
His birth occurred on November 23, 1840. His 
father, Lenhardt Hirsch, was born in the same 
place, as was also, Margaret Haat, the lady he 
married. The parents were farmers and re- 









484 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


mained in Germany until their death. George 
was reared on the home farm and was edu¬ 
cated in the public schools and when of mature 
age was employed in Bavaria until he was 
twenty-nine years of age. Then he decided 
to bid adieu to the Fatherland and try his for¬ 
tune in the United States. Accordingly he 
sailed to New York and thence came on to 
Indiana. Later he went to Colorado, and from 
there to the Black Hills in Dakota. During 
these years, Mr. Hirsch was on the frontier 
all the time and was well experienced in fron¬ 
tier life and pioneering. As stated before, he 
came on to Custer county in 1882, he was occu¬ 
pied in freighting for a time, then was engaged 
with the Diamond R outfit. As early as 1883, 
Mr. Hirsch filed on the place he now lives on 
and since then he has been engaged in farming 
and raising stock. He has had good success 
and is one of the prosperous men of the valley 
and controls considerable property. All his 
holdings are the result of his labors since com¬ 
ing here and he has reason to take pride in 
what he has accomplished in this line. 

Mr. Hirsch is residing at his home place 
on the Tongue river enjoying the golden years 
of a well spent life. Years ago, in far away 
Germany he was united in marriage with Caro¬ 
line G. Volkemer and to them was born a son, 
George M., now minister of the Reform church 
in Portland, Oregon. 


JAMES H. CALHOUN, a well known 
business man living one-half mile west of Bil¬ 
lings, is a native of Ohio, having been born in 
Jefferson county November 28, 1846. His 
parents were Thomas and Harriet (Maple) 
Calhoun, the former a native of Pennsylvania; 
the latter of Ohio. When but a small lad 
Thomas Calhoun removed with his parents to 
Ohio and the family settled on a farm near 
East Springfield. On attaining his majority 


his father presented him with a farm, and upon 
this property he continued to reside until his 
death at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. 
His father (Adley Calhoun), the paternal 
grandfather of our subject, was a native of Ire¬ 
land, but of Scotch-Irish ancestry. He was a 
prominent pioneer of Ohio and became quite 
wealthy. The mother of our subject remained 
in Ohio during the full term of her life. 

James H. Calhoun was educated in'the pub¬ 
lic schools of Ohio, and on attaining manhood 
began working for wages, at first in the state 
of Pennsylvania. It was in 1870 that he re¬ 
moved to Clinton county, Missouri, where he 
continued employment as a laborer for wages. 
But on returning to Ohio he was engaged in 
the mercantile business for a number of years. 
To Billings, Montana,-he came in 1886, and 
here he took a homestead about nine miles west 
of the city, remaining on the same until two 
years ago, when he rented this property and 
purchased several ten-acre lots near Billings. 
Upon one of them he erected a fine house and 
other convenient and necessary buildings. 

In 1890 Mr. Calhoun married Martha 
Rogers, a native of Milan, Ohio. Mr. Calhoun 
is a Democrat and a trustee of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. 


WILLIAM LAVELLE is one of the sub¬ 
stantial business men of Billings, being owner 
and operator of the Billings brick yard, which 
is one of the manufacturing plants of the, city. 
The yard was established in May, 1905, and it 
has furnished practically all the brick used in 
building in Billings since that time. The first 
product from Mr. Lavelle’s yard to be used 
in Billings was the brick for the Stapleton 
block and since that time he has kept the plant, 
which has a capacity of thirty thousand bricks 
daily, in operation at all times possible to do 
so in order to supply the demand for bricks. 








485 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


Pie has the contract for the new fifty thousand 
dollar Catholic church now being completed 
in Billings and as the building of the city is 
on the incerase, Mr. Lavelle has determined 
to increase the capacity of his yard in the 
very near future. He turns out a superior 
quality of brick and is a thorough master of 
the business of manufacturing and burning 
brick, which is a very favorable thing for the 
progressive city of Billings as it is of the ut¬ 
most importance that its beautiful buildings 
in course of erection and contemplation should 
be composed of the best to be had. 

Referring to the life of Mr. Lavelle in 
detail, we note that he hails from the good old 
Emerald Isle, whence come many of our most 
exemplary citizens, his birth occurring on No¬ 
vember 12, 1862, in Mayo county. His father, 
William Lavelle, was a farmer in Ireland and 
remained there till his death. He married Miss 
Nora Barrett, who is still living in the native 
land. Eleven children were born to our sub¬ 
ject's parents who now live, seven of whom 
are in Montana. When seventeen William 
came to the United States alone and visited 
relatives in Scranton, Pennsylvania. That was 
in 1879, and soon after that he came on to 
Livingston, Montana,’ where he soon engaged 
in learning the brick business, both the manu¬ 
facture and the burning. In 1881, he went 
thence to Butte and worked at the same busi¬ 
ness until 1890, when lie established a yard 
for himself. He conducted that successfully 
in Butte until his removal to Billings, as stated 
above, since which time he has given his at¬ 
tention to the conduct of his plant here. 

Mr. Lavelle has never seen fit to embark 
on the matrimonial sea, but still enjoys single 
blessedness. He is a life long member of the 
Catholic church and a stanch supporter of his 
faith. 

Mr. Lavelle has a capital of twenty thous¬ 
and dollars in his brick plant and it will be 
much larger and better when he finishes the 
contemplated improvements and enlargement. 


MONFORT BRAY resides in the Rose¬ 
bud Valley, eighteen miles from Forsyth and 
is one of the pioneers of this portion of Mon¬ 
tana. He is a prominent farmer and stock 
raiser and has done very much to bring up the 
grade of stock, horses and cattle, in this por¬ 
tion of the state. Mr. Bray takes keen interest 
in stock raising. In the spring of 1906 he 
became owner of a Percheron stallion which 
is one of the finest animals in this part of the 
state. He has some thoroughbred Short Horns 
and his herds compare favorably with those of 
Montana. At the home place, Mr. Bray owns 
five hundred acres of deeded land and leases 
very much more. His is a very good place and 
he is improving it. 

Monfort Bray was born on the Hudson 
river in New York, December 4, 1862, the 
son of William and Katherine Permilla (Shoe¬ 
maker) Bray. His education was received 
from the native schools of his state and in the 
summers he was occupied on his father’s farm. 
In March, 1893 he left New York to join his 
father and older brother, who were in Mon¬ 
tana. In the same month, he landed in Mon¬ 
tana an'd was soon engaged in working for 
wages. As cattle raising was to be the only 
industry then flourishing in this portion of 
Montana, Mr. Bray at once went to riding 
the range as a cow boy. He worked for others 
but a short time, however, for he soon gathered 
a few head of horses for himself and started 
in business. Afterwards he began also to raise 
cattle and he has continued handling both 
kinds of stock since. In July, 1885, he located 
a homestead where he now resides and the 
balance of his estate he has secured by pur¬ 
chase. Mr. Bray is one of the stock producers 
of the country and is also one of Montana’s 
well known and esteemed pioneers. 

On July 1, 1906, Mr. Bray married Fran¬ 
ces I. Jones, a native of Oroville, California, 
where also she was reared and educated. Her 
parents, Tom and Mary (Meyers) Jones, were 
natives of California. Mr. Bray’s brothers and 







486 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


sisters, who were all born in New York state, 
are named as follows: William, Jr., who came 
to Montana in 1881 and settled in Custer 
county and is now living in Butte; Hilan, who 
came with our subject and resides near; Smith, 
who came with his mother to Montana in 
1886; Mart also came in 1886; Katie, de¬ 
ceased; Cora, the wife of H. H. Williams of 
Sheridan, Wyoming, and Viola, wife of James 
Williams at Kalispel, Montana. 

Mr. Bray is a member of the I. O. O. F. 
and he assisted in getting the postoffice of Bas- 
inski established in the Rosebud Valley and 
was postmaster for nine years, when the office 
was discontinued. 


ROBERT B. HUDSON, a progressive 
rancher and stockman, residing five miles west 
of Nye, on Limestone creek, was born in Osh- 
awa, Ontario, Canada, February 8, 1866. His 
father, Frederick, was Canadian born, and his 
father, Robert, was a native of Massachusetts, 
of Plymouth ancestry. The father of our sub¬ 
ject at present resides at Absarokee, aged 
seventy-five years. His mother, Catherine 
(McDermott) Hudson, still lives, aged seven¬ 
ty-seven. 

Our subject received his early education in 
the state of Michigan, where his father had 
moved when Robert B. was three years of age. 
When 18 he left the old home in the Michigan 
pine woods and worked at various employ¬ 
ments. He then came to Montana, making 
his first stop at Livingston, where he was em¬ 
ployed on the range two years. During this 
period he passed some time mining. In 1880 
he came to his present location and secured a 
homestead of 160 acres. It was then a wild 
country, and he assisted in cutting the road 
-that let the wagon up the river. He is the first 
settler on the west fork of the Stillwater. The 
nearest postoffice was at Nye City, which was 
then “booming.” When coming to Nye he 
recalls walking through town and seeing bar¬ 


ber shops, blacksmith shops, etc., and every¬ 
thing that marked a boom town, and from 
where the owners had walked out and left 
everything behind. The postoffice was event¬ 
ually moved to its present site in 1893. He 
remained here until 1892 when settlement be¬ 
gan in earnest. The first school was estab¬ 
lished in 1894. 

Our subject came here with no cash capi¬ 
tal, and twenty-three head of cattle, and 
rustled along the first few years, not daring to 
leave his stock in summer on account of cattle 
rustlers. These hardships were accompanied 
with others which made life at times unendur¬ 
able. From his small capital Mr. Hudson has 
grown to be one of the most prosperous 
ranchers in Sweet Grass county. He has about 
300 Hereford cattle from which he breeds. 

March 16, 1896, our subject was married 
to Miss Anna Cooke, a native of Ireland, and 
reared in Goderich, Ontario, where she grew 
to womanhood. Her parents, Henry and 
Louisa (Deacon) Cooke, are both dead. Her 
father was sergeant major in the British 
army. He joined the Second Batallion of the 
Sixtieth King’s Rifle Corps in 1844, and served 
in different parts of Canada, Africa, India, etc. 
and also participated in the Kaffir war of 1851- 
. 52-53. He was in the center of the India 
mutiny three years later. He was in China 
where he was stationed outside of the gates 
of Pekin when the memorable destruction of 
the emperor’s palace occurred in 1863. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hudson have two children, 
Edna, born November 14, 1898, and Ruth 
Evelyn, born February 9, 1901. Fraternally 
Mr. Hudson is a member of Pleuticoos Tribe, 
I. O. R. M., of Columbus. Politically he is 
a Republican, but not active. 


JOHN BAMBER, a veteran of the Civil 
War and now an active member of the G. A. 
R., Thomas L. Cain post No. 12, Glendive, is 
one of the staunch representatives and sub- 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


487 


stantial agriculturists of Dawson county. His 
fine farm of three hundred acres is just two 
miles north of Glendive. He recently sold a 
section of land in this vicinity and still has 
one of the largest farms in the country. Mr. 
Bamber has led an eventful career and is now 
privileged to spend the golden years of his life 
in peace and plenty, having the solid comfort 
of knowing that he bravely assisted to fight 
the nation’s battles and has won from dame 
nature his competence by honest labor. 

John Bamber was born in Lancashire, 
England, March 12, 1841. His father, Thomas 
Critchley, was bom, lived and died in Lanca¬ 
shire, England, never traveling more than a 
few miles from his home place, Leland, which 
was six miles from Preston. His death was 
the result of an accident in 1871, he being then 
fifty-two years old. He was a direct de¬ 
scendant of the old Critchley family, one of 
whom was a general under James I. Our 
subject took the name of Bamber as his mother, 
Mary Bamber, took her maiden name after 
the death of her husband. She died in Eng¬ 
land in 1903 aged eighty-eight. John is the 
oldest of five children, two of whom are living, 
his brother William being in Pennsylvania, 
having been employed for thirty-two years on 
the Pennsylvania Railroad. From the com¬ 
mon schools, Mr. Bamber gained his education 
and he celebrated his twenty-first birthday on 
the ship coming to New York City. After 
landing he went direct to Long Beach, New 
Jersey, and one year later, went to Pittston, 
Pennsylvania, as a coal miner. He left this 
occupation to enlist in Company G, 20th Con¬ 
necticut Volunteers, and in that capacity was 
with Sherman on his famous march to the sea. 
Mr. Bamber was brought into very close re¬ 
lations with General Hooker, whom he knows 
well to have been both a general and a hero. 
The excellent action of the general at the time 
of the siege won for him the warm and hearty 
approval not only of Mr. Bamber but of thou¬ 
sands of others. Mr. Bamber’s old camp mate, 


Jesse Moor, died four years ago in Connec¬ 
ticut and their relations in camp life ripened 
in a life long friendship. Four months of our 
subject’s martial service were spent amid the 
horrors of Andersonville. The inhuman and 
awful treatment that was there given to the 
wretched inmates drove him crazy and for two 
weeks he was a maniac. The horrors of that 
place and those times can never be fully de¬ 
picted and it is with feeling of pain to this 
day that Mr. Bamber refers to those days. 
Finally he succeeded-in getting out and often 
he has been posted on picket duty where he 
could talk to the enemy’s pickets. On July 27, 
1865, after much hardship, and brave service 
Mr. Bamber was mustered out and went back 
to the mines, working the summer of 1866 
with a rebel. In March, 1867, he went to 
Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and fol¬ 
lowed mining in the capacity of an ordinary 
miner and boss until 1875, in which year he 
moved to Des Moines, Iowa, and again went 
underground. Seven years were spent there, 
whence he had come to avoid the labor troubles 
of Pennsylvania when he found them just as 
severe. Finally in 1882, he quit a foreman’s 
position in the mines to come to Montana and 
decided never to mine again for other people. 
He located a homestead that year, where he 
now resides and adjoining it was coal land and 
his skill during the winter of 1886 and 1887, 
was the means of saving the people of Glen¬ 
dive from freezing to death as fuel was not 
to be had from any other place. He opened 
up a lead and coal was furnished the needy 
people. Mr. Bamber worked the property for 
three years and then gave his attention to- 
ranching. He has seen Montana from its 
rough condition of 1882 when the vigilantes 
were the order of the day, whom he fed on one 
occasion to the present prosperous condition 
and of all the places he has been on earth, he 
chooses Montana ahead of any other. His 
farm is well improved and he is one of the well 
to do men of the country. 





488 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


In Pennsylvania, Mr. Bamber married 
Mary J. Ralph, a native of Bristol, England, 
who had come to the United States when five 
• years of age. They have become the parents 
of eleven children, Francis, living at Glendive; 
Eliza, wife of James Butler, at Glendive; Alice, 
at home; Elias, at Glendive; Emma, wife of 
George Twible, stock detective at Glendive; 
v George, at Glendive. The following are de¬ 
ceased, John, Sarah J., Emma and two who 
died in infancy. 

Mr. Bamber was a leader in labor affairs 
in early days but is now bitterly opposed to the 
strikes. While in national affairs he votes as 
he fought, in local politics he is independent. 
Since leaving England, Mr. Bamber has paid 
two visits to the motherland and contemplates 
another soon; but as stated before, Montana 
is his home. 


WILLIAM WISEHAM TERRETT. 
The Terrett family is one of America’s oldest 
families, the progenitors having settled in the 
early days of Jamestown, in Virginia, coming 
from a strong and prominent English family 
of those days. William Henry Terrett has the 
destinction of being the first one of the family 
to set foot in the New World, and he, with 
nine others, received direct from the King of 
England a city charter for the city of Alexan¬ 
dria, Virginia, which city they founded and 
built. The family is decidedly a military one- 
and members have participated in all the wars 
that have been waged on American soil, while 
the record of the family shows them, as far 
back as there is authentic data, to have been 
prominent in all military conflicts. Captain 
Terrett formed and commanded a company 
during the Revolution. An uncle of our sub¬ 
ject, John Chapman Terrett, participated in 
the Mexican war, and is mentioned in Grant’s 
Memoirs. He was killed in battle. 


Alexander Hunter Terrett, the father of 
William W., was born in Fairfax county, Vir¬ 
ginia, in 1818, and in 1855 removed with his 
family to Monroe county, Indiana, settling on 
a farm. At the breaking out of the Civil War, 
he returned to Virginia and enlisted for the 
cause of the confederacy, fighting for two 
years until his death in those ranks. He had 
married Elizabeth Carrington Payne, a native 
of Virginia, and descended from a strong 
English family, which settled in Colonial days 
in Virginia. 

William W. Terrett was born in Washing¬ 
ton, D. C., July 23, 1847, and was taken by his 
parents to Indiana at the time of the removal 
spoken of to that territory. There he was 
reared and educated, remaining until 1869, in 
which year he married Miss Priscilla G. Rich¬ 
ards, a native of Virginia and the daughter of- 
John and Mary (Gantt) Richards, also natives 
of Virginia. In the same year of his marriage, 
Mr. Terrett removed to Chariton county, Mis¬ 
souri, and engaged in farming. He remained 
there until 1882, when he came on to Montana, 
selecting a ranch in Custer county, where he 
now resides. Having established headquarters 
here, he returned to Missouri, and finally, in 
1890, he came to Custer county to reside per¬ 
manently. He has given his attention to rais¬ 
ing cattle and horses on an extensive scale and 
is one of the prosperous and prominent men of 
the county. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Terrett seven children 
have been born, named as follows, Eloise, Ro¬ 
salie, Richard Price, George Hunter, W. W. 
D., Colville D., and Julian. 


MILTON C. LOWE, a progressive Yel¬ 
lowstone rancher, resides five miles from Nye, 
Carbon county, up Lodge Pole creek. He was 
born in Gentry county, Missouri, May 4, 1869. 
His father, Theodore, a native of Tennessee, 








BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


489 


born in 1832, died in June, 1879. In early life 
he moved to Montana, with ox teams, going 
to Alder Gulch. But in 1882 he returned to 
Missouri, and thence went to Colorado, where 
he engaged in farming until his retirement, 
three years prior to his death, which occured 
at Boulder. 

The mother of our subject, Samantha 
(Robertson) Lowe, was a native of Kentucky, 
and has also passed to the great beyond, dying 
March 12, 1905, aged 61 years. 

Our subject is the third and only survivor 
of a family of four children. He was educated 
in the public schools and a business college in 
Stanbury, Missouri. Thence he returned home 
' where he passed his entire time until 1895, 
when he married and found employment in 
Colorado Springs, and in 1896 came to Nye, 
where he located land and upon which he now 
lives. For a- number of years he had up-hill 
work on this land, a portion of the time, 
earning his living by outside work. He 
is now on the road to prosperity. The 
first winter here he drove a stage between 
Nye and Columbus, and many a day while fac¬ 
ing a blizzard he devoutly wished himself back 
in Colorado. But last spring he visited there 
and discovered that Montana was his state, 
and here he intends to make his future home. 
He has 100 acres under irrigation and profit¬ 
ably raises alfalfa. 

March 13, 1895, Mr. Lowe was united in 
marriage to Frances Robinson, born in Boul¬ 
der, Colorado, and daughter of Daniel and 
Nancy Robinson. Her parents were pioneers 
of Colorado, going there with wagons. The 
father is'dead; the mother lives with a daugh¬ 
ter, Mrs. Charles Williams, at Absarokee. 
Mrs. Lowe has a sister, Mrs. Leonard Ekwort- 
zel, at Nye. Mr. and Mrs. Lowe have three 
children, Milton, Harold and Harry. 

Fraternally he is a member of the Improved 
Order of Redmen, Pentecuse Tribe, No. 22, 
of Columbus. Nationally he is a Democrat, 
but locally independent. 


JOHN C. HOPE is one of the very earliest 
settlers on the upper Tongue River and now re¬ 
sides in Rosebud county. He is a man of 
prominence in the county, well and favorably 
known and is occupied in ranching and stock 
raising. His place is five miles south from 
Birney and he has been upon the same ranch 
for over twenty years. Mr. Hope is a native 
of Ayr, Ontario, Canada, and the date of his 
birth is September 12, 1863. He comes from 
Scotch extraction as both of his parents, An¬ 
drew and Helen (Anderson) Hope were na¬ 
tives of Scotland and came to Ontario when 
young people. The father is a carpenter and 
cabinet maker and followed that occupation 
until his death. In the world famed schools of 
Ontario our subject received his education and 
at the age of nineteen left his native heath for 
North Dakota. The next year we find him in 
the Black Hills country where he followed 
freighting for one season. In 1884, he journ¬ 
eyed on to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and the next 
year came to Sheridan, in that territory. The 
summer of 1885 was spent in working for 
wages near Buffalo and in the fall of that year 
he took a trip up into Montana. So well was the 
pleased with the country that he selected his 
present location on the Tongue river and began 
raising horses. Those were early days for this 
portion of Montana and Mr. Hope was brought 
face to face with all of the trying hardships of 
pioneer life, among Indians, far from the base 
of supplies and without neighbors. The coun¬ 
try began to settle and develop and betimes 
Mr. Hope has secured more land and is stead¬ 
ily following the occupation of farming and 
stock raising. He has always taken an active 
interest in everything for the welfare of the 
country and in the fall of 1902 was elected 
commissioner on the Republican ticket. He 
made a very efficient and wise officer and won 
friends from every portion of the country. 

1893, Mr. Hope married Esther Butler, 
a native of Ireland, who came to St. Paul, 
Minnesota, when a young girl. One child has 









490 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


been born to this marriage, Esther O., her 
native place being the home ranch on the 
Tongue River. 

As many others have done, who live in 
this section of Montana, Mr. Hope has seen 
much of the Indian character as various mem¬ 
bers of the tribe are almost daily observed go¬ 
ing back and forth through the country, the 
reservation being near. He has never had 
any difficulty with the Indians, having always 
treated them kindly yet firmly and he is highly 
respected by them as well as among the white 
residents'of Rosebud county. It is very inter¬ 
esting to note how different men have dwelt 
with the Indians and been treated by them and 
it is certainly a study in human nature to be 
able to handle these people when they are so 
near, in such a successful manner that no diffi¬ 
culty results. Mr. Hope is a man with good 
sense of justice and in his deals as well as in 
his daily life has so conducted himself that he 
has established an excellent reputation and his 
success in life has placed him in a prominent 
position in this portion of the state. 


PRESTON B. MOSS is president and 
principal owner of the Frst National Bank of 
Billings and is also engaged in sheep growing 
besides other enterprises. He was born in 
Paris, Monroe county, Missouri, in 1863, his 
parents being David H. and Melville E. (Hol¬ 
lingsworth) Moss. The father’s ancestors 
hailed originally from England and then came 
as 'pioneers from Virginia to Missouri, being 
among the early settlers of this last named 
state. David H. Moss practiced law several 
years and was elected prosecuting attorney of 
his county, but later preferred another line of 
business and so devoted himself to banking. 
Preston B. secured his education in the public 
schools, the Kemper Family School, Harvard 
College, and Eastman Business College. After 
school days he was associated with his father 


in the bank for a short time then engaged in 
lumber business in southwestern Missouri. In 
1892 he came to Montana, located at Billings, 
placed money in the First National Bank, in 
March, 1893, became its vice-president and in 
1896 was made president which position he 
has held since that date. This well know r n fin¬ 
ancial institution had been organized as a pri¬ 
vate bank in 1883 by W. R. Stebbins, presi¬ 
dent, and H. H. Mound, cashier. Soon after 
that it was made a national bank with capital 
of fifty thousand dollars and later this was 
increased by one hundred thousand dollars. 
Mr. Stebbins was president for three years and 
then Mr. Mound served till 1892. 

In 1889, Mr. Moss was united in marriage 
to Miss Mattie Woodson, the daughter of 
George W. and Iantha (Jackson) Woodson, 
of Paris, Missouri. The father was a mer¬ 
chant and the family is related to ex-governor 
Jackson, of Missouri. Mrs. Moss is a member 
of the Christian church. They have five chil¬ 
dren, Woodson J., Cullie, Melville, Preston B., 
and David H. Mr. Moss is a member of the 
Masonic fraternity, being a Shriner. Politi¬ 
cally he is not bound by party ties, but pre¬ 
fers to reserve for his own decision the ques¬ 
tion both of local and national politics rather 
than be dictated to by partisans. 


S. WALTER KELSEY. Montana is 
widely known because of her vast rich mines, 
but, also, she is known far and near as one of 
.the best stock states in the union and the fact 
that she has within her boundaries today so 
many stockmen, who are men of means and 
large property holdings, justifies this reputa¬ 
tion she enjoys among the sister states of the 
union. Among these men who have reaped 
well from their endeavors in the line of stock- 
raising, we are constrained to mention the 
name of S. W. Kelsey, of whom this article 
speaks. He is a resident of Custer county, his 










BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


491 


home being in the vicinity of Stacey, and he 
stands among the leading stockmen of this 
part of the state. His land holding amounts 
to about fifteen thousand acres, while he 
handles about six thousand sheep, half a thou¬ 
sand head of cattle, and a goodly number of 
horses. 

Mr. Kelsey was born in Paxton, Illinois, 
on December 20, 1868, being the son of Theo¬ 
dore B. and Rhoda N. (Grey) Kelsey. The 
father was born in South Carolina but was 
brought by his parents to Illinois when a small 
child, where he resided till grown to manhood. 
His boyhood days Were spent on the farm and 
when the call came for men to defend the 
union, he stepped forward, enlisting in Com¬ 
pany D, Twelfth Kansas, having removed to 
Kansas prior to that time. When the war was 
done he returned to life on the farm, but the 
grasshoppers destroyed his crops and he re¬ 
turned to the east, and about 1875 went to 
Wayne county, Iowa, where he remained thir¬ 
teen years. Then, it being 1888, Mr. Kelsey 
came to Custer county, Montana, and since 
that time has been a resident of this section 
of the state, and is at present engaged in the 
mercantile business in Moorhead. His wife, 
who is still living, was born in Indiana. 

Our subject went with his parents to the 
various sections where they lived after his 
birth, and received his. education mainly in 
Iowa. When he came with them to Custer 
county, he at once began to ride the range and 
in other ways became conversant with the 
stock business, and as he was of an economical 
turn, he saved his money and by 1892 he was 
in shape to enter business for himself. In 
partnership with his brother, Arthur R., he 
embarked in the sheep business and although 
they had hard work to pull along for a few 
years, they soon began to forge ahead and 
prosperity came their way in reward of the 
faithful and careful work they bestowed in the 
prosecution of their business. After some 
years, they added cattle to their sheep and also 


horses and in rearing these kinds of stock they 
have been occupied ever since, with the result, 
as has been stated, that they are among the 
leading stockmen of this part of the state at 
this time. 

In 1898, Mr. Kelsey married Miss Amelia 
M. Miller, a native of Fremont county, Iowa. 
She was liberally educated and taught school 
before her.marriage, coming to Montana when 
twenty. Her father, Edward Miller, was born 
in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and his people were 
among the first settlers of that now populous 
state, having come thither from Pennsylvania. 
He married Mary E. DeBorde, a native of 
Wisconsin. Her father’s people came to Amer¬ 
ica in the French fleet at the time of the Rev¬ 
olution. To Mr. and Mrs. Kelsey three chil¬ 
dren have been born, namely: Walter Emer¬ 
son, Austin Monroe and Marion Grey. Mr. 
Kelsey is' affiliated with that time honored in¬ 
stitution, the Masonic lodge, and is one of the 
leading men of the county. 


W. H. HORTON, who was born in Char¬ 
iton county Missouri, on April 30, 1865, re¬ 
sides one mile north from Brandenburg, in 
Custer county and is to be classed with the 
most prosperous and well to do stockmen and 
agriculturists in the county. He is a progres¬ 
sive man and in partnership with his brother, 
Thomas, who lives with him, has wrought a 
wonderful change from the wild land, that 
was here when he came, to the magnificent 
irrigated ranch that is now their property. 
Thomas was born in the same locality as his 
brother and came hither one year before him. 
They have one thousand acres under the ditch 
and have recently taken out a ditch from the 
Tongue that is five miles long. Theirs is one 
of the choicest ranches in the entire valley and 
it is a model of accomplishment in the years 
they have dwelt here. They handle stock and 
do general farming and are evidently among 
the most thrifty people of the county. 












492 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


The parents of these young men were B. 
F. and Susan (Fuel) Horton. The father was 
born in Virginia and went with his parents to 
Missouri in early days, being among the first 
settlers of Sheridan county. He was a Union 
veteran of the Civil War and died June 8, 
1897. The mother’s people were, also, very 
early settlers in Missouri. Our subject was 
reared and educated in his native place and 
then engaged in farming and stock raising. It 
was in 1894 he came to Miles City and soon 
after settled where we now find him. 

In 1897, Mr. ^Horton married Miss May 
Haynes, who was born in the same county as 
her husband, and to them three children have 
been bom Lillian,. Charlott, Edith. 

The Messrs. Horton have accomplished a 
good work here and such are the men who 
make any country what it is in its prosperous 
days, and it is very encouraging to be able to 
note the labor they have performed, and it is 
a source of inspiration to others to put forth 
efforts that will result in further improvement 
and substantial building up of the country. 

They own the Circle Bar brand of horses 
which are known all over the state as among 
the very best in the entire west. The Horton 
Brothers are very active and progressive and 
handle a great deal of stock each year. 


THERON W.' HICKS, a highly esteemed 
and representative citizen of Carbon county, 
and extensively engaged in the stock industry, 
resides one mile and one-half south of Nye. 
He was born at Avoca, Wisconsin, November 
27, i860. 

The father of our subject, Franklin Z., 
was an early settler of Wisconsin, coming 
there in the 50’s. He died in Rapid City, 
Dakota, in January, 1896, to which place he 
had removed several years previous. At the 
time of his death he was judge of the super¬ 
ior court, and had been twice elected to con¬ 


gress from Wisconsin. He was a self-educated 
man, studying law as had Lincoln, under dif¬ 
ficulties. He was, also, an early California 
pioneer, going there in 1849. In 1861 he en¬ 
listed in a Wisconsin regiment, and served 
through the Civil War as a quartermaster. 
At the close of the war he returned to his law 
practice, which he followed until his death 
at the age of eighty. The mother of our sub¬ 
ject died while he was an infant three years 
of age. 

In the Hawkeye State the latter received 
a good business education, and when about 
seventeen years of age faced the world for 
himself, going to the Black Hills with wagons. 
There he remained ten years, and was engaged 
in freighting. Thence he went to Wyoming, 
and there he ran a stage from Fort Piedmont 
to Sand Creek two years, thence going to 
Butte, Montana. From the aroma of sage 
brush to sulphur smoke is quite a radical 
change, but he remained there four years hand¬ 
ling ore most of the time. Thence he went to 
Gardiner, Montana, where he began working 
for the Yellowstone Park Transportation Com¬ 
pany, and with whom he is still connected. 
He passes the summers in the Park in charge 
of stock, and during the winters takes them 
to his ranch where they are well cared for. 
He holds a position of considerable responsi¬ 
bility, but is fully capable of handling it to the 
best advantage. 

At Livingston, Montana, September 2, 
1896, our subject was married to Emma Fitz¬ 
gerald, a native of the Silver State, born at 
Chico Hot Springs. Her parents, Sellick and 
Mary (Brown) Fitzgerald, came form Oregon 
to Montana in a wagon. They had driven 
from Iowa to Sacramento. California, thence 
to Oregon and Montana. They still live at 
Gardiner near which place they have a ranch. 
For many years they were in the hotel business 
at Gardiner. Mr, and Mrs. Hicks hate two 
| children, Theron, born September 7, 1898, and 








BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


493 


Mary, born June 14, 1903. Politically Mr. 
Hicks is a Republican, although not active. 


GUY D. HUNTER is a native Montan- 
ian, the place of his birth being Bozeman and 
the date April 28, 1869. Irving Hunter, his 
father, born in New York state in 1838 was 
a mill man and settled in Bozeman as early as 
1866. He owned one of the first saw mills 
in the county and was well known. He met his 
death at the hands of an infuriated man named 
Law during some trouble over a parcel of 
land. Our subject’s mother was Josephine De- 
Ratt, a native of Cayuga county, New York. 
The opportunities for gaining an education 
were rather meager in the early days of Mon¬ 
tana, yet our subject received fair training and 
when seventeen years of age went to work on a 
ranch for Myers Bros. In 1887 he started to 
farm for himself locating on a place southwest 
from Bozeman where he remained until 1891. 
Later, he homesteaded the place where he now 
resides, one mile northeast from Clyde, and 
embarked upon cattle and horse raising. He 
has met with splendid success and now owns 
four sections of agricultural land in the val¬ 
ley, one-fourth of which is already under the 
ditch. He has considerable stock and is one 
of the well to do men of Park county: 

On February 4, 1892, o'ccurred the mar¬ 
riage of Mr. Hunter and Mary Francis, the 
daughter of Henry Francis, a rancher and 
stockman. Four children have come to crown 
this marriage, Allen W., born June 10, 1893; 
Lulie, Nina E., and Alice. 

Mr. Hunter is a Republican and a member 
of the M. W. A. 


JOHN T. FOWLER. The subject of this 
sketch resides on a handsomely located ranch 
one-half mile from Dean, Carbon county. The 


place of his nativity is LaFayette county, Wis¬ 
consin. His father, Richard, was born in 1849 
came to Wisconsin, where he engaged in min- 
ing, having followed that business in England. 
In Wisconsin he became foreman of a smelter, 
in which vocation he remained until his death 
in 1887. The mother, Sarah (Garbett) Fowler, 
was also a native of Yorkshire, where she was 
married. She came to the United States with 
her husband, where she died in 1884. 

At the age of sixteen years our subject left 
school and home in Wisconsin and went .to 
Iowa, remaining, however, but a short time. 
Following a visit home he.went to southwest¬ 
ern Missouri, and in 1880 to the Black 
Hills. Thence he went to Minnesota 
and subsequently made another visit home. It 
was in 1882 that he came to Butte, Montana, 
going thence to Helena and Marysville, where 
he followed mining in various camps in that 
territory and Colorado. To his present location 
at Dean he came in 1893, and here he secured 
the homestead upon which he at present re¬ 
sides. 

May 20, 1905, Mr. Fowler was married to 
Annie Farris, born in Iowa county, Wiscon¬ 
sin, and where, she was reared and educated. 
Her father, John Farris, was a native of Ire¬ 
land, coming to the United States in the for¬ 
ties. Her mother, Mary (Stevens) Farris, was 
a native of Pennsylvania, her people having 
gone there from New York. 


REINZA W. BLAKESLEY, although 
not one of the earliest settlers of Montana, is 
certainly to be classed among its most pro¬ 
gressive and active men of today. A young 
man filled with energy and dominated by wise 
judgment as has been manifested in his busi¬ 
ness enterprise, he has succeeded in his labors 
since coming to Montana in such a gratifying 
manner that he is classed among the well to 












494 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


do men of Rosebud county today. In Decem¬ 
ber, 1900, he first set foot inside the state and 
for two years he was engaged in teaching 
school. During these two years he not only 
taught school but gave himself carefully to 
the study of the natural conditions and re¬ 
sources of what is now Rosebud county and 
he wisely determined to take up the stock busi¬ 
ness. He invested his earnings in sheep and 
secured more. Although his experience in 
handling sheep in the west is confined to the 
little which we have mentioned, he has shown 
himself a master in the business and is be¬ 
coming a close second to some of the leading 
sheep men of Rosebud county. So well has he 
succeeded in his efforts that in the spring of 
1906, he purchased a ranch of eleven hundred 
acres, where he now resides, fifteen miles up 
the Rosebud from Forsyth. This place is his 
headquarters and he handles his stock in var¬ 
ious directions and gives all his care, his en¬ 
ergy, his wisdom, and his close attention to 
business. He is looked upon as one of the 
very substantial and leading citizens. 

Mr. Blakesley was born in Ringgold 
county, Iowa on May 7, 1877. His father, H. 
C. Blakesley, was a native of Indiana and came 
to Iowa in the early fifties, being a pioneer 
of what is now Ringgold county and he has re¬ 
mained in Iowa ever since. He married Mary 
E. Devass, a native of Iowa, who died when 
Reinza W. was a small child. Our subject 
received his education in Iowa, being a very 
diligent student and fitted himself for teach¬ 
ing as a stepping stone to a business life. He 
was highly esteemed as an educator in this 
county and did excellent work during the time 
he gave his attention to it. 

In 1902, Mr. Blakesley married Edna F. 
Philbrick, who was born, reared and educated 
in the state of Maine. She came to Montana 
also in 1900 and taught school for two years 
in Rosebud county. Her parents, Freeman and 
Mary F. (Merrill) Philbrick, were natives of 
Maine. Mr. and Mrs. Blakesley have two 


children, Hazel Fern, a bright little girl, and 
an infant unnamed. 


HENRY J. STANBACH, who resides at 
Shields, Montana, has certainly shown a com¬ 
mendable energy and progressiveness in the 
labors he has accomplished in Montana since 
the sixties, being at the present time one of 
the wealthy land owners and stockmen of the 
state. Following his life in consecutive order, 
we notice first that he was born in St. Paul, 
Minnesota, November 25, 1859. His father, 
Voleman S., a Hessian, was born at Frank- 
fort-on-the-Main in 1832 and followed tailor¬ 
ing. He came to America in 1848 and settled 
in Baltimore, where he learned his trade. He 
moved to Minnesota in 1855, and soon there¬ 
after rented the old Ramsey county farm. In 
1865, he came to Helena bringing his family 
and took up a ranch later at Winston, where 
he now lives. He married Julia Market, who 
was born in Bavaria in 1829, came to Amer¬ 
ica in 1847, the wedding occurring in Balti¬ 
more in the early fifties. Our subject was edu¬ 
cated in the various places where the family 
lived during his boyhood and he remained 
with his father until twenty-five years of age, 
at which time he commenced business for him¬ 
self. Among his. first acts was the taking of 
a homestead on the Shields river, which is a 
part of his present estate. Soon after that he 
embarked in the cattle business and he has 
been more or less occupied with that ever 
since. At the present time he owns eighteen 
hundred acres of good soil on the Shields river 
and four years ago completed a ditch upon 
which he had been laboring eleven years and 
which cost twenty thousand dollars. He was 
the first man to use the steam plow in the val¬ 
ley and has always shown himself a very pro¬ 
gressive man. Formerly he handled a great 
deal of stock but has now reduced his herds 
to two hundred and fifty cattle. 










biographical sketches. 


495 


On January 12, 1898, Mr. Stanbach mar¬ 
ried Mary Storer, who was born in the 
..northern part of England near the mouth of 
the Tweed, being the daughter of Thomas and 
Martha (Spaven) Stanbach and the oldest of 
four children. She came to America in 1889. 
Mr. Stanbach is a member of the Catholic 
church while his wife belongs to the Presby¬ 
terian. He is a Democrat in politics and takes 
a lively interest in general affairs. Mr. Stan¬ 
bach has two sisters, Mrs. Mary Lokowisch 
and Mrs. Lizzie Degan, both living at Wins¬ 
ton. Mrs. Stanbach has one sister, Sarah 
Storer, dwelling a,t Chestnut, Montana. It is 
of interest that the older Stanbach left St. 
Paul, it being May 2, 1865, and he came on 
the old Fisk overland route, traveling all the 
way by ox team and arriving in Helena on 
November 20 of the same year. He and his son 
are both sturdy pioneers of this county and 
the success achieved by our subject places him 
among the substantial business men of the 
state. 


ALBERT P. O’LEARY, M. D., one of 
the well known physicians of Billings, was 
born at Flint, Michigan, August 26, 1870, be¬ 
ing the son of John C. and Olive M. (Vernon) 
O’Leary, natives of county Cork, Ireland, and 
New York state, respectively. The father 
came from his native land to Michigan in 1849 
and in addition to conducting a farm there en¬ 
gaged in the lumber trading of that time. 
His marriage occurred in 1853 and in 1876 
he removed with his family to Oregon and 
engaged in stockraising. Later he removed 
to Mackay, Idaho, where he follows sheep 
raising. Dr. O’Leary has two brothers, one, 
John V., raising sheep at Mackenzie, Oregon, 
and the other Frank, engaged in the same 
business in Idaho. He also has two sisters, 
Mary V. and Edith, both of whom are teach¬ 
ing school in Butte, this state. 


The doctor received his early education 
from the public schools of Oregon and later 
matriculated in the Wasco Independent Acad¬ 
emy at The Dalles, that state, where he was 
graduated in the class of 1892. The next fall 
he went to Michigan and entered the famous 
state university at Ann Arbor and studied 
steadily for six years, being graduated in 1898 
with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Al¬ 
though fully equipped by the excellent course 
he had pursued, Dr. O’Leary felt it incumbent 
upon him to still further pursue his duties 
and researches. Accordingly he became interne 
at St. Vincent’s hospital in Portland, Oregon, 
and remained one year. After that he had 
charge of contagious diseases for Silver Bow 
county, Montana, until 1903, with his home 
in Butte. The following two years were spent 
in the practice of his profession at the hot 
springs of Boulder and Alhambra, this state, 
and from those points he came to Billings 
and has since remained in the steady practice 
of medicine. 

Dr. O’Leary is a member of the time hon¬ 
ored Catholic church and is also affiliated with 
the Knights of Columbus. 


ORLANDO E. HASKIN, one of the 
leading and influential citizens of Carbon 
county, and engaged in general ranching and 
stock raising, resides at Dean. He was born 
in Lowell, Indiana, October 12, 1865. 

His father, of the same name, was born 
in Pittsfield, New York, and when a young 
man removed to Indiana. He was a mill¬ 
wright by trade, and erected several important 
mills in the vicinity of Lowell, and which he 
owned and operated. He died in 1869. Orig¬ 
inally the family came from the British Isles, 
in 1700, and settled in New York. Several of 
them participated in the war of the Revolu¬ 
tion, and among them was our subject’s pa¬ 
ternal great-grandfather, Enoch. The mother 













496 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


of the subject of this sketch, Loraine (Evans) 
Haskin* is a native of Ohio. When a small 
child she went to Indiana with her parents, 
and here she was married. She came to Mon¬ 
tana in 1889, where she still resides. 

In 1849 an uncle of our subject went to 
California, via the Panama route, and here he 
was quite successful. When he returned to 
New York City he began the construction of 
a tunnel under the Hudson river, for the pur¬ 
pose of connecting New York with Jersey 
City. He did not live to witness its comple¬ 
tion, but he had conceived the original idea 
while crossing the river the ferry boat being 
delayed by the drift ice. An uncle of our sub¬ 
ject's father, and the father of his mother went 
to California about the same period. 

In the public schools of Lowell our sub¬ 
ject received his education, and also worked 
on a farm. At the age of twenty years he 
came to Billings, and for a short time fired a 
yard engine for the Northern Pacific Railroad 
Company. In November, 1886, he came to his 
present location, at that time on the Crow In¬ 
dian reservation, upon which there were only 
four settlers. There arose a dispute regarding 
the line of the reservation, and our subject, 
not believing he was on the reservation at all, 
had considerable trouble with the Indian De¬ 
partment before securing his rights. In 1896 
our subject went to Boston and here he en¬ 
gaged in pneumatic tunnel work until 1901, 
when he returned to his Montana ranch, and 
where he has since remained. In March, 1903, 
his wife was appointed postmistress of Dean, 
the office being located in Mr. Haskin s house. 

In 1894 our subject was married to Eliza¬ 
beth Swain, a native of Michigan where she 
was feared and educated, principally in Grand 
Rapids. She taught school in Michigan and. 
also, in Montana. Mr. Haskin has one child 
Helen L., born in Montana. 

Our subject takes an active interest in 
politics, and last year served as delegate to 
state and county conventions. 


FRANK W. DRAPER, deceased. Pres¬ 
ident Roosevelt said: “The best heritage the 
pioneer can leave to future generations is the 
simple yet powerful story of his life; of hard¬ 
ships endured, of dangers passed, and the final 
victory over wilderness and desert plain.’ 
He has spoken nothing more truthful. In ac¬ 
cordance with the spirit of this excellent say¬ 
ing we desire to grant the reader a review of 
the life of one who was numbered with the 
sturdy pioneers of southeastern Montana as 
well as of other portions of the great West- 

Frank W. Draper has finished his career, 
his work is done, but though he sleeps there is 
much in what he did that will stir hearts to 
worthy effort in admiration of the courage 
displayed by him in his trying ordeals. 

In far away Ticonderoga county, New 
York, on February 4, 1854, the subject of this 
memoir was born to Hiram and Mehitable 
(LeCrane) Draper. The father, a native of 
New York state, was killed in battle while 
fighting for his country in 1863. Previous to 
his demise, the father had taken his family to 
Belvidere, Illinois, and there Frank W. grad¬ 
uated from the high school. When seventeen 
years of age he accompanied the balance of the 
family to Edgar, Nebraska, and taught school 
there for a couple of years. In 1874 he went 
to Sioux City, Iowa, and shortly afterwards to 
California. Two years later we find Mr. 
Draper with a prairie schooner making his 
way via Denver, Colorado, to the Black Hills, 
Dakota. He embarked in the furniture busi¬ 
ness with Mr. Pepper, but later sold that busi¬ 
ness and started a drug store. After eighteen 
months in that business he apeepted^the posi¬ 
tion of wagon boss for a large freighting com¬ 
pany doing business between Bismarck and the 
“Hills.” In 1880 he drove to Miles City and 
took charge of the Diamond R wagon train 
and freighted out from Miles City. This was 
the winter which was so indelibly stamped in 
the memory of ajl the old inhabitants of Mon¬ 
tana. Stock died by the thousands, buffalo 













FRANK W. DRAPER AND FAMILY 








BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


497 


starved off the plains and freezing- to death 
.roamed the streets of the towns as mildly as 
dairy cattle. Such cold and snow have never 
been experienced since. It was not an unusual 
thing for Mr. Draper’s men to find some of the 
mules frozen stiff, when they went to harness 
up. It is well nigh impossible to estimate the 
suffering endured by the sturdy freighters. 
Six months later Mr. Draper went to Junction 
City and opened a retail liquor store, and a 
few months later moved to Benson’s Landing, 
four miles from where Livingston now stands. 
The centers of business in those days changed 
so rapidly that Mr. Draper built a house in 
sections to enable him to move without so 
much loss. When Clark, now Livingston, was 
started Mr. Draper at once moved thither and 
it is on record that his was the first building 
erected there. He remained in business there 
until the fire of 1885 burned up his entire 
property, save the lot, and his next move was 
to Cook City, then a lively place. On Novem¬ 
ber 6, *i886, the smelter shut down in that 
camp and things went down but Mr. Draper 
remained with the town till August, 1887, 
when he transferred his residence to Nye and 
there remained till the camp was found to be 
on the Indian reservation, when he was forced 
to again take the road. This time he located 
in Red Lodge and in partnership with Dr. 
Macomber opened the first drug store of the 
town. A year or so later he sold out and set¬ 
tled on the ranch for one summer. Later we 
find him dwelling on the farm where his death 
occurred on July 10, 1901. Cancer was the 
cause of his taking away and he was mourned 
by a very large circle of friends. 

The marriage of Mr. Draper and Miss 
Matilda Martin was consummated September 
13, 1882, Judge Braden performing the cere¬ 
mony as there were no ministers in the coun¬ 
try then. Mrs. Draper was born in Germany, 
came to Sioux City, Iowa, in 1874, accompa¬ 
nying her brother and later went to Miles 
City with friends. Her parents had died in 
32 


Germany. Six children have been born to Mr. 
and Mrs. Draper: I. Albert, Edwin W., and 
Charles H., who are living and two twin girls 
and a twin sister of Albert who have died. 

Mr. Draper was a charter member of the 
K. P. and I. O. O. F. lodges of Livingston and 
also of the W. O. W. at Red Lodge. He was 
a stanch Republican and always took an active 
part in local politics. He was the first school 
trustee and hired the first school teacher in 
Red Lodge, this being in 1888. Thus it is 
seen that Mr. Draper has been a pioneer in the 
true sense of the word and his labors were 
always in the line of progress and development 
of the country. 


JOHN P. HUXTABLE is one of Custer 
county’s agriculturists and stockmen and is 
to be classed with the pioneers, for he took 
land from the raw state, securing a quarter 
under the homestead right, and has made of 
it a good home and a valuable farm. His 
place is about six miles south from Etna and 
he has resided here since 1889. 

Devonshire, England, is the native heath 
of our subject, and January 24, 1855, the date 
of his birth, his parents, Josiah and Ann 
(Pugsley) Huxtable, natives of the same place 
as this son, having been farmers there till the 
death of his father. The mother still lives, in 
England. Being reared on the farm in Eng¬ 
land, and educated in his native place, our sub¬ 
ject is imbued with the spirit of thrift so 
characteristic of his race. When twenty years 
of age his adventurous spirit led him to try 
the United States, believing better things 
awaited him here. Van Buren county, Michi¬ 
gan, was the objective point and in 1878 he 
came on west to Kansas where he farmed for 
some time. In 1881 we find him in Glendive 
where he did ranching. The next year he went 
to Bozeman and in the spring of 1883 he made 
| his way to the Musselshell, but in a short time 










498 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


went thence to Miles City and in 1889, as men¬ 
tioned before, he came to his present place 
and began operations of a permanent character. 
From that time till the present Mr. Huxtable 
has been steadily laboring in the chosen oc¬ 
cupations and steadily he has prospered. It 
came slow at first but as he became better es¬ 
tablished and got his land under cultivation 
and his stock increased, times for him were 
better and he is now rated one of the substan¬ 
tial men of the county. 

On November 1, 1900, Mr. Huxtable mar¬ 
ried Miss Mary E. Bergen, a native of Ferry- 
ville, Wisconsin. When young she came with 
her parents, Jacob T. and Caroline (Torgor- 
sen) Bergen, to Red Wing, Minnesota, where 
she resided until her marriage. Her father 
was born in Guttenberg, Sweden, came to 
America when young and is a veteran of the 
Mexican war. . The mother was born 
in Bergen, Norway, and came to Amer¬ 
ica with her parents when a girl of 
twelve years. Mr. Huxtable has two brothers, 
Nathaniel, and Cephas, and two sisters, Anna 
and Martha. Mrs. Huxtable’s sisters, she has 
no brothers, are named as follows, Caroline A., 
Fannie M., Emma C., Minnie B., and Ida O. 
To our subject and his wife one child has been 
born, John P., at Red Wing, Minnesota, on 
July 28, 1903. 


FRANK B. OSBORNE, the subject of 
this sketch, was born in Morgan county, Illi¬ 
nois, June 30, 1862. At present he resides on 
a fine and productive ranch four and one-half 
miles up the creek from the town of Fishtail, 
Carbon county. His father, James C., is a 
native of Tennessee, and when very young 
was left an orphan. At the age of eleven years, 
he and a younger brother, walked to Illinois, 
where they lived with relatives until he had 
attained his majority. There he learned the 
trade of a plasterer, and purchased a farm. 


This was in Morgan county, and he now rents 
the place and resides in town. The mother of 
our subject, Maria (Phillips) Osborne, is a 
native of Illinois, and is still living. Her peo¬ 
ple were early pioneers of that state. 

Until he arrived at the age of seventeen 
our subject attended the public schools in Illi¬ 
nois. He then left home with the small capi¬ 
tal of $1.25, going first to Missouri, where 
he found employment on farms. To south¬ 
west Kansas he removed in 1882, and from 
there he went to the Indian Territory. The 
same fall he went to California; in 1883 to 
Puget Sound, and the same year he continued 
on to Butte, Montana. He came to Prickley 
Pear Junction, Montana, in 1885, and there 
for a short time conducted a section,. coming 
thence to Bigtimber, where he remained until 
1889. So soon as the Indian reservation was 
opened he secured a homestead in the vicinity 
of Fishtail, and here he has since remained. 
He is at present engaged in the cattle business. 
Mr. Osborne is a single man. 


SAMUEL O’N. C. BRADY has resided 
in Montana for nearly a quarter of a century, 
and during this term of years he has risen 
from a poor boy to be one of the wealthy 
stockmen and land owners of Park county. 
An account of his career can but be interest¬ 
ing and instructive as well, for the success he 
has achieved will certainly stimulate others in 
their labors. Samuel Brady was born in Dun- 
lewey House, Donegal, Ireland, June 1, 1861. 
His father, George Fraser Brady, was born 
in Lifford, Donegal. Ireland, and was a prac¬ 
ticing physician. His father, the grandfather 
of our subject, was an officer in the British 
army. Our subject’s ancestors came to Amer¬ 
ica in very early days and Fort Brady was 
named after them. Then some returned to 
the old country'and from that line sprang 
Samuel Brady. Private schools furnished the 











BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


499 


educational training of Mr. Brady and he re¬ 
mained in Ireland until 1882, in which year 
he Set sail for New York, landing June 26. 
He soon found his way west to Iowa and be¬ 
gan working on a farm. In the spring of 1883 
he came on to Montana and went to work for 
Myers Bros, on the Shields river. For five 
years he followed working out and then he had 
accumulated sufficient capital to warrant the 
inauguration of independent action, so in 1888 
he took four hundred and eighty acres of gov¬ 
ernment land, two miles east from where 
Myersburg now stands and settled down to 
raising stock. For a while it was pretty hard 
pulling as his capital was very limited, but by 
doing general farming and commencing in a 
very small way, he soon succeeded in getting 
a fine start and has grown steadily since until 
at the present time he has five thousand sheep, 
sixty head of cattle and a goodly number of 
horses. He owns five thousand, four hundred 
acres of deeded land and leases one thousand 
two hundred and eighty acres from the state. 
All of this has been achieved without assist¬ 
ance of any kind from the outside, for Mr. 
Brady started without capital save two good 
strong hands and a determination to win his 
way to success. His holdings enumerated at 
this time, place him among the leading stock- 
men of the county, while his acts for the years 
past have given him an unsullied reputation and 
standing among his fellows. 

On January 26, 1904, Mr. Brady married 
Sarah C. Gassert, a native of Pennsylvania. 
They have one child, Violet E., born April 1, 
1905. Mr. and Mrs. Brady are both members 
of the Episcopal church. 

In political affiliations he is allied with the 
Democrats and takes an active interest in the 
campaigns. Mr. Brady also is affiliated with 
the A. F. & A. M. Since living in Montana 
he has traveled several times across the Atlan¬ 
tic to visit the old home place and has also 
kept himself well informed upon the questions 


and progress of the day and is an energetic 
and substantial man. 


FERNANDO LA ROCHE, an enterpris¬ 
ing ranchman of Carbon county, residing one 
mile from Dean, down the creek, was bom 
in Niagara county, New York, city of Lock- 
port, on the Erie Canal. His father, Charles 
P., was a native of Pennsylvania, removing to 
New York with his parents when a child. He 
was a farmer and merchant. He came to Fort 
Benton, Montana, in 1880, and the same year 
he purchased a team and came overland to 
Sweetgrass Creek, where he took a homestead 
about eleven miles east of Big Timber, and 
here he engaged in the cattle business. In 
1884 he returned to his old home in New York 
where'he died in 1891. The mother of our 
subject, Hannah (Raymond) La Roche, was 
born in Niagara county, New York, coming 
to Montana with subject in 1881. They came 
by rail to Sioux City, Iowa, and thence up the 
river by boat, on General Terry steamboat, 26 
days to Junction, Montana, and then overland 
to the fine ranch of Mr. La Roche. Subse¬ 
quently she returned to New York, where she 
died in 1897. 

In the public schools of Lockport our sub¬ 
ject received his earliest education, which was 
completed in the country schools of Montana. 
When he was seventeen years of age his par¬ 
ents returned to New York, but he remained 
in Montana. In his youthful days he was a 
cowboy, and was in the employment of “The 
22” outfit, one of the most, extensive in the 
territory. He returned to New York in 1887, 
and engaged in the employment of a street car 
company in Buffalo. He came to Billings, 
Montana, in 1894, but the following winter 
went to Michigan. In 1895 he purchased the 
ranch upon which he at present resides, and 
here he rears cattle and horses. 











500 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


At Buffalo, New York, in 1891, our sub¬ 
ject was united in marriage to Eva Heiman, 
born near Lockport, New York. They have 
one child. Florence. 

The greater portion of the life of our sub¬ 
ject has been passed on the frontier, and here 
he has endured many hardships and made con¬ 
siderable history in his eventful career. 

On the way from Junction to the ranch 
Fernando was walking to better see the coun¬ 
try and fell a long distance behind. Start¬ 
ing to hurry up to the wagons he came sud¬ 
denly on a large band and camp of Indians. 
He was so scared he ran like a deer and some 
of the Indians after him. Finally he overtook 
the wagon, which was waiting, and there 
learned that the Indians were friendly Crows. 
But, Mr. La Roche remarks, “I did not know 
they were friendly when I was scurrying 
after that wagon.” 

When he was out with a friend taking a 
vacation in the Park he fell in with some 
horsemen looking for thieves who had stolen 
their stock. Our subject and his companion 
assisted them and finally the horses were lo¬ 
cated and recovered, and later by the aid of a 
U. S. marshal and a posse of men the thieves 
were apprehended. 


MRS. ANNIE E. TOWN, although just 
beginning to enter the golden days of the 
years of her life, is, nevertheless, ripe in rich 
experiences in the west, and especially such 
as are most intimately connected with the his¬ 
tory of Montana and particularly with the Yel¬ 
lowstone valley. Having been a resident here 
since the days when the Indians were hostile 
and a portion of the time, too, when the his¬ 
tory making battle and campaigns were being 
fought and carried out, she speaks authorita¬ 
tively by personal experience of those days and 
incidents, as well as from knowledge gained 
by being a close student of history, both local 


and general. Therefore it will be intensely 
interesting to the pioneers of this portion of 
the state to be privileged to read of her life 
and the doings of the days of her experience. 

In the vicinity of Montreal, Canada, on 
April 5, 1845, Mrs. Town was born to Mark 
and Katherine (Ormsby) Walsh, natives of 
Mayo county, Ireland. It was near the old 
abbey of Mayo, on Christmas morning, 1810, 
that the father first saw the light and in his 
native land he was reared and educated. Be¬ 
ing aged twenty-two, he was fired with a spirit 
of energy and believing better opportunities 
awaited him in the- new world, he came to 
America and soon thereafter he was in the 
contracting business and as such assisted in 
the construction of the famous suspension 
bridge across Niagara, under the supervision 
of the world renowned Roebling, later con-i 
structor of the longest suspension bridge in 
the world, the Brooklyn bridge over East 
river, New York. His connection with the 
bridge at Niagara dated from 1853 to 1855, 
the year of its completion. Then he con¬ 
structed Fort Riley, Kansas, and after that 
built forts and posts all over the United States. 
He was well known to General Custer per¬ 
sonally and to many other noted people in the 
west especially. His last piece of work was 
the Santa Fe depot at Leavenworth, Kansas, 
where he had made his home for some time 
previous, on Broadway and Sherman. His 
death occurred in May, 1895. Twelve hours 
after his demise his faithful wife breathed 
her last and they rest side by side. It was a 
fitting close of a happy life, for from the day 
of her marriage in old Ireland, in 1841, she 
had been a most faithful and beloved com¬ 
panion and helpmeet. Shortly after their 
marriage they sailed, it being June, 1841, to 
the New World, and Mrs. Walsh used often 
to speak of the days of her childhood, when 
the cuckoo came every morning to wake her 
from her slumbers with its rich notes at New 
Brook Gate. Three boys and three girls were 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


5 oi 


the children born to this couple. A brother, M. 
J. Walsh, residing in Whiteworth, British’Co¬ 
lumbia, and a sister, Mary C. Walsh, of San 
Francisco, being the only survivors besides our 
subject. 

Mrs. Town commenced her education in 
New York state and remembers the school 
well, as the tuition charged was one penny per 
week. After that she studied in Portageville, 
New York, St. Louis, Missouri, and in various 
other places as her father’s business took him 
from place to place and the family removed to 
these places until they finally settled in Leav¬ 
enworth. 

At Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1861, oc¬ 
curred the marriage of Miss Annie E. Walsh 
and William Burke, a government contractor 
and a secret service man during the war. He 
assisted to build Fort Keogh and acquired a 
fine ranch in the vicinity of Miles City. His 
wife joined him in 1878, after having lived 
in Leavenworth exactly twenty years. This 
trip was made by rail to Yankton, Dakota, 
and thence by boat to Miles City, the whole 
occupying one month. Mrs. Burke was ac¬ 
companied by other parties to relieve the mo¬ 
notony of the journey. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Burke three sons and 
two daughters were born of whom, one son, 
John F. Burke, lives in Anaconda, and one 
daughter, Mrs. Katherine May Shannon, 
dwells in San Francisco. In 1879 Mr. Burke 
was killed at the Powder river crossing known 
as Foley’s stopping place. It was a dirt roof 
house and the roof fell in and killed him and 
a companion by the name of Smith. The 
family was at that time living in Miles City 
in very comfortable circumstances. Mrs. 
Burke was present when Miles City was laid 
out and is intimately acquainted with the con¬ 
ditions existing in those early days and re¬ 
members many interesting things connected 
with the movements then. 

On December 2, 1880, Mrs. Burke mar- | 
ried George H. Town at Miles City and in 


1882 they removed to Billings. They arrived 
on November 7th, Billings’ first election day. 
To this second marriage, one child was bom, 
Mrs. Mary Harriett Connolly, whose husband 
is an expert grist miller. 

Mrs. Town takes a pardonable pride in 
being personally able to discharge all the busi¬ 
ness responsibilities incumbent upon her in a 
satisfactory manner. She has been in Bil¬ 
lings practically since its start and although 
she has had many ups and downs she is able 
to spend the remainder of her days in all com¬ 
fort and have the joy of looking back on a 
well spent and eventful life. She is a pioneer, 
or, rather, the pioneer of Christian Science in 
Billings and is a delighted and deep student of 
their scientific and devotional literature, hav¬ 
ing progressed rapidly in this unique combi¬ 
nation of the spiritual and scientific. 

Mr. Burke was a very trusted messenger 
for Custer and Terry and was a man of force 
and ability. Mrs. Town attended the dedica¬ 
tion of the First Church of Christian Scientists 
on June 10, 1906, in Boston, Massachusetts. 


NATHANIEL HAYDEN resides about* 
fourteen miles up the Rosebud river from For¬ 
syth, where he is conducting a large irrigated 
ranch, handling the same for Mrs. Sarah E. 
Straw, the owner. He was born in Wayne 
county, Ohio, on January 18, 1852, the son of 
Samuel and Matilda J. (Kimble) Hayden, na¬ 
tives of Pennsylvania and Wayne county, 
Ohio, respectively, and now living in Boulder 
City, Colorado. Our subject received very 
little schooling as his parents were constantly 
on the frontier, moving to Colorado in 1863, 
and in fact Mr. Hayden has spent a large por¬ 
tion of his life on the frontier in a tent. He 
freighted the first load of Buffalo hides into 
Denver, it being 1866. In 1876 we find him 
in the Black Hills, at the beginning of the rush 
there and he remained in the vicinity of Dead- 









502 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


wood until 1881, during which time he was 
prospecting, freighting, mining, etc. During 
that time he took a trip to Texas and had some 
thrilling experiences in fighting the Indians. 
In 1881 Mr. Hayden came to the Yellowstone 
valley and engaged in hunting for the railroad 
camps. When game became scarce he located 
on a ranch on the Rosebud river which he sold 
in 1884 and returned to the Black Hills and 
was occupied in freighting until 1887. In 
that year he journeyed again to Montana and 
for a number of years he was occupied in trap¬ 
ping and hunting wolves in the Rosebud 
valley and also did freighting. In 1905 Mr. 
Hayden secured a lease on the ranch where he 
now resides and is giving his entire attention 
to handling the estate which is a fine irrigated 
property. 

In 1878 Mr. Hayden married Mrs. Cor¬ 
delia Hayes, who was born near Council 
Bluffs, Iowa. As will be seen by the fore¬ 
going Mr. Hayden has had much experience 
on the plains and in life that goes to make up 
the typical westerner. Being exceedingly fond 
of the chase, he became a very skilled nimrod 
and is as well experienced in hunting as per¬ 
haps any man that could be found in his 
section. 


OSTEN E. HEREIM, whose home place 
is a quarter section of land twelve miles east 
from Absarokee on Red Lodge creek, is a 
native of Stavenger, Souden, Norway, and 
his birth occurred March 25, 1874. His fa¬ 
ther, Erek O. Hereim, is dwelling on the farm 
where he was born in Norway, being aged six¬ 
ty-four. He married Ingobar Arthoun, who 
died in 1900, aged fifty-two. Our subject is 
the fourth of nine children, being the oldest 
of those living. Has two sisters, Mrs. Matt 
Lindenow, and Christina, in Martindale, Mon¬ 
tana. The public schools of his native place 


furnished his education and when fourteen he 
laid aside his books to take up the life of herd 
boy, following the same till the last two yeais 
in Norway, which were spent in the zinc 
mines. It was 1892 when he set sail from 
Norway for New York, whence he journeyed 
on to Big Timber, thence to Castle, and the 
day after arriving he was at work herding 
sheep and for two years stayed With one em¬ 
ployer. Then he was with M. T. Graude for 
five years and then worked for Perry Moore. 
All these years, Mr. Hereim was planning how 
to turn his savings, for he had been careful of 
his money, into a home. Later we see him in 
Carbon county and here he was principally 
engaged with the Arthoun Brothers until 
1900, when he made a trip to his old home to 
visit. One month after he arrived his mother 
passed to the world beyond, but he had the 
great pleasure of a visit with her before that 
sad hour. The month before he made that 
trip home he had sent a ticket for his younger 
brother, Johannes, to come to America. Jo¬ 
hannes went on a trip to bid his grandparents 
farewell, and in crossing the river the ice gave 
way and he was swept under to his death. Mr. 
Hereim was decided to make his home in Nor¬ 
way, but finally he concluded to return to Mon¬ 
tana and when he arrived here he took a band 
of sheep with Arthur Arthoun and they han¬ 
dled them two years, doing well. Then he 
purchased the quarter section where he now 
resides and is fast bringing it in subjection 
to the plow and is making it a good home 
place. Mr. Hereim goes each shearing sea¬ 
son and by his own efforts is making prosper¬ 
ity for himself'. 

On July 21, 1901, Mr. Hereim married 
Miss Olena Tjoolina, a native of his birth¬ 
place. She came to the United States alone, 
her father being dead. Her mother still lives 
in Norway. The children born to this union 
are: Ingabor, born July 9, 1902; Ole, born 
March 16, 1904;. and Orando O., born July 











BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


503 


2, 1906. Mr. Herein! is an adherent of the 
Lutheran church and in political matters is 
Republican. 


HECTOR McDONALD. proprietor of 
the Bear Gulch Hotel in Jardine, has had a 
most active and industrious career. His birth 
occurred in Milan, Canada, on April 12, 1862. 
His father, John R. McDonald, a well-to-do 
farmer, was born in Inverness, Scotland, in 
1816 and died, in 1903. He married Miss 
Annie McLeod, a native of the same place as 
her husband, her birth occurring- in 1824. She 
is now living in Milan, Canada. They be- 
, came the parents of eleven children of whom 
Hector is the eighth. He was educated in the 
public schools of Milan and at fifteen started 
in life for himself, being engaged in Vermont 
until 1881, when he determined to see the 
west. Soon after arriving in Montana he en¬ 
tered the employ of the Western Union Tele¬ 
graph Company and remained with them for 
nine years. In 1888 Mr. McDonald took 
charge of the Northern Pacific Telegraph de¬ 
partment, with headquarters at Livingston. 
Two years later he went to work for the elec¬ 
tric light company in Livingston and remained 
with them for ten years. Then resigned to ac¬ 
cept the position as under sheriff. On Jan¬ 
uary 12, 1903, he removed to Jardine and be¬ 
came electrician for the Kimberly Gold Min¬ 
ing Company. On March 1, 1904, he opened 
the Bear Gulch Hotel. 

On December 10, 1890, Mr. McDonald 
married Miss Helen McLennan, who was born 
in Inverness, Scotland, August 28, 1864. Her 
father, Malcolm McLennan, was torn in In¬ 
verness, Scotland, and followed the butcher 
business, his death occurring when he was 
sixty-nine years of age. He had married Miss 
Annie Campbell, also a native of Scotland and 
now living in Inverness. One child has been 
born to Mr. and Mrs. McDonald, Clarence 


E., May 23, 1892. They are all members of 
the Presbyterian church and stanch supporters 
of their faith. Mr. McDonald is a Democrat 
in politics, is affiliated with the Masonic lodge, 
the A. O. U. W., and several other lodges. 
He is achieving a good success in his present 
enterprise, is a genial whole-souled man and 
has won many friends in Montana. 

Many men have boasted of numerous trips 
across the continent in the days of “Forty- 
nine” and those following, but, perhaps, few 
men, if any in the United States can be found, 
who have actually walked from the Pacific 
coast to the Mississippi river. It certainly is 
a feat worthy of notice. 


HENRY CHAPMAN is one of Mon¬ 
tana’s pioneers and his experiences in detail 
would form a very interesting chapter in the 
history of the state. His father was a pioneer 
before him in the new and wild west, and there¬ 
fore all the days Mr. Chapman has so far spent 
have been more or less in pioneer work and 
experiences. Born in Douglas county,- Ore¬ 
gon, October 25, 1855, lie has never been 
east of Wyoming Territory and is a warm ad¬ 
mirer of the west with its boundless resources. 
His father, Addison B. Chapman, drove a team 
from Iowa to Oregon in 1854 and died in the 
latter territory in 1865. He had married Su¬ 
san Shoey, who died in Red Lodge September 
9, 1905, aged eighty. Henry is the second in 
a family of five children, all of whom now re¬ 
side in Montana. His education was received 
in his native country and as early as seventeen 
he stepped from the parental home to try his 
fortune in the famous Klamath country. For 
one year he was at Fort Klamath, when he 
returned home and a year later he went to 
Fort Harney, engaging in the cattle business. 
His labors were bestowed there until 1881, in 
which year he went from Oregon to Wyo¬ 
ming Territory, still conducting the cattle and 











504 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


sheep industry. He ranged his stock over into 
Montana considerably and was one of the first 
to drive a wagon through the country where 
he now resides, on Redlodge creek, ten miles 
west from Roberts. The country was then 
occupied by the Indians, whose reservations 
occupied most of it. His headquarters re¬ 
mained in Wyoming until. 1892, when he set¬ 
tled on his present place, it having recently 
been thrown open from the reservation. 

In November, 1896, Mr. Chapman married 
Miss Carrie E. Clark, a native of Unity, 
Maine, and who came west to join her brother, 
Elisha, who owned a ranch in the Judith Basin. 
One child has been the fruit of this union, 
Andye Leon, born January 22, 1899. On Oc¬ 
tober 15, 1905, while Mr. Chapman was ab¬ 
sent from home on business, this son sickened 
and died very suddenly and no news of the 
sad event reached him until his arrival home. 
This was a terrible blow and a deep grief to 
his home. 

Mr. Chapman has never affiliated him¬ 
self with fraternal orders, and although he 
takes the interest in political matters that be¬ 
comes the loyal citizen, he is not a partisan, 
nor does he seek emoluments of office. His 
principles are Republican and he is counted 
one of the substantial men. Mr. Chapman re¬ 
marks that the first winter in the country was 
spent in camp with his brother and J. R. 
Weaver on the Stinking Water, and they 
devoted their time to hunting elk. So 
plentiful were those animals then that 
it was no uncommon sight >to observd 
bands numbering from five to ten hundred 
head. Often the day’s count of game was fif¬ 
teen head apiece. Their nearest postoffice was 
Absarokee. eighty miles distant, and Red 
Lodge and the surrounding towns were not 
even thought of. For a portion of his time, 
Mr. Chapman also raised cattle in the Mis¬ 
souri valley. After coming to this section, 
where he is now located, he has given atten¬ 
tion to stock raising and farming and has 


some fine bred animals at the present time. His 
horses are considered some of the choicest in 
this portion of the west. Although Montana 
is still far from having her resources all devel¬ 
oped, still there is such a wonderful change in 
the advancement of settlement and enterprise 
since Mr. Chapman came that he is the witness 
of some of the most rapid of Montana’s 
thrifty growth and has had a good part in for¬ 
warding the same, as his labors as path finder 
and then as one who opened the wild by sub¬ 
stantial settlement have mingled with the ef¬ 
forts of pioneers who have in whole accom¬ 
plished the very pleasing results that now con¬ 
front the eye and senses everywhere in Mon¬ 
tana. 


JAMES N. RANDALL, familiarly 
known as “Pretty Dick,” resides twelve miles 
down the river from Gardiner and follows 
ranching. He was born in Birmingham, 
Iowa, June 16, 1866. His father, James J. 
Randall, was born in Bellefontaine. Ohio, in 
August, 1833, and followed general merchan¬ 
dising. His father, James Randall, the grand¬ 
father of our subject, was born in Indiana. 
The mother of James N. Randall was, in 
maiden life, Adeline E. Marquis, a native of 
Bellefontaine, Ohio, and born in March, 1835. 
She was the mother o.f thirteen children, nine 
boys and four girls, seven of whom are still 
living, our subject being the fifth child in order 
of birth. After attending the public schools 
until about thirteen, Mr. Randall started out 
in life for himself. He began work in a meat 
market in Ottumwa, Iowa, and continued there 
five years. Then he went to Minneapolis, 
Minnesota, and worked in a spice factory for 
a year. After that, he headed for Montana 
and in October, 1883, arrived here and at once 
took up work on a cattle ranch. For two years 
he rode the rangeland then moved to the upper 
Yellowstone and drove stage in the Park until 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


505 


1889. In February, 1898, he located his pres¬ 
ent ranch and since that time has given his 
attention mostly to general farming. Since 
1889, however, in addition to the other work 
mentioned, Mr. Randall has made a special 
business of guiding hunting and touring par¬ 
ties through the Rockies and is very familiar 
with all of the surrounding country. Every 
year he takes out a large English party, his 
reputation having become so well known, and 
he guides them to the best places for hunting 
and seeing the country. Year before last, they 
were successful in slaying some wild buffaloes, 
something that has not been done for many 
years heretofore. 

On October 25, 1892, Mr. Randall mar¬ 
ried Dora A. Roseborough, who was born in 
Kansas, November 17, 1870. Her father, Lo¬ 
gan Roseborough, was born in May, 1847, 
and followed merchandising and farming. He 
married Susan Fitzgerald, who was born in 
Iowa in May, 1847. They were the parents 
of ten children, Mrs. Randall being the second 
one born. Mr. and Mrs. Randall have two 
children, Leslie W., born September 29, 
1893, and Helen E., born June 30, 1897. 

Mr. and Mrs. Randall are members of the 
Presbyterian church, while in politics, he is a 
Republican. Owing to the fact that Mr. Ran¬ 
dall has been on the frontier the larger portion 
of his life and has had vast experience in hunt¬ 
ing, prospecting, and so forth, he has encoun¬ 
tered many thrilling experiences and is a very 
interesting talker. 


SELLECK M. FITZGERALD, a pioneer 
of the west since 1863, with an active life 
crowded full of various experiences from Col¬ 
orado to the British Columbia line, the subject 
of this article, is certainly to be mentioned as 
a genuine path finder and frontiersman. He is 
now residing on a fine ranch, two miles north 
east of Gardiner. His birth occurred April 


24, 1840, in Van Buren county, Iowa, his 
father being Ambrose Fitzgerald, who was 
born in 1800 near Richmond, Virginia. He 
followed farming and married Mary A. Long- 
well, born in Ohio in 1812. It is of great in¬ 
terest that her parents both lived until they 
were one hundred and three years of age. Af¬ 
ter receiving a common school education in 
Iowa, Mr. Fitzgerald gave his attention to 
general work until 1863, when he started out 
for himself, becoming captain of a train that 
headed across the plains for California. It 
is supposed that he is the youngest man who 
ever held that responsible position. They ar¬ 
rived in Cahfornia in due time without hav¬ 
ing had any serious trouble with Indians or 
accidents on the way and Mr. Fitzgerald 
rented a farm. Owing to the terrible drouths 
of that year, he lost everything and in Novem¬ 
ber of 1864, he went to southern Oregon and 
engaged in the stock business. He was very 
successful in this venture and in 1872 drove 
his stock to eastern Oregon. The next year 
he took them through the mountains to Mon¬ 
tana, locating on the upper Yellowstone, and 
for over twenty years he has been in this val¬ 
ley. For sixteen years, he conducted a hotel 
in Gardiner and is today considered one of the 
well-to-do men of this part of the country. 

On the 12th day of June, 1863, at Fort 
Laramie, while they were crossing the plains, 
occurred the marriage of Selleck M. Fitzger¬ 
ald and Mary A. Brown, a romantic wedding, 
and the fruit of the marriage should thor¬ 
oughly gratify even President Roosevelt, for 
they have become the parents of thirteen chil¬ 
dren. Mrs. Fitzgerald was the daughter of 
Ransom Brown, a native of Virginia, who 
married Sarah Cobb, a native of South Caro¬ 
lina. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Fitz¬ 
gerald are enumerated as follows: Ambrose, 
March 13, 1864; Ransom, July 17, 1865; 

Henry B., August 4, 1866; Eliza J., January 
2, 1868; Mary M., January 18, 1869; Eva S., 
August 21, 1871; Selleck M., August 3, 1872; 










5°6 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


Ida B., February 18, 1874; Ella E., May 23, 
1875; Emma M., October 9, 1876; Jessie M., 
May 8, 1878; Pearl E., June 1, 1881; Babe, 
March 7, 1883. Nine of the children are still 
living and those left are all married. 

Mr. Fitzgerald is a good stanch Republican 
and a member of the Elks. He takes great 
interest in educational matters and has been 
chairman of the board of education since its 
organization. A more hearty, energetic and 
hospitable person than Mr. Fitzgerald is hard 
to find in this section of Montana and he 
numbers his friends in a very wide circle. 


REV. THOMAS F. STACK merits rec¬ 
ognition among others of the earnest workers 
in the priesthood of the Roman Catholic 
church in Montana. Thomas Francis Stack 
is a native of Listowel. County Kerry, Ire¬ 
land, being born on October 5, 1874, the son 
of Thomas and Honora (Donoghue) Stack, 
both of whom were likewise born in old 
County Kerry and still reside in the Emerald 
Isle, the father being a merchant. For fifteen 
years a resident of the United States, Thomas 
Stack eventually returned to his native land, 
and of his seven children Thomas F. was the 
second. 

Father Stack received preliminary educa¬ 
tion in the national and parochial schools and 
thereafter entered St. MichaeL’s college, a pre¬ 
paratory institution, where he completed a three 
years’ course, graduating in the class of 1893. 
The same year he matriculated in All Hallows 
College, Dublin, where he devoted especial at¬ 
tention to philosophy, in which connection he 
won distinction. In this well-equipped insti¬ 
tution, governed by the Vincentian Fathers, 
he studied for five years. Coming to America 
in 1898, he completed his studies at St. Bona- 
venture’s college, Allegany, New York. Two 
years later, Father Stack .had finished the pre¬ 
scribed course, and he was there ordained to 


the priesthood on July 16, 1900, by Archbishop 
Quigley, the present archbishop of Chicago. 

Forthwith, Father Stack started for Mon¬ 
tana, arriving in Helena August 15, and re¬ 
porting to Bishop Brondel. At the expiration 
of ten days he was assigned as assistant priest 
at Deer Lodge, where he remained six months, 
and on March 15, 1901, he became assistant 
priest under Father Callahan, at the Church 
of the Sacred Heart in Butte. Here he en¬ 
tered with enthusiasm and devotion upon his 
duties, proving an able coadjutor to Father 
Callahan and striving to further in every pos¬ 
sible way the material and the spiritual welfare 
of his parish. In December of the same year 
Father Stack was transferred to St. Agnes’ 
church, Red Lodge, where he labored,till De¬ 
cember, 1904, when he was appointed to Bil¬ 
lings. His work here is well known and for a 
further account of the progress of the church 
in Billings with its early history, we refer the 
reader to the general history of Yellowstone 
county in this volume. 


ERVIN GRANT BLAIR, one of the pio¬ 
neer stockmen of northern Park county, re¬ 
sides eight miles north of Meyersburg, where 
he owns over twelve thousand acres of land, 
which he devotes, to general farming and stock 
raising. His flocks consist of eleven thousand 
sheep, while he owns also some cattle and 
about seventy-five horses. Mr. Blair was the 
first man to breed Hampshire sheep in this 
part, of the state and his flocks are all fine ani¬ 
mals. He owns two splendid thoroughbred 
Norman stallions and takes a great interest in 
horse breeding, being a thorough horseman 
and admirer of excellent animals. In addition 
he buys wild horses and breaks and sells them, 
thus dealing in as well as raising these animals. 

Ervin G. Blair was born in McConnells- 
burg, Pennsylvania, August 11, 1865, being 
the son of James A. and Mary E. (Holman) 













BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


507 


Blair. The father was born in Harrisburg. 
Pennsylvania, in 1827 and died at Aurora, 
Illinois, January 5, 1900. His father was 
Robert Blair, of English extraction, who mar¬ 
ried Elinda Ervin, of Scotch-Irish ancestors. 
Ervin G. received his education in the common 
schools, completing the same in Jennings Sem¬ 
inary, Aurora, Illinois. He was eighteen years 
of age when he came to Montana and his first 
labor here was by the month on a stock farm. 
Having fully mastered the methods of stock 
breeding and raising in this section of the 
country, in 1^87, he homesteaded a place in the 
northern part of Gallatin county and took up 
stock raising for himself in company with his 
brother, James E. Blair. They continued suc¬ 
cessfully together until the spring of 1893, 
when his brother died. Mr. Blair still followed 
the business on the old homestead until 1898, 
when he purchased the fine estate he now 
owns. He still owns half of the homestead 
and since coming to this larger place, he has 
made extensive improvements and increased 
his holdings in stock. Mr. Blair is a man who 
takes great delight in his labors and being suc¬ 
cessful has done much to forward the stock 
interests of this part of Montana by purchas¬ 
ing some of the best animals. 

On July 11, 1894, Mr. Blair married Rus- 
sie A. Welliver, the' daughter of Russell and 
Dell Welliver. Her father was born in Penn¬ 
sylvania and her mother in Illinois, while her 
native place is Orion, Illinois, and the date o*f 
her birth June 8, 1872. Mr. and Mrs. Blair 
have three children, Erwin W., born July 19, 
1896; Marion I., born May 16, 1898, and 
James Roscoe, born February 25, 1906. 

Mr. Blair takes an interest in politics, be¬ 
ing allied with the Republican party, is a mem¬ 
ber of the Elks, the Yeomen, the Masons and 
was elected a member of the board of educa¬ 
tion in Livingston. He is a man of energy, 
wisdom and force and is one of the builders ot 
this part of the country. He is appreciated 


among his fellows and the success he has won 
stamps him the man he is. 

Mr. Blair was elected commissioner of 
Park county for four years in 1906 and is 
serving with general satisfaction. He is di¬ 
rector in a co-operative grocery in Livingston, 
which is doing well. In the fall of 1906 he 
incorporated his ranch holdings under the 
name of Blair-Penwell Ranch Company, with 
a capital of one hundred and seventy-five 
thousand dollars,' all but sixty-five thousand 
being paid up, and he is president and general 
manager of the concern. He has a splendid 
residence in Livingston and in the summer en¬ 
joys the freedom of the ranch. 

Mr. Blair’s father was born in Fulton 
county, Pennsylvania, March 20, 1830. His 
mother, Mary Elmira Holman, in maiden life, 
was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, 
and died near Aurora, Illinois, December 18, 
1871, aged thirty-eight, having been the 
mother of eight children. Her parents, Eli 
and Harriet (Hammett) Holman, moved 
from Fulton county, Pennsylvania, to DeKalb 
county, Indiana, in 1864, where they both 
died, he September 25, 1877, and she June 23, 
1896. 


MAX GRUEL is known as one of the best 
informed men on the science of agriculture in 
this portion of the state of Montana, and even 
a cursory glance-at his career and his studies 
is sufficient to indicate that the experience he 
has had justifies the statement. Born of that 
substantial and thrifty race that has left its im¬ 
press the world around, Mr. Gruel inherits the 
same substantial qualities and is a citizen of 
which our state may-be proud. His home is 
eight miles west from Joliet, on Redlodge 
creek, and there he owns a quarter section, 
sixty acres of which are under ditch and very 
productive. He raises general crops, but is 
now turning his attention to sugar beet pro¬ 
duction, beginning with ten acres this year. 







5°8 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


Taking up more in detail the life of Mr. 
Gruel, we note first that he was born in Wur- 
temberg, Germany, on December 14, 1871. 

His father, Johannes Gruel, was born in 1830, 
took honors in his graduation from the medi¬ 
cal university and for forty-two years he was 
a steady practitioner of medicine in his home 
town, his death occurring in 1900. He mar¬ 
ried Christania L. Wanner, who is still living 
at the advanced age of seventy-one, having 
been born October 8, 1835. Our subject was 
the sixth of a family of seven children, three 
of whom, Charles, Louis and himself are re¬ 
siding on Redlodge creek. The rest of the 
family is in Germany. Having finished the 
public school course, our subject then pressed 
on into the Agricultural college at Hohenheim, 
whose reputation is so excellent that students 
from all over the world are matriculated to 
gain its advantages. He completed the estab¬ 
lished course and soon after that date he was 
asked to accept the oversight of a large estate, 
which position he held for two years. Prior 
to his college course, he had made such study 
of scientific farming and had held oversight 
on several large farms. Also, for two and 
one-half years he was connected with a sani¬ 
tary dairy, which supplied milk for invalids and 
infants. In January, 1898, Mr. Gruel left 
Germany for Argentine Republic, and as soon 
as he had mastered the language he took the 
oversight of a large plantation, his address 
there being Estancia Sophia. From there he 
finally came to Montana and he arrived via 
New York in June, 1899. For two years sub¬ 
sequent to his arrival, he was with his brother, 
Charles, and then he purchased the quarter 
section where he now resides. His first inten¬ 
tion was to open a stock ranch, but since then 
he has decided to enter the field of beet pro¬ 
duction, as stated. He has fifty head of fine 
Hereford cattle, besides other stock, and is 
one of the well-to-do men of the community. 
Politically, Mr. Gruel is independent, while in 
church relation he is Lutheran. 


SAM. P. TUNNELL, a native of Haw¬ 
kins, Tennessee, born February 25, 1832, at 
present resides on a valuable ranch two and 
one-half miles from Fishtail, ascending the 
creek. His father, John, also born in Tennes¬ 
see, in the early forties went to Sullivan coun¬ 
ty, Missouri, where he remained until his 
death. His mother, Elizabeth (Charles) Tun¬ 
ned, was a Tennesseean by birth, dying in 
Missouri. 

During the early boyhood of our subject 
schools were scarce, and it was a limited edu¬ 
cation he received at that time. At the age 
of fourteen he accompanied his parents to 
Missouri, but in 1861 crossed the plains with 
ox teams to Lassen county, California, where 
he found employment on farms and at driv¬ 
ing stages. About the year 1870 he went to 
Cherry Creek, Nevada, and joined a number 
of the various stampedes to several mining 
camps, and among others, some camps in 
Utah. He came to the Gallatin valley, Mon¬ 
tana, in 1883, and the following fall to the vi¬ 
cinity of Livingston. It was in 1904 that he 
removed to his present eligible location. 

In 1859 Mr. Tunnell was united in mar¬ 
riage to Mary J. Vencill, a native of Virginia. 
With her parents she went to Missouri at an 
early day, coming west with our subject, and 
dying in Nevada. Four, children have been 
born to Mr. and Mrs. Tunnell: R. W., born 
in Missouri, and now on a ranch in Alberta; 
Stresley, born in California, where he accom¬ 
panied his father in his various mining expe¬ 
ditions, and attended school mainly at Cherry 
Creek. He attended the Brigham Young 
Academy one term, where he had as school 
fellow the notable Reed Smoot, now United 
States Senator; Mary F., wife of Woodson 
Hodges; Laura B., wife of William P. Dut¬ 
ton. The fall of the Custer massacre on the 
Little Big Horn, our subject left Cherry Creek, 
Nevada, for the Black Hills, accompanied by 
three other persons. Indians at that period 
were quite hostile, and about a dozen men 








BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


509 


who were traveling in a party ahead- of our 
subject were killed by the red skins. On this 
trip he endured many hardships, and at one 
time he was compelled to dig a hole in the 
ground in which to sleep on account of a 
serious wind storm. From the time he left 
Missouri until his return it was forty-four 
years. 


RUDOLPH SUMER, in whose house 
the Etna postoffice is kept, his wife being the 
postmistress, is one of the substantial and 
wealthy residents of the Tongue valley in 
Custer county and has won his holdings and 
his position by dint of hard and careful labor 
and by a walk that commends him to the fel¬ 
lowship and good will of all who know him. 
He was born in Austria, near the line of Ger¬ 
many and Switzerland, on October 2, 1868, 
being the son of Rudolph and Kate (Frich) 
Sumer, natives of the same locality where this 
son was born. The father followed farming 
and lumbering and died in his home place in 
1905. Our subject was educated and grew 
up in the locality of his birth and received 
good training in both the German and French. 
Until he was twenty-two he was engaged with 
his father and then he decided to try his for¬ 
tune in the United States and soon was in 
Portland, Oregon. There he remained, work¬ 
ing for wages, for two years when he came 
on to Custer county and for four years con¬ 
tinued to work for wages. Then he found 
that by economy he had laid by enough to 
warrant his investment in land and he bought 
a portion of the estate he now owns. From 
time to time he has added to the land by pur¬ 
chase until he now has four full sections and 
is considered one of the well-to-do men of the 
valley. From the first he went to stock rais¬ 
ing and has continued steadily at this with 
good success from the start. He has his place 
well improved and is a thrifty, progressive 


and intelligent stockman and farmer of the 
county. His stock consists of cattle and horses 
and he has fine animals. . 

In 1897 Mr. Sumer married Miss Sarah 
Walters, the daughter of Nicholas Walters, a 
native of Switzerland, whence she came with 
her parents, also natives of Switzerland, to 
America when she was a small child. Mrs. 
Sumer has four brothers and two sisters: 
Reno, Leo, William, Fred, Clara, who is a 
teacher in the schools of Custer county, and 
Edith. Mr-. Sumer has brothers and sisters 
mentioned as follows: John, Joseph, Jack, 
Albert, Charlie, Kate, Mary and Rose, all in 
Austria. To Mr. and Mrs. Sumer three chil¬ 
dren have been born: William Rudolph, at 
Miles City, on May 7, 1899; Walter, at Miles 
City, on March 29, 1901; and Walton Leo, 
on the ranch, July 12, 1903. 

Mr. Sumer started in this country without 
capital, save two good strong hands and a 
determined spirit, and the large holding of 
property he now has to show represents his in¬ 
dividual labor and wisdom in business. His 
wife has long been postmistress at Etna, now 
over five years, and they are people of excel¬ 
lent standing with hosts of friends. 


A. W. McINTOSH. Nearly four score 
years ago, in New York state, was born to 
William and Helen (McKinzie) McIntosh, a 
son, who is now the well known veteran of 
western explorations and a substantial citizen 
of Rosebud county, whose name is mentioned 
above. Mr. McIntosh traveled from the At¬ 
lantic to the Pacific. Came west in the early 
days and has had a life on the frontier which 
would be interesting to any lover of history. 
While he has been occupied in all the various 
lines of activity that are generaly found on 
the frontier and is thoroughly acquainted with 
pioneer life and pioneer experiences in every 
particular, still he more especially gave his 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


5io 


time and efforts to mining. Like many others, 
who have assisted materially in opening the 
west, Mr. McIntosh was very much fascinated 
by the search for hidden treasure. He has 
participated in almost every one of the famous 
early day mining rushes and is intimately ac¬ 
quainted with the country from the Fraser 
river to the Rio Grande. It was 1859 when he 
crossed the isthmus and landed in San Fran¬ 
cisco. California, Nevada, Utah, New Mex¬ 
ico, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and British Co¬ 
lumbia besides many other places have been 
visited by him in his search for nature s treas¬ 
ures. He was in southern Idaho then came 
to Virginia City in 1864 and the same year re¬ 
turned to Lewiston, Idaho. Thence he came 
to Florence and a year later to Walla Walla, 
and in 1865 landed again in Montana. After 
that he spent a decade mining in Utah and 
various other portions of the southwest, and 
afterward in 1881 he settled on a ranch where 
he now resides, some eleven miles up the Rose¬ 
bud from Forsyth. Mr. McIntosh was one of 
the aggressive, fearless men in mining and al¬ 
ways made plenty of money but as his plans 
were great, he had the courage to execute 
them, so it was always spent again in further¬ 
ing large mining schemes. As the country 
was exceedingly new when Mr. McIntosh 
came here he had an opportunity of making 
an excellent selection and showed his wisdom 
in doing so, as his large estate is now one of 
the choicest in Rosebud county. Our subject’s 
father was a native of Scotland and came to 
New York when a young man and was em¬ 
ployed on a canal. Later, he engaged in farm¬ 
ing and removed to Michigan, which was his 
home place until his death. His wife was born 
in the Genesee valley, New- York, her father 
being one of the very earliest settlers there and 
a prominent and wealthy man. Their son, the 
immediate subject of this article, was born 
July 5, 1829, and received his education in 
New York, Michigan arid Ohio. 

In 1872 Mr. McIntosh married Barbara 


Jamison, a native of Scotland, who came to 
the United States with her parents when 
young. To this union the following children 
have been born: Alexander, at home; Mary, 
the 'wife of William Campbell; James and 
Lucy B. 


HARRY BRICE BLAIR, one of the 
hustling business men of Park county has 
achieved success in several lines of enterprise, 
each one of which would have been a com¬ 
mendable undertaking of the ordinary busi¬ 
ness man. He gives his attention mostly to 
general farming, sheep raising, his headquar¬ 
ters being at the Wall Rock ranch nine 
miles west from Meyersburg. This estate 
consists of five thousand and eight hundred 
acres and was purchased by Mr. Blair in 1903. 
His sheep number about six thousand head, 
while he has some other stock. He is mak¬ 
ing an ideal sheep ranch, supplying all im¬ 
provements needed in this industry and he has 
fine flocks. 

Harry Brice Blair was born at Eola, Illi¬ 
nois, September 15, 1868. His parents are 
mentioned in the biography of his brother, 
Ervin G. Blair, in another portion of this work. 
Having completed his education at Aurora. 
Illinois, Mr. Blair came west to Montana when 
seventeen and settled in the Smith River Val¬ 
ley. In 1890 he homesteaded on a tributary 
of sixteen-mile creek and went into the cattle 
business, which he followed for three years. 
Then he sold his cattle and began raising 
sheep. He continued in this business on Six¬ 
teen-mile creek until purchasing the land above 
mentioned, when he transferred his head¬ 
quarters to the Wall Rock farm and is making 
extensive improvements. 

On February 17, 1892, Mr. Blair married 
Thirza Van Doren, whose parents, John W. 
and Harriett (Wagner) Van Doren, are men¬ 
tioned elsewhere in this volume. Two chil- 










BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


dren are the fruit of this union: Mildred H., 
born March 22, 1894; and James Halsey, born 
May 28, 1898. 

Mr. Blair is an active Republican and be¬ 
longs also to the order of the Elks. In com¬ 
pany with his brother and his wife’s father 
Mr. Blair owns the Shields River Telephone 
line which has been extended from Livingston 
to Dorsey and is now put in connection with 
the Bell system. It is a great benefit to the 
setflers of the valley and is a promising re¬ 
munerative enterprise. That Mr. Blair has 
made a splendid success in the sheep business, 
has become one of the leading real estate own¬ 
ers of the county and by his energy and skill 
has assisted materially in placing the telephone 
system in a good running order indicates him 
to be a man of.no mean business talent, and, 
presaging the future by the past, we are safe 
in saying that many bright victories lie in his 
path. He is a genial man and has made many 
friends and has a standing of the best through¬ 
out the county. 


DEFOREST W. BIGELOW, one of the 
early western pioneers and one who has had 
a large share in the making of western his¬ 
tory, is at present a prosperous ranchman in 
the Yellowstone valley, residing two and one- 
half miles from Fishtail up the creek. He 
was born in Rock Island, Illinois, May 22, 
1854. 

His father, James R., in the opinion of our 
subject, was born in the western part of the 
state of New York. By occupation he was a 
steamboat captain and pilot; first on the lakes, 
and subsequently on the Mississippi river. In 
1859 he crossed the plains to Denver, Colo¬ 
rado, remaining, however, only a short period, 
going thence to California Gulch, and after¬ 
ward visiting other places. Returning to 
Denver he engaged in placer mining. In the 
spring of 1862 he went to East Bannock, 


5ii 


Montana, with a pack train of which he was 
wagon master. The same year Alder Gulch 
was discovered by William Fairweather who 
came to Bannock after supplies. His discov¬ 
ery he attempted to keep a secret, but Mr. 
Bigelow discovered it, and, in company with 
Mr. Fairweather, and his son, he started for 
Alder Gulch. Mr. Bigelow secured a claim. 
No. 6, below Discovery and Summit claims. 
At that time our subject was too young to file 
on a claim. They all remained there until 
1864, going thence to Last Chance Gulch 
(now Helena). Then Mr. Bigelow and his 
son divided their time between Alder and Last 
Chance Gulch. Finally Mr. Bigelow sold out 
his Summit claim for more dust than his son 
could lift. The father then left his son at 
school in Alder Gulch. At that time subject 
was thirteen years of age. His father, when 
loading the dust on to an animal, in two sacks, 
asked the subject to hold one of the sacks 
which he was unable to do, and he was a 
strong boy. 

In 1865 Mr. Bigelow started for the Koo¬ 
tenai mines, which had recently been discov¬ 
ered. He secured claim No. 3, and this he 
soon disposed of for another large load of 
“dust.” Then ensued a rush for Blackfoot 
City, and he was swept along with the tide, 
and took the claim where he was subsequently 
murdered. It was supposed that he had been 
killed by a man who had served as foreman of 
his mine. At that period Captain Williams, 
X. Beidler, Colonel S. F. Sanders, Neil 
Howey and John Featherstone were the prin¬ 
cipal leaders of the vigilantes. They put 
forth every effort to discover the murderer 
and apprehend him, and it was supposed aft¬ 
erward that the man who had killed Mr. Bige¬ 
low had been subsequently murdered by In¬ 
dians. At the time of the killing of Mr. Bige¬ 
low a large number of the population of Mon¬ 
tana were “road agents,” and a man never 
knew friends from foes. Following the mur¬ 
der of Bigelow, Colonel Sanders made a thrill- 






512 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


ling speech, and assured the people that unless 
something was done immediately all the law- 
abiding people would be killed. 

The mother of our subject, Maria (Fos¬ 
ter) Bigelow, went to Denver'with her hus¬ 
band where she died. 

To Denver our subject went with his 
mother the year following the arrival in that 
city of his father. He accompanied the latter 
to Alder Gulch, and other mining camps, and 
remained with him until his father went to 
Kootenai. While he was in Nevada City he 
witnessed the lynching by vigilantes of George 
Ives, the first one executed by lynch law in 
Montana. Ives exhibited a great deal of 
bravado, and so sure was he that he would 
not be hanged that he came forth from his 
cabin smoking a cigar. But the vigilantes 
were in deadly earnest, and upon the appear¬ 
ance of Ives each one drew a bead on the 
spectators and sympathisers with Ives who 
were present, and thus held them motionless 
until the hanging was over. Following the 
death of his father our subject was taken in 
charge by the vigilantes, and wanted for noth¬ 
ing. They placed him in school and paid all 
necessary expenses. The men foremost in 
caring for him were X. Beidler, Captain Wil¬ 
liams and Neil Howey. 

In i860 our subject left school and joined 
the Salmon River stampede. The following 
fall he returned to Helena, and soon after 
other mining camps were discovered. In 1869 
he went to White Pine, Nevada, and here he 
joined the Pioche stampede, returning in 1876 
to Helena, where he remained until the dis¬ 
covery of Penobscot, Wippoorwill and Marys¬ 
ville mines. In 1880 Mr. Bigelow removed 
to a ranch in Prickly Pear Valley, where he 
continued to live until 1883, returning thence 
to Helena. After five years passed on Crow 
Creek, Montana, he removed to Great Falls 
and acted as foreman in the construction of 
the Great Falls smelter. He was manager of 
the smelter for a while, and also conducted 


the Cascade hotel. To Boulder, Montana, he 
came in 1890, and the following year he went 
to the Yellowstone National Park as overseer 
of work. He came to his present location in 
1893, and October 25th, of that year, secured 
a homestead where he has since remained. 

In 1873 Mr. Bigelow was married to Car¬ 
rie E. Howe, born at Ogden, Utah. Her par¬ 
ents were Joseph and Caroline (Jelly) Howe. 
She is the mother of nine children: Mrs. 
James Dwyer; Mrs. Lawrence Lynch; Mrs. 
A. F. Ketchens; Mrs. C. B. Scott; Lily, a 
baby; James R., Edward, Harry and Daniel. 


JOHN W. VANHOUTEN, a prominent 
builder and contractor, and the descendant of 
a prominent family, at present resides at Bil¬ 
lings. He was born in Taylor county, Iowa, 
March 27, 1862. He is the son of Peter and 
Sallie Ann (Jenks) VanHouten, the former a 
native of New Jersey, borp March 5, 1839; 
the latter ,of Harrison county, Pennsylvania, 
born March 23, 1841. Peter VanHouten was 
a mechanic and moved to New York with his 
parents when a child and again to Hancock 
county, Illinois. They left the latter state in 
1845, the y ear that the Mormons made their 
exodus to Utah. He went to Missouri where 
he remained a few years, going thence to Iowa. 
It was in 1891 that he first came to Billings, 
where he still resides. His father, John W., 
grandfather of our subject, was born in New 
York City. Removing to New Jersey he re¬ 
turned to Gotham, and subsequently removed 
to Illinois. Here he joined the Mormon 
church, but later became convinced that he had 
not pursued the right course, and left them. He 
was of Holland ancestry, of the old Anneke 
Jans family, and their old estate is now in the 
heart of New York City. It has never been 
settled, and at present there are three hundred 
and fifty claimant heirs. 

The father of our subject’s mother was an 







JOSEPH E. MASON 


JOHN W. VAN HOUTEN 


WILLIAM E. DICKSON 


FRANK N. HERMAN 










BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


5i3 


Englishman. She moved to Iowa with her 
parents at an early day, but was called from 
earth at Billings, June 16, 1895. 

Our subject was educated in the common 
schools of Iowa and was reared on a farm. He 
learned the trade of a carpenter, but on arriv¬ 
ing at maturity he farmed for a period of five 
years in Iowa. In 1880 he removed to Color¬ 
ado, but returned to* Iowa and in 1892 went to 
Nebraska, coming to Billings in 1896. Since 
his arrival here he has erected about three hun¬ 
dred buildings, and has contributed much 
toward beautifying the town. 

In 1887 he was married to Estella A. Cal¬ 
kin, born in Hancock County, Illinois, August 
7, 1865. She is the daughter of Henry K. and 
Mary E. (Gillespie) Calkin, the former a na¬ 
tive of Pennsylvania; the latter of Wheeling, 
Virginia, and of Irish ancestry. Henry K. 
Calkin was an early settler of Hancock county, 
Illinois, having gone there with his parents in 
1839. In 1882 he moved to Taylor county, 
Iowa, where he at present resides. 

Mr. and Mrs. VanHouten have six chil¬ 
dren: Leo. H., Ray M., (high school), Lloyd 
C., Daphne, Leveta and Elton J. 

Our subject belongs to the Highlanders 
and the Mountaineers. 


JOSEPH E. MASON, one of the pro¬ 
gressive, energetic and enterprising citizens of 
the far famed Yellowstone valley, resides ten 
miles southwest of Billings. He is a native of 
the Empire State, having been born in Syra¬ 
cuse May 16, 1865. His father, Augustine, 
was born in Montreal, Canada, April 28, 1830. 
He secured an excellent education and in 1855 
removed to New York, where he engaged for 
a while in boating on the Erie canal. This 
avocation he followed for seven years, but in 
the spring of 1866 he started west 
for California with his family, but on 
arriving within the boundaries of Colo- 
33 


rado he was so much pleased with the 
climate and surroundings that he final¬ 
ly settled at Fort Collins. There he 
remained until 1891, going thence to Fort 
Laramie, Wyoming, where he remained until 
his death, which occurred April 4, 1901. 
While in the west he gave his attention prin¬ 
cipally to farming and stock raising. He was 
quite wealthy and a representative man in the 
community in which he resided. His 
father, Frank Mason, came of a well-to-do 
French family, going to Canada when he was 
twelve years of age. He gained considerable 
property in Canada, becoming a capitalist of 
note. Politically he was a leader of promin¬ 
ence. He died in Canada. 

The paternal great grandfather was Lord 
Messier, born in France. The family name in 
France was Messier, but was subsequently 
changed to Mason, in Canada. 

The mother of our subject, Charlotte M. 
Beebe, was a native of New York where she 
was reared and educated, her people being 
among the early settlers of that state. She 
died November n, 1896. 

The elementary education of our subject 
was secured in the public schools of Fort Col¬ 
lins, Colorado. In 1887 he went to Laramie 
county, Wyoming, where he engaged in the 
business of stock raising, going, in 1894, to 
Gering, Nebraska, where he passed two years, 
going thence to Alliance, same state, and re¬ 
maining there until 1900, when he came to the 
Yellowstone Valley. He had many teams and 
was in the business of freighting for about one 
year. Subsequently he worked for Yegen 
Brothers, at Billings, about seven months. 
April 2, 1902, he came to his present location, 
and April 1, 1903, he entered into partnership 
with Charles Spear, a banker of Billings. To¬ 
gether they bought cattle which they “ran” 
until the fall of 1905, when they sold out. They 
also engaged in the breeding of horses, includ- 
in the Black Percherons. Their intention when 
opening the ranch was to convert it into a 









5H 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


blooded stock farm, and give especial atten¬ 
tion to raising fine horses and cattle, and feed 
sheep in the winter. Considerable attention 
has been paid by them to the poultry business. 

August 6, 1885, our subject was married 
to Carrie L. Hough, a native of Alabama. She 
died January 15, 1895.. January 28, 1896, 
Mr. Mason was united in marriage to Anna E. 
Ganser, born in Madison county, Nebraska, 
January 10, 1878. At the age of seven years 
she moved with her parents to western Ne¬ 
braska, where she was reared, educated and 
married. Her father William Ganser, was 
born near Berlin, Germany, coming with his 
parents to the United States when a child. He 
was reared in Dane county, Wisconsin. At the 
age of 29 he went to Nebraska, where he en¬ 
gaged in farming and stock raising. Her 
mother, Anna E. (Klasan) Ganser, was also 
a native of Wisconsin, where she was married. 

Mr. Mason has four children* by his first 
wife: Grace M., a student of the Billings High 
School; Roy A., at home with his father; 
Myrta, a school girl, and Joseph E., Jr., a 
school boy. 


WILLIAM E. DICKSON. The strength 
of the county or state is gauged by the sub¬ 
stantiality of her agriculturists and Custei 
county is greatly favored in that she has a class 
of intelligent, capable and progressive stock 
men and farmers who make the bone and sinew 
of the social life and are the solvers of all polit¬ 
ical questions. Among this number of stable 
men we are constrained to mention the gentle¬ 
man whose name is at the head of this article, 
and who has shown himself a man of ability 
in that he has achieved a splendid success in 
his endeavors in Custer county. 

Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, is the native place 
of William E.. and his boyhood days were 
spent in that busy center. January 9, 1864, 
was the date of his birth. His parents, John 


A. and Lucy (Bartley) Dickson, are natives 
of Pennsylvania and now dwell in Miles City, 
retired. The father’s parents were natives of 
Ireland and immigrants to the New World. 
He was reared on a farm, but after his mar¬ 
riage he removed to Pittsburg and engaged in 
the lumber business. In 1873, he came west 
to California, Missouri, and there took up 
farming until 1899, when he came on to Miles 
City. He was all through the Civil war, serv¬ 
ing in the Eighty-sixth Pennsylvania Volun¬ 
teer Infantry, in the army of the Potomac. Our 
subject was educated in the public schools of 
the places where his parents lived during his 
school days and in 1887 we find him in Las 
Animas, Colorado, and soon thereafter he en¬ 
gaged as a cowboy and also did much work 
with horses. Two years later he came on to 
Laramie, Wyoming, and was engaged with 
the P. J. Horse Company, owned by Stokes & 
Whitehouse. In 1891 he was in Buffalo and 
Sheridan and there remained until 1897, when 
he came to Custer county. So well pleased 
was he with this section of the northwest that 
he determined to locate and so sought out his 
present place, a farm of one hundred and sixty- 
five acres, and purchased it. He settled down 
to work and has fitted up and improved his 
place until he has one of the choicest farms 
on the Tongue river. His buildings are com¬ 
modious and substantial, his land is in a high 
state of cultivation and his entire estate bears 
the marks of a thrifty and wise man. 

In 1894 Mr. Dickson married Mrs. Arlena 
Thomas, the widow of the late George 
Thomas, and she is a native of Illinois. She 
came with her parents to Missouri and later 
with them to Montana. Her father, Israel 
Harris, has been engaged in stock raising. 
Mrs. Dickson had two children, Blanch, born 
March 14, 1893, and Mildred, August, 1897. 

Mr. Dickson takes an intelligent interest 
in political matters and school affairs and is 
always on the side of development and im¬ 
provement in all lines. 










BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


5i5 


FRANK N. HERMAN, one of the stock- 
men and ranchers on the Tongue river, resides 
about fourteen miles southwest from Miles 
City, and has a good home place and handles 
many horses. He was born in Norway, Feb¬ 
ruary 22, 1856, the son of Nelson and Anna 
(Johnson) Herman, both natives of Norway, 
and now living on their homestead in the vi¬ 
cinity of St. Peter, Minnesota, the place they 
took in i860, when that country was filled with 
Indians and the wilds were almost unbroken 
by settlers. The father is aged ninety-six. 
Owing to the fact that Frank N. was reared 
on the frontier where school privileges were 
not the best, he had little opportunity to gain 
an education, but he improved what he had and 
has constantly been a reader since so that today 
he is well posted on the important and perti¬ 
nent questions of the day. As early as four¬ 
teen he left the parental roof to seek life’s way 
for himself and about his first venture was to 
assist in driving a band of cattle from Minne¬ 
sota to the Red Cloud agency, Nebraska, for 
the Indians. For a decade thereafter he was 
variously employed in different sections of the 
west, as operating a stage from Miles City to 
Ashland, conducting a sawmill on. Little 
Pumpkin, and so forth. He purchased a ranch 
near Junction in early eighties, and thus we 
see that he had been saving his money in the 
years he had been for himself. The following 
year he came to the -vicinity of his present place 
and so well did he like this part of the country 
that he determined to locate. He secured the 
place where he now lives and embarked in rais¬ 
ing cattle and horses. Success followed him 
in his labors and he soon had bands of stock 
in various directions. Later Mr. Herman de¬ 
cided to confine his efforts to one line, so dis¬ 
posed of his cattle and handles horses mostly 
now. He has a good ranch and produces what 
is needed in his business for forage and grain 
and so forth. 

In 1900, Mr. Herman married Miss Ellen 


Perry, who died shortly after her marriage. 
Then occurred the marriage of Mr. Herman 
and Margaret Perry, a sister of his former 
wife. Mrs. Herman’s parents, James and 
Mary J. (Fries) Perry, were natives of Ire¬ 
land and Dutchess county, New York, respec¬ 
tively, and pioneered to Michigan in early 
days. Mrs. Herman’s brothers and sisters are 
John H., Eugene C., Lewis, James, Lucy, 
Edith and Eva. Mr. Herman has one brother, 
Ollie, and four sisters, Mary, Jane, Anneta 
and Josephine. The children born to our sub¬ 
ject and his wife are three: Gertrude E., born 
October 8, 1898; Frances E., April 8, 1893, 
and Gladys L., September 8, 1895. Mr. Her¬ 
man is always interested in the affairs of the 
county, state and nation and takes an active 
part in all campaigns and while he never seeks 
office, he is careful to study the principles of 
action so as to be able to judge intelligently of 
the issues. He has many friends and stands 
secure in the esteem and confidence of his 
fellows. 


HARVY A. CORBIN is one of the ca¬ 
pable and worthy men who have made Cus¬ 
ter county what she is today. Among the 
people of the county, Mr. Corbin has made 
hosts of friends by his upright walk and his 
fairness and wisdom. He is esteemed by all 
and his life has been such as merits the good 
will of those who know him. Engaged in 
ranching and stock raising, Mr. Corbin has 
displayed in his labors a steadiness and perse¬ 
verance that could but win success, and de¬ 
spite the set backs which uncontrollable cir¬ 
cumstances brought about to all, still he has 
so conserved his interests that he is comforta¬ 
bly fixed and has the satisfaction of knowing 
that he has wrought it out by his labor and 
skill. 

In far away Clinton county, New Yprk, 











biographical sketches. 


516 


on November 2, 1859, there was born to Asa 
P. and Elizabeth (Phinney) Corbin, a son, 
who is now the gentleman of whom we speak 
in this article. The parents were both natives 
of New York, and on both sides of the house 
Mr. Corbin is descended from old and promi¬ 
nent ancestry, who were connected with the 
destinies of the New World long before there 
was any United States and when the hard 
problem of getting a foothold in an unknown 
land was so hardly contested by the noble 
colonists who sought even these hardships 
rather than sacrifice their freedom of con¬ 
science. Referring more particularly to our sub¬ 
ject’s father, we note that he was born on No¬ 
vember 2, 1819, following farming and died 
when Harvy A. was nine years old. From 
the public schools of his native place our sub¬ 
ject was well educated and remained at home 
until he was twenty-one. At that time he 
came out to Detroit City, Minnesota, and went 
to work for his uncle who was sheriff of 
Becker county, Minnesota. In 1883 Mr. Cor¬ 
bin came on out to Billings and after working 
there for a short time, he returned to Miles 
City and engaged on a cattle ranch on the 
Tongue. By the time that one year had passed 
Mr. Corbin became firmly convinced that Cus¬ 
ter county was the place for location and so 
returned to New York and persuaded his 
mother and his sister and her husband to come 
out to the territory of Montana with him. 
Upon their arrival here they soon located in 
the Tongue valley and began stock raising. In 
this they prospered well until the winter of 
1886-87, when they lost practically all their 
stock. Then Mr. Corbin homesteaded where 
he now resides and bought more land until 
he had sufficient to make a first class ranch 
and again went to work in raising cattle and 
doing general ranching. Since then he has 
continued at this occupation and has been 
favored with good success. 

In 1900 Mr. Corbin married Carrie Card, 
a native of Colorado. She was reared in 


Deadwood, Dakota, and came on to Montana 
in 1895. Mr. Corbin has one sister, Mary, the 
wife of James R. Fiddes. 


CHARLES W. SELLECK. On a hand¬ 
somely' improved. stock ranch, supplied with 
excellent and commodious buildings, one-half 
mile north of Roscoe, resides the subject of 
this biographical sketch. He was born in 
Lenawee county, Michigan, June 8, 1864. His 
father, James, a native of Troy, New York, 
removed to Michigan with his parents when 
a small lad. The family located on a farm. 
There he died in 1876. The mother, Kate 
(Yakely) Selleck, born in the Empire State, 
also came to Michigan with her parents while 
quite young. At present she is residing with 
our subject. 

Having received a fair education in the 
public schools in his neighborhood the latter 
subsequently took a thorough course at Pouch- 
er’s Business College, Ionia, Michigan. He 
then began working on his father’s farm. He 
was an only child and when twelve years of 
age he lost his father, and upon him fell the 
responsibility of providing for his mother. In 
1885 he went to Dawes county, Nebraska, 
where he secured a piece of government land 
and began farming profitably, engaged in rais¬ 
ing stock and general ranching. Here he re¬ 
mained until 1895, when he came to his pres¬ 
ent location in Carbon county, where he pur¬ 
chased 320 acres of land on the Rosebud 
river. It was at this period a “raw ranch,” but 
he has greatly improved it and has it under 
a good system of irrigation. All in all this 
property is as fine and productive as any farm 
on the river. 

Mr. Selleck was married in 1889 to Miss 
Nellie Mosier, .a native of Iowa. With her 
parents, when quite a young girl, she removed 
to Nebraska, Mere she was married. Her 
father, Cross O., is at present living in Car- 













BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


bon county. Her mother, Ann, died several 
years ago. Five children have blessed the 
union of Mr. and Mrs. Selleck: Katie, Lottie, 
Grace, Thomas and Bessie, all at school. 
Fraternally Mr. Selleck is a member of the 
Masonic order and the A. O. U. W. 


GEORGE TOSTON was born in Iowa 
county, Wisconsin, August 2, 1854, and now 
resides "four miles west from Meyersburg. His 
education was received in Wisconsin and when 
eighteen he began to work for his father. Two 
years later, he took a homestead in the Crow 
Creek region, which he sold in 1886 and re¬ 
moved to the Flathead valley in 1888. Here 
he located and soon was engaged in the stock 
business. He has added to his land holdings 
until he now has seven sections and handles 
about two hundred cattle. He has won first 
class success in his labors and is classed among 
the leading'stockmen of Park county. 

On December 3, 1894, Mr. Toston married 
Sallie F. Todd and to them have been born: 
W. Rufus, January 27, 1897, and Thomas M., 
October 9, 1898. 

Mr. Toston is a member of the Lutheran 
church while his wife belongs to the Chris¬ 
tian denomination. The principles of the Re¬ 
publican party are those he believes correct 
and he takes a keen interest in these matters. 
He is a member of the A. O. U. W. and a 
man of integrity and worth. Mrs. Toston is 
the daughter of D. F. and Mary E. Todd. 
She was born in Richmond, Kentucky, March 
27, 1866, and remained with her parents un¬ 
til her marriage. Her father was born in 
Madison county, Kentucky, and lived the 
earlier part part of his life near College Hill, 
that state. His father, the grandfather of our 
subject, Peter Todd, was also a Kentuckian 
by birth and an associate of some of his an¬ 
cestors was Daniel Boone. Mrs. Todd's 
mother was a daughter of Maeleson Todd, a 


prominent farmer of the eastern part of the 
United States and well known as Captain 
Todd. When he died he was regarded as the 
oldest Mason in his part of the country. The 
Todd family came from Scotland the latter 
part of the eighteenth century and settled on 
the Atlantic coast. Captain Todd’s wife was 
a Miss Morton, a cousin of Judge Morton, 
who is well known in this country. It is thus 
seen that on both sides of the house Mrs. Todd 
comes from strong families. 


REV. JOSEPH J. BOWKER, the pres¬ 
ent rector of St. Luke’s Episcopal church of 
Billings, was born in Manchester, England, 
April 19, 1868. His father, James Bowker, a 
native of Stoneclough, Lancastershire, Eng¬ 
land, followed wholesale purchasing of dry 
goods for a leading Lancashire firm, and died 
in January, 1880. The mother, Elizabeth 
Slater, in maiden life, was married in 1867, 
and she, too, was born in England. The other 
children born to this couple besides the im¬ 
mediate subject of this article, were: Rev. 
Benjamin T. Bowker, vicar of Saint Nathan¬ 
iel’s church in Wigan, England; and Mrs. P. 
E. Haslam, of Bolton, Lancastershire, Eng¬ 
land. 

Between the ages of five and twelve Jo¬ 
seph J. was kept in constant attendance at the 
National schools and the four years next suc¬ 
ceeding this period he studied in the higher 
grade schools in the Manchester district. 
From sixteen to twenty he was constantly en¬ 
gaged in teaching .in the National Schools 
and from twenty to twenty-three years of age 
he was privileged to study in St. Augustine’s 
College of Canterbury and upon being gradu¬ 
ated from this institution he came immediately 
to Canada and was ordained in August, 1891, 
at Winnipeg. After this his labors were in the 
parishes of Stonewall and Deloraine, Mani¬ 
toba, where four years were happily and profit- 










biographical sketches. 


518 


ably spent as the young rector was thoroughly 
in love with his labors and inspired by the pos¬ 
sibilities of the work. 

From the scenes of his initial labors, Rev. 
Bowker was called to the rectorship of St. 
Paul’s in Virginia City, Montana, and after 
two years and six months of labor there was 
called to the corresponding position in Butte, 
with the church of St. Andrews. At this last 
place he was a faithful laborer for five years 
and on January 1, 1903, he was installed in 
St. Luke’s in Billings. For a more complete 
detailed account of his labors here see the his¬ 
tory of this church in the historical portion of 
this work. 

On October 4, 1895, Rev. Bowker and 
Miss Mary A. Fogarty were united in mar¬ 
riage. Mrs. Bowker’s father, John E. Fog¬ 
arty, of Canterbury, England, was an officer in 
the British army and saw much service in the 
Crimean and Colonial Wars. 

Rev. Bowker has shown a love for his 
labors and a devotion in following the pastoral 
work that commend him to his many parish¬ 
ioners who esteem him highly, “for his works, 
sake,” as well as for his kindliness and worth. 
He is highly respected in the city of Billings 
as well as wherever he has wrought, and is 
a man of sterling worth as has been exhibited 
in the devoted labors of the past decades. 

As we go to press it comes to our notice 
that Rev. Bowker has been invited to become 
principal of the Cathedral Schools in Orlando, 
Florida, and archdeacon of the southern 
Florida diocese. 


LOUIS GRUEL, who resides eight miles 
west from Joliet, on Redlodge creek, is one of 
the progressive and industrious agriculturists 
of Carbon county, and has by his thrift and 
wise management accumulated a handsome 
competence of this world’s goods. His ranch 
is mostly devoted to general productions, but 


it is his intention to utilize a goodly portion 
of it for the production of sugar beets in the 
near .future, as it has been demonstrated that 
this is an excellent section for this industry. 

Louis Gruel was born in Wurtemberg, 
Germany, on February 25, 1859, the son of 
Johannes and Christania L. (Wanner) Gruel, 
natives, also, of Wurtemberg, and mentioned 
in the biography of Max Gruel on another 
page of this work. Having received his edu¬ 
cation in the public schools of his native city, 
our subject at the age of fourteen began the 
work of mastering the confectionery and bak¬ 
er’s arts. Three years were spent in accom¬ 
plishing this important enterprise and then he 
spent one year more in following, after which 
he came to Philadelphia, via New York. Three 
years were spent in the Quaker City at his 
trade and then came a journey to Chicago, 
where he resided until 1887. In that year, 
Mr. Gruel went to O’Brien county, Iowa, and 
opened a bakery and restaurant. This was the 
scene of his activity for two and one-half years 
and then he shipped his entire plant to Red 
Lodge, arriving there in October, 1889. He at 
once opened a bakery and confectionery store 
and for eleven years he successfully conducted 
that. At the expiration of that period, Mr. 
Gruel found his health failing and an impera¬ 
tive demand that he relax from the arduous 
labors of in-door life. Accordingly, he sought 
a farm and purchased the right of a squatter 
to his present place. It was in 1901 that he 
came thither and since that time has given his 
attention to the management of the estate and 
is bringing it to be one of the best in the valley. 
One hundred acres are under the ditch and are 
very productive. 

In March, 1884, Mr. Gruel married Miss 
Christina Biegert, also a native of Wurtem¬ 
berg, twenty miles distant from his own birth 
place, yet they never met till in America. Mrs. 
Gruel came to the United States alone, her 
parents, Michael and Aphrosina Biegert, hav¬ 
ing died when she was a young girl. To our 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.. 


5 i 9 


subject and his wife seven children have been 
born: Theodora, in Chicago, June 18, 1885; 
Anna, in Iowa, May 12, 1887 ; Fred, Decem¬ 
ber 27, 1889, at Red Lodge; Otto, April 4, 
1892, at Red Lodge; Ermina, at Red Lodge, 
April 21, 1893; Edgar, at Red Lodge, Feb¬ 
ruary 14, 1900, and Elsa, at Red Lodge, April 
3, 1902. Mr. Gruel is a member of the M. W. 
A. and is independent in politics. He is a 
thrifty, substantial man, well esteemed and a 
first-class citizen. 


ROBERT E. CUTLER is a native of 
Genesee county, New York, June 1, i860, be- 
ing the date of his birth. He now resides 
twelve miles north of Genesee on a ranch and 
follows farming. His father, Francis O. 
Cutler, also a native of New’York city, was a 
Methodist preacher and died about ten years 
since. He married Catherine Gourley, a native 
of Dundee, Scotland, who was born in 1831 
and migrated to the United States in 1851. The 
marriage occurred in 1852 and six children 
were the fruit of the union, our subject being 
the only boy. Mr. Cutler traces his direct 
ancestry to one who crossed the Atlantic on 
the Mayflower. When ten years of age, the 
Cutler family moved to the frontiers of Kan¬ 
sas and Robert had very little opportunity 
after that to attend school, so he made the best 
of the situation, gaining what he could from 
home instructions and reading until sixteen, 
when he started out in life for himself. His 
first work was on the railroad and as early as 
1878 he came to Montana, passed through the 
upper Yellowstone and went to mining at Cook 
City. • For twelve years he continued there 
and then bought his present place, where he 
has resided since. Mr. Cutler was first mar¬ 
ried on March 6, 1889, and the children born 
to that union were Leo L., November 14, 
1890; James E., January 21, 1892; Grace, 
January 3, 1894; Robert C., July 10, 1896; 


Abe B., September 23, 1898, and Chester, 
July 4, 1900. 

December 24, 1902, Mr. Cutler married 
Harriette E. Ball, who was born in Pine City, 
Minnesota, April 24, 1875. Her father, Ar- 
temus E. Ball, was a native of Massachusetts, 
a lawyer by profession and a soldier in the 
Third Iowa, enlisting in 1861. Soon after his 
enlistment he was promoted and served with 
distinction until he was mustered out at the 
close of the war. Mr. Cutler’s father also 
served two years and was mustered out at the 
close of the war. Mrs. Cutler's mother, Har¬ 
riette (Hoag) Ball, was the mother of seven 
children, this daughter being the fourth. Mr. 
and Mrs. Cutler have one child, Manley R., 
born January 8, 1906. 

In church relations, Mrs. Cutler is an Epis¬ 
copalian. Politically Mr. Cutler is independ¬ 
ent, although allied with the Republicans. 


OLE C. NIELSEN. About two miles 
west from Hathaway is the home place of Mr. 
Nielsen, who has spent sixteen years of his 
life in Montana. The farm consists of three 
hundred and twenty acres of gopd land, one- 
half of which was secured by. homestead right 
and the balance being purchased. Since the 
time of his settlement here in 1890, Mr. Niel¬ 
sen has given his entire attention to general 
farming and stock raising. He is one of the 
thrifty and industrious residents of Rosebud 
county and the result is, he has been prospered 
in his labors. When he came here, this part 
of what is now Rosebud county was very wild 
compared with its present development, and it 
required considerable labor and self denial to 
open up a farm in the virgin sod. But Mr. 
Nielsen came with a determination of making 
a home and the result was that he put forth 
every effort to that end and has accomplished 
his purpose in a good manner. 

Like many of the prosperous and substan- 











520 


biographical sketches. 


tial citizens of the United States, Mr. Nielsen 
was bom on the other side of the Atlantic, 
his native place being Denmark and the time 
of his birth about October 20, 1849. His 
father, N. P. Nielsen, was also born in that 
country and followed blacksmithing there un¬ 
til 1872, when he came to Wisconsin and there 
wrought at his trade until his death. He had 
married Anna Marie Olson, also a native of 
Denmark, who died there in 1870. Our sub¬ 
ject received his education in his native land 
and in 1872 came to the United States with 
his father. He worked for wages in Wiscon¬ 
sin until 1887, in which year he went with a 
carriage company from Racine to Moline, Illi¬ 
nois. He remained with this company in Mo¬ 
line until 1890, when he resigned his position 
and came west to seek out a home. Being at¬ 
tracted to Montana, he soon selected the place 
where he now resides and, as stated before, he 
has given his entire efforts to building a home 
since coming to this state. 

In 1882, Mr. Nielsen married Rassine 
Nielsen, and to them have been born the fol¬ 
lowing named children: Annie, Niels, Peter, 
Mary, Soren, Emma and Anton. 


HON. THOMAS S. HOGAN, a man 
well known over the state of Montana and at 
the present time a leading attorney in Billings, 
was born near the city of Chippewa Falls, 
Wisconsin, on December 23, 1869. His par¬ 
ents, John and Bridget (Ahern) Hogan, na¬ 
tives of the Emerald Isle, migrated from Tip- 
erary county, Ireland, to the United States 
about 1850. Soon after their families were 
located they were united in marriage, this 
event occurring in the state of Ohio. Mr. Ho¬ 
gan dwelt first in Boston and then came west 
to Ohio and worked at his trade of stone lay¬ 
ing. About i860 he and his wife made their 
way to Wisconsin and the last ninety miles of 
their journey was made on foot, so dense was 


the wilderness they were penetrating. Most 
arduous labor was required to clear and put 
under cultivation a farm in this section, but 
they were equal to the task and became 
prominent and honored citizens, the father 
passing away at a ripe age in 1902. They had 
a family of nine children and Thomas S. was 
reared and educated in his native heath, grad¬ 
uating from the high school when sixteen. For 
three years subsequent to that he taught school 
and then went west to Washington, and for 
two years afterward came thence to Montana. 
One year was occupied in mining in the vi¬ 
cinity of Butte, and four years, beginning with 
1892, he was engaged in the smelters of Ana¬ 
conda. In' 1896, Mr. Hogan was a candidate 
for his party, the Populist, with which he had 
been affiliated actively during his majority, 
to the office of secretary of state of Montana 
and was promptly elected. In 1894 he had 
been a candidate from Deer Lodge county for 
representative to the state legislature, but was 
defeated by only sixteen votes. Following the 
completion of his term as secretary of state, 
Mr. Hogan practiced law four years in Butte 
and in 1904 located in Billings, where he has 
won a place in the esteem of the bar and the 
people that is very gratifying, and enjoys a 
large and constantly increasing patronage in 
his professional business. 

Mr. Hogan was a prominent and active 
member of the Knights of Labor, having been 
district master workman of the state. 

In 1894, Mr. Hogan and Miss Kathleen 
Donovan, who was born in Chippewa county, 
Wisconsin, were united in matrimony and four 
children have been born to crown the mar¬ 
riage, namely, Ralph J., Emmett V., Mary T., 
and T. Fritz. 


OWEN DUFFY. The good old “Emer¬ 
ald Isle” has furnished many a stanch citizen 
to the great Republic of the United States and 














BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


52i 


many a faithful veteran who fought as only 
the true Irishman can fight has given his blood 
for the Stars and Stripes, and no more loyal 
supporters of that grand banner are found on 
the earth in this day than those same faithful 
ones who have been transplanted from the 
“Isle” and who have raised families to revere 
and cherish the laws and the free institutions 
of our beloved land. Quick to perceive the 
advantages of the New World, many were the 
immigrants thither from Ireland, and who but 
this race would have remained, even one, to 
bear the trials of their own land, and there has 
been a ready adaptation to the new order of 
things, and, it is with regret we say it, yet it 
is true, there has been noticed by students of 
the subject that often times the worthy immi¬ 
grant. by contrast perhaps, has a more appre¬ 
ciative spirit for the real freedom of America 
than those called her native sons. Among 
those who have come hither and found homes, 
carving their fortunes from the resources of 
the land, we are gratified to mention the 
gentleman whose name heads this arti¬ 
cle. His present residence is eight miles 
west from Joliet on Redlodge creek. Christ¬ 
mas day, 1861, was the date of his birth, and 
this event occurred in the province of Mun¬ 
ster, Ireland. His father. Owen Duffy, was 
bom. lived and died in Ireland, the closing 
event of his life being at the age of sixty- 
seven, in 1892. He had married Margaret 
McIntyre, who died when our subject was a 
small lad, he being the youngest of seven 
children. All of the children are now in the 
United States, scattered in different locations, j 
James resides on American Fork in Sweet 
Grass county, this state. The first twenty-two 
years of Mr. Duffy’s life were spent in his na¬ 
tive country and then he determined to bid 
farewell to all this and try his fortune in Mon¬ 
tana. He sailed to New York city, arriving 
without unusual event, and there took passage 
for Big Timber. Montana, direct in 1884. His 
brother had been in this locality for four years 


and he had worked on the latter’s ranch, re¬ 
maining with him for nine years. At the ex¬ 
piration of that period he came to his present 
location, anticipating the opening of the reser¬ 
vation. He filed finally on the quarter section 
where he now resides and to the improvement 
and cultivation of this he has devoted his en¬ 
ergies since. When he located his nearest 
point for mail and supplies was Red Lodge, 
thirty-five miles distant, and no roads were 
constructed through the country. It was two 
years before any roads were built and Mr. 
Duffy had to well experience the life of the 
pioneer. He has faithfully labored along and 
now has one hundred and forty acres under 
the ditch and producing abundant crops. He 
raises mostly hay and grain, but intends in 
the near future to devote much attention to 
the production of sugar beets. 

Mr. Duffy has never seen fit to affiliate* 
himself with any order, but is a consistent 
member of the Roman Catholic church. In 
politics he is Republican, although not es¬ 
pecially active. Thus far on life’s journey, 
Mr. Duffy has chosen to walk without the re¬ 
sponsibilities of the married life and belongs 
to the order of jolly bachelors. 


JOSEPH BROWN is a miner residing at 
Gardiner and was born in Baden, Germany, 
September 1, 1834, being the son of 

Toseph Brown, also German, bom at 
Baden in 1800 on a farm. He mar¬ 
ried Catherine Meyers, a native of Baden, who 
was about three years 'younger than himself. 
They had four children, our subject being the 
only one who came to America. This trip oc¬ 
curred in 1850, after he had received his edu¬ 
cation in Germany. For two years he re¬ 
mained in New York and then moved to Erie, 
Pennsylvania, where he spent ten years pros¬ 
pecting for oil. He went to Marquette, Michi¬ 
gan, about 1862 and was employed in the cop- 








522 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


per mines for one year. In the fall of 1863 
he started for Virginia City, Montana, but did 
not get there until the following year. Not 
finding pay dirt there, he crossed over to 
Grizzly Gulch, near where Helena now is, and 
from that time until the present Mr. Brown 
has been one of that sturdy army who has fol¬ 
lowed mining and prospecting steadily in the 
promising state of Montana. Like the others, 
he has had varying success, rather better than 
the average, but sometimes down and some¬ 
times on the crest of the billow. He located 
at Bear Gulch in 1876. There he staked out 
the Legal Tender, Graham, Tip Top and 
Mountain Chief, in company with James Gra¬ 
ham. These properties are now owned and 
operated by the Kimberly Company and are 
spoken of as the Jardine Mines, being quartz 
properties, Mr. Brown has located and worked 
several placer claims that have panned out 
first class. 

In religious persuasions he was raised a 
Catholic, while in politics he is a strong Re¬ 
publican. He has always taken a keen and 
active interest and has served at several con¬ 
ventions. Mr. Brown is a Mason and can 
truly be said to be one of the sturdy pioneers 
of the state of Montana. He comes from a 
very long lived family, his father, Joseph 
Brown, died at the age of eighty-six, his 
grandfather, Joseph Brown, dying at the age 
of ninety-six and his great-grandfather at the 
age of one hundred and six. As early as 1866 
Mr. Brown, in company with four others, 
spent three months in the Yellowstone Park 
and his is supposed to be the first party that 
ever thoroughly looked over this wondrous 
region. 


JAMES WOOSLEY resides just south¬ 
west of Sedan, which is in Gallatin county. He 
owns eight-hundred and seventy-five acres of 
good land and does both general farming and 


stock raising, having enjoyed a bounteous 
measure of success in his labors here. He is 
a native of Illinois, the date of his birth be¬ 
ing January 10, 1841. John Woosley, his fa¬ 
ther, who died when James was four years old, 
was a Kentuckian, farmed in Central Illinois, 
and used to own forty acres where Decatur 
now stands. He married Jane Smith, who 
was born in Indiana. After receiving his ed¬ 
ucation from the public schools, our subject 
in i860 went to work for himself on a farm. 
The next year, 1861, he rented a farm and 
on August 15, 1862, he enlisted in the 18th 
Illinois Infantry, serving throughout the en¬ 
tire war. He was present at Vicksburg at' 
the surrender to General Grant and was also 
at the surrender of Little Rock, Arkansas. 
Having done well the part of the brave soldier 
in defending his country throughout the long 
years of war, he was ready upon the receipt of 
his honorable discharge to return to farming; 
but he did not come back to civil life as he had 
gone into the army, for the bullets of the 
enemy had done their work and Mr. Woosley 
was forced to take up life with one arm sadly 
crippled. However, being of a bright dispo¬ 
sition, he overcame all of this and made a good 
success in his farming. In 1880 he moved 
to Kansas and tilled the soil near Cedardale 
five years. He came to. Montana but soon re¬ 
turned to Kansas. In 1887, however, he came 
to permanently locate here and selected a 
homestead in the east Flathead valley. He 
still retains that homestead which is the seat of 
his residence, but has added to it until he has 
an estate as mentioned above. 

On August 9, i860, Mr. Woosley married 
Martha E. Pratt, the daughter of Matthew Y. 
and Lydia (Jones) Pratt, a native of Illinois. 
They have become the parents of nine chil¬ 
dren, only three of whom, however, are .still 
living: Joshua Y., born September 8, 1861; 
Sarah E., January 25, 1869; .and John S. 
May 30, 1871/ Both Mr. and Mrs. Woosley 
are members of the Christian church and are 










BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


523 


exemplary people. Mr. Woosley is a Demo¬ 
crat but not partisan. 


OLOF NELSON was born in Sweden, 
Ju!y 13, 1856. At present he resides on a fine 
ranch fourteen miles northwest of Red Lodge, 
on Red Lodge creek. His father, Nels Nel¬ 
son, born at Skornu, Sweden, followed the 
avocation of an agriculturist. He died in 
1905. The mother, Hannah Nelson, a native 
of the same place, died in 1899. 

On attaining his majority our subject had 
passed through the common schools of his vi¬ 
cinity, and obtained a fair business education. 
In 1882, having followed farming during his 
early manhood, he landed in Boston, Massa¬ 
chusetts, going from there direct to New 
York, where he remained three months. He 
thence went to Minneapolis, Minnesota, but 
in 1883 he came to Livingston, Montana, and 
here he found employment on the Yellowstone 
Park branch of the Northern Pacific railroad. 
The following fall he went to Portland, Ore¬ 
gon, and here he resided eight months, coming 
thence to the vicinity of Billings, Montana, 
where he found employment with I. D. O’Don¬ 
nell on a stock ranch, and with whom he re¬ 
mained seven years. During this time he had 
taken a ranch four miles west of Red Lodge, 
on Willow creek. This he disposed of in 1898 
and removed to East Red Lodge Creek, where 
he remained four years. Having disposed of 
this property he indulged in a profitable trip 
through the wonderful Yellowstone Park. To 
his present location he came in 1904. At pres¬ 
ent he lives with his. two brothers, they having 
between them 320 acres of excellent land. 

In 1879 our subject was united in mar¬ 
riage to Celia Anderson. She passed from 
earth twenty years ago. Mr. Nelson has three 
brothers: Nels, who came from Sweden 

with our subject, and one year later to Mon¬ 
tana. He is now living on the ranch. Mang- 


nus, coming to Montana in i886, and where 
he now has 160 acres of land and is residing 
with our subject; Martin^ now in Sweden. 
Our subject has four living sisters: Bangter, 
Hannah, Annie and Anna, all in Sweden. He 
has lost one sister, Christine. 


SAMUEL FEYLER. Born in Lincoln 
county, Maine, March 9, 1869, the subject of 
this sketch is at present a prosperous farmer of 
Yellow'stone county, residing eight miles west 
of Billings. His father, Rufus, a native of the 
same place, combined the businesses of farm¬ 
ing and ship carpentering, working the greater 
portion of the time at his trade. The mother, 
Amelia (Swartz) Feyler, also a native of 
Maine, descended from ancestors who were 
among the first settlers of the Pine Tree state. 

In the public schools of Maine our sub¬ 
ject received his early education and in 1882 
came to Billings, where he at first worked for 
wages. Continuing this for ten years he then 
purchased a ranch upon which he now resides, 
having eigfity acres all under an excellent sys¬ 
tem of irrigation, and which farm he has, by 
industry and keen business sagacity, made a 
most valuable property. He owns considera¬ 
ble stock and is well-to-do in every respect. 


GEORGE MACE, well known all over 
eastern Montana, and now the postmaster at 
Howard, is one of the old timers who chased 
the buffaloes and blazed the path through these 
sections as well as in many other places of the 
west. He is a man of intrepid courage and 
strong powers in the lines which he has fol¬ 
lowed. His experience in the west, for he 
has traveled all over the country west of the 
Mississippi and between Mexico and Canada, 
would make a large and interesting volume 
had we the space to outline it. Suffice it to 












524 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


say, however, that from the time he was a 
small lad till he settled in Custer county he was 
on the go in all the various callings and rela¬ 
tions that obtain on the frontier, from the po¬ 
sition of cowboy to postmaster, and his time 
of hunting the noble buffalo was one which 
can never be effaced from his memory, being 
filled with adventure and thrilling incident. A 
more detailed account of his life will, there¬ 
fore, be sought after and we append a brief 
epitome. 

George Mace was born in New York Au¬ 
gust, 1848. His father, John Mace, a native 
of England, came to the United States when 
a young man and then after a few years here, 
he returned to his natvie land and there re¬ 
mained until his death. He married Miss 
Louisa Hicks, also a native of England. Our 
subject was nine years of age when his parents 
went to England from New York, he accom¬ 
panying them. He finished his education in the 
old country and when sixteen returned to the: 
United States, as he preferred this country to 
where his parents remained. From that time 
onward he was traveling in all portions of 
the west and became personally acquainted 
with all the callings of frontier life. He has 
mined, been cowboy, done freighting, packing, 
and all the arduous things that allure the rest¬ 
less from the quieter home of the east. In, 
1869, we find him working on the Union Pa¬ 
cific railroad, and in the famous centennial year 
he made his way from Arizona to Montana, 

• settling in the vicinity of Miles City, being 
among the first to locate there permanently. 
That continued to be his home until 1880, when 
he came on west to his present location and 
took land. At the present time Mr. Mace has 
three sections of land, one-third of which is 
under the ditch and very productive. He gives 
his attention to general farming and stock 
raising and is one of the well to do men of the 
county. 

In 1883, Mr. Mace married Miss Hannah 
A. Anderson, a native of Norway. She was 


reared in Minnesota and came to Montana 
with a family from that state in 1883. Here 
Mr. Mace and she met and later were married, 
and their children are Hannah, Bertha, and 
Alfred. 


CHARLES R. CROSS is one of the pio¬ 
neers of Custer county and is today dwelling 
on his ranch about two miles up the Tongue 
from Miles City. He gives his attention to 
the cultivation of his ranch and to stock rais¬ 
ing, having been one of the first ones in this 
country to start in that business. A native of 
Burlington, Vermont, November 23, 1863, the 
date of his birth, Mr. Cross inherited the thrift 
and stability of the New Englander and has 
manifested it in his career. His parents, Fran¬ 
cis and Elizabeth Cross, were farmers and the 
latter died when he was an infant. The father 
was a native of France and came with his par¬ 
ents to the United States when a child. He re¬ 
mained in Vermont until his death. The other 
members of the family, the brothers and sisters 
of our subject, are Frank, deceased; V. L., 
who came to Custer county in 1876; Joseph, 
deceased; H. G., a rancher in this county; 
Mary Besette, Marie Videll, Orilla McCuen, 
and Louisa. Charles R. grew up and was edu¬ 
cated in his native place and at the early age 
of sixteen stepped forth to assume the burdens 
of life for himself. He at once came to Fort 
Keogh, the journey from Bismarck being by 
boat, and for two years was employed by his 
brother who was operating a farm on the mili¬ 
tary reservation. Then with his brothers, V. 
L. and H. G., he went to upper Pumpkin creek 
and embarked in stock raising. They contin¬ 
ued in this until the winter of 1886 when they 
lost twelve hundred cattle, which catastrophe 
so cripple them they went out of business. 
For several years Mr. Cross was occupied in 
various ways and in 1893, he came to his 
present place and located, and since then he 












BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


525 


has labored here with good success. It is of 
interest to note that during the first two years 
of the time he was raising cattle with his 
brothers of the Indians on the war path 
and there were some exciting times. 

In 1887, Mr. Cross married Hannah Wing, 
a native of Deammen, Norway, and the daugh¬ 
ter of H. T. and Caroline (Larson) Wing, 
natives of Norway, also. The family came to 
Ottertail county, Minnesota, when Mrs. Cross 
was twelve years old and two years later came 
on to Custer cbunty where the father was en¬ 
gaged in stock-raising until his death in 1899. 
Mrs. Cross has one brother, Alf. L., and two 
sisters, Helga Kennedy, and Julia Ostein. To 
Mr. and Mrs. Cross, four children have been 
born. Francis T., J. Margaret, Vivian A., 
Harold V. 


GEORGE C. CAMPBELL, one of the 
progressive Yellowstone Valley ranchers, born 
in Ontario, Canada, March 11, 1874, now re¬ 
sides three and one-half miles north of' Roscoe, 
Carbon caunty, on an eligible and finely im¬ 
proved ranch. His father, Alexander R., a na¬ 
tive of the same place, went from Canada to 
Buffalo, Wyoming, with his wife and children 
in 1886. Here he located on a ranch upon 
which he remained until he died. His father, 
Alexander Campbell, emigrated from Scot¬ 
land to Canada. The mother, Helen (Watt) 
Campbell, a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, 
when a small child came to Canada with her 
parents. Here she was married and is now 
living in Buffalo, Wyoming. Her mother was 
a Cameron, and her people on both sides of 
the house were connected with a distinguished 
Highland family. 

In the common schools of Canada our sub¬ 
ject received his elementary education, which 
was supplemented by courses in the schools of 
Buffalo, Wyoming, to which place he came 
with his parents in 1886. There, at the age 


of fifteen years he began riding the range and 
was employed by the Bar L. X. and two other 
large companies, continuing until 1892. 

In the spring of 1892 the war between the 
cattle rustlers and the stockmen broke out in 
Johnson county, Wyoming. He served as a 
deputy under Sheriff Angus and was one of 
the first party that left Buffalo to head off 
the Whitecaps. His party participated in the 
three days’ fight, April 11, 12, 13 with the 
rustlers at a ranch on Crazy Woman. 

Three years later, in the spring of 1895, 
he came to his present location where he se¬ 
cured a homestead. Later he purchased more 
land until now he has a half section, nearly 
all of which is under irrigation and well im¬ 
proved, and is one of the largest stock owners 
in his part of the country. 

In 1898 Mr. Campbell was united in mar¬ 
riage to Dora E. Brown. She was a widow, 
the name of her first husband having been Mc¬ 
Donald. Her father, James Brown, died while 
he was a young man. Her mother is at pres¬ 
ent the wife of R. O. Morris, mentioned else¬ 
where. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell have two chil¬ 
dren, Earl M. and Helen. With them are three 
step-children, Maud, Elizabeth and Nellie Mc¬ 
Donald, all living with our subject. 


EDWARD KAISER, the popular and ef¬ 
ficient postmaster at Meyersburg is one of the 
well known men in Park county. He owns 
about fourteen hundred acres of land around 
Meyersburg and is platting a portion of it for 
the promising village where he resides. He 
was born December 21, 1865, the son of Sam¬ 
uel and Margaret (Holderman) Kaiser. The 
father was born in Switzerland in 1847 and is 
now living in the Crow Creek valley. He is a 
cooper by trade and was following this oc¬ 
cupation in Helena at the time of the stampede 
to the Black Hills, Dakota, which he joined. 
Not finding this so auspicious as he expected, 








526 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


he started a brewery at Central City. After 
that, he returned to Montana and now resides 
as stated above. His wife died whert our sub¬ 
ject was a lad. After Edward finished his edu¬ 
cation at Readersburg, he being then fifteen 
years of age, he left home and went to work 
on a neighboring farm. After that he rode 
the range in Jefferson county for some time, 
in 1890, he took up ranching again, this time 
for himself, selecting a homestead near his 
present location. In 1895, he sold that place 
and in March 1899, bought the place that he 
now owns. For more than sixteen years he 
has been postmaster and the office has always 
been taken with him when he moved from one 
place to another. He has a fine large body of 
land, and is seeking with a good measure of 
success to. make of Meyersburg one of the pros¬ 
perous towns of Park county. 

In 1890, Mr. Kaiser married Alvie R. 
Nave, daughter of F. R. Nave, and to them 
have been born three children, Vera E. May 
30, 1892; Claude R. July 9, 1893; Margaret 
C., October 11, 1897. Mrs. Kaiser died on 
October 6, 1903. 

On September 6, 1905, Mr. Kaiser con¬ 
tracted' a second marriage. Etta S. Bown, the 
daughter of Spellman and Eliza (Fitz) Bown, 
becoming his wife. Mr. Kaiser is a good 
strong Republican and takes a. keen interest 
and satisfaction in the campaigns. 


WILLIAM ROBISON, born in Clay 
county, Indiana, February 5, 1869, is one of 
the leading stockmen of the Yellowstone Val¬ 
ley, residing at Billings. His father, J. B. 
Robison, a native of Ohio, removed to Clay 
county in 1850, remaining there until 1874, 
when he went to Montgomery county, Kan¬ 
sas. Here he tarried until 1898, returning 
thence to Indiana, where he is now making 
his home with his son. The mother of our sub¬ 
ject, Hannah J. (Reader) Robison, was a na¬ 


tive of Ohio, going to Indiana with her hus¬ 
band, and later to Kansas, where she died. 

The subject of this sketch received his 
elementary education in Montgomery county, 
attending the public schools. Arriving at man¬ 
hood’s estate he engaged in farming. He first 
came to the Yellowstone Valley in 1889, where 
he worked for wages a few years, then pro¬ 
ceeded to better his condition by purchasing 
a ranch twenty miles north and four miles 
west of Billings, where he engaged in the 
sheep business, and that successfully. 

In 1893 he was united in marriage to May 
Miner, born in Fallon county, Illinois, and 
coming to the Yellowstone country with her 
parents about 1883. Her father John Miner, 
is now a resident of Carbon county, Montana. 
Mr. and Mrs. Robison have three children, 
Thomas, Florence and Clara. 


SAM NEWNES resides one mile south 
of Howard in Rosebud county and for nearly 
a quarter of a century he has been a resident 
of Montana, having during that long period 
passed through many experiences incident to 
the frontier, and having alwaws shown a pos¬ 
session of the true material that makes the 
rugged frontiersman and the path-finder. His 
life has been passed with much hard labor, and 
while he has won the smiles of fortune at this 
time it has not been without the efforts that 
show the aggressive and wide awake man of 
energy. 

England is his native country and Feb¬ 
ruary 19, 1854, the date of his birth. Mr. 
Newnes’ parents, William and Maria (Powell) 
Newnes, were both born in the same shire as 
our subject and the father was a postmaster 
and followed the nursery business. His death 
occurred in 1905. Our subject was educated 
in his native land and there remained until 
1880 when he came to Ontario, Canada. He 
occupied himself -with farming there until 
April, 1882, and then started to view the west. 











BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


527 


He landed at Howard the following - May, 
second day and went to work on the railroad. 
He selected government land soon after com¬ 
ing here and was among the very first actual 
settlers in this portion of the Yellowstone 
valley. Since that time, Mr. Newnes has con¬ 
tinued in farming and stock rising and has 
prospered as his labors entitled him to do, be¬ 
ing now one of the well to do m6n of the 
vicinity. 

In 1874, Mr. Newnes married Jessie Dow- 
ling, who was born in Manchester, England, 
on March 6,1857, the daughter of James 
Dowling, a native of Scotland. The children 
born to this union are fourteen, three of whom 
are dead. Sam F., James D., Harry, Maria, 
William, John, Samuel, George, Joe, James, 
Charles, Jessie, Elizabeth, and Ben. Mr. New¬ 
nes has a very interesting family and one that 
would delight the heart of our worthy presi¬ 
dent. During the years of his residence in this 
state Mr. Newnes has shown a spirit of real 
thrift and desire to build up the country and 
bring to the front its various resources, so that 
others would be attracted hither and the real 
advancement that has come would be apparent 
to everyone. To this end he has taken an 
interest in politics, has ever been on' the side 
of good schools and is a progressive man. 


CHARLES F. GRANT resides at Shields, 
Park county, which place by his enterprise and 
push is becoming to be recognized as one of 
the business points in the county. It was 1903 
when he arrived there and at once put up a 
hotel, a livery stable, a saloon, a blacksmith 
shop, a large general merchandise building and 
hall, and brought in a fine stock of general 
merchandise. About three months later, he 
sold the general merchandise business and 
since that has been conducting the other busi¬ 
ness himself. 

Charles F. Grant was born on July 17, 
1858, in San Francisco, California. His father, 


Frederick Grant, a native of Virginia and a 
miner by occupation, crossed the plains over 
the Santa Fe trail in 1849. Two years later, 
Mary Wilson, with her parents crossed the 
same route and she was married to Frederick 
Grant. She was born in Ohio and with her 
husband has long passed from the activities of 
this world. Charles F. was educated in San 
Francisco and when arrived at his majority he 
started for himself and took up mining as his 
initial occupation. Three years later he turned 
his attention to the merchandise business, es¬ 
tablishing a store in Leadville, Colorado. Later 
we find him in the same business at Cripple 
Creek, whence he moved to Spokane, Wash¬ 
ington. Soon after that, he opened up a gro¬ 
cery store at Boise, Idaho, and remained there 
until 1898, when he came to the state of Mon¬ 
tana. He spent considerable time traversing 
the various portions of that state and finally 
located at Utica, where he conducted a livery 
barn and hotel. In the fall of 1901 he built 
the first hotel and livery stable at Clyde Park 
and two years later sold them and established 
himself at Shields, as has been mentioned be¬ 
fore in this article. He is doing a good busi¬ 
ness and as is evidenced by this brief outline 
of his life, he is counted one of the energetic 
and forceful men of the county. 

In March, 1883, Mr. Grant married Lil¬ 
lian Birch, the daughter of William and Nel¬ 
lie Emmerson Birch of Stockton, California. 
Two children are the fruit of this union, Ma¬ 
bel, born February 7, 1885, and Madge, born 
February 6, 1887. 

Mr. Garrison is a good active Republican, 
but is in no sense a politician. He has great 
faith in the state of Montana and especially 
Park county, and presages much good for this 
section in the next few years. 


FRED STANDEN, born at Olmstead 
Falls, Ohio, May 4, 1864, has a handsome 
ranch on which he resides, one and one-half 










BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


528 


miles southwest of Laurel, Yellowstone county. 
His father, John Standen, was a native of 
Kent, England, coming to the United States 
while a young man, and locating in Ohio. He 
was engaged in the butcher business, also rais¬ 
ing considerable stock which he shipped. He 
died ni August, 1904. The mother of our sub¬ 
ject, Betsy (Aps) Standen, was also a native 
of Kent, coming to this country with her hus¬ 
band. She died in 1877. 

In the public schools of his native town 
our subject was educated. But he was com¬ 
pelled to leave school at an early date, owing 
to the death of his mother, and in 1882 he re¬ 
moved to Valley, Nebraska, working there for 
wages. To the Yellowstone Valley he came in 
1899, and here he purchased a farm of 160 
acres. This he improved and two years later 
he sold the same and went to Wyoming, re¬ 
maining there only one year, and returning 
to Montana and purchased an Indian alottment 
on Clark’s Fork. This property he exchanged 
for the ranch upon which he now resides, 
June 23, 1903. Since then he has materially 
improved the property, and has 160 acres un¬ 
der irrigation, together with good, convenient 
buildings, etc. 

He was married in 1888 to Minnie Kellett, 
born near Rome, Illinois, November 28, 1869. 
When one year and one-half old she was taken 
by her parents to Douglas county, Nebraska, 
and here she remained until she came to Mon¬ 
tana with her husband. Her father, Patrick 
Henry Kellett, was born in County Kerry, 
Ireland, coming to the United States at the 
age of twelve years, and locating in Kentucky. 
Later he removed to Illinois and subsequently 
to Nebraska. Her mother, Mary Jane (New- 
lon) Kellett, was a native of Ohio. Mr. and 
Mrs. Standen have four children: Roy, 
Georg, Elma and William, all at school. Our 
subject has six brothers living: John, in St. 
Paul, Minnesota; Richard, Alliance, Nebraska; 
Horace, Edgmont, North Dakota; Charles, 
Leary, Ohio, Edward, Columbus, Nebraska. 


He has lost two brothers, Albert and Alfred. 
He has four sisters: Jennie, Hattie, Nellie and 
Julia. Mrs. Standen has six brothers: Charles, 
Henry, Albert, Samuel, William and Ernest. 
She has two sisters, Nellie and Jennie. 


ABRAHAM HARRINGTON resides in 
the Tongue valley about fourteen miles up 
from Miles City and is engaged in the sheep 
industry. He has long been in Custer county 
and although not a pioneer in raising sheep 
still he is to be classed with the pioneers of the 
county, for he has dwelt here about twenty 
years. He is a native of Laporte county, Indi¬ 
ana, and was born on August 18, 1867. His 
father, Henry Harrington, was born in Co¬ 
lumbus, Ohio, in 1*831. At the age of fourteen 
he came with his parents from Ohio to Kos¬ 
ciusko county, Indiana, and later removed to 
Laporte county, He was among the early set¬ 
tlers of Indiana and died in 1894. He mar¬ 
ried Miss Rozilla Ann Bentley, a native of 
Laporte county, Indiana. Her parents were 
pathfinders in that section. In his native 
county our subject was reared and there re¬ 
ceived his education. When twenty, in 1887, 
Mr. Harrington came direct to Custer county 
and for the first two years he was engaged 
in various employments. In 1889 he en¬ 
tered a grocery store in Miles City and there 
remained for fourteen years. Then he deter¬ 
mined to try the sheep business and since then 
he has given his attention to this work. He 
has been favored with success in the venture 
and his place is assuming the characteristic 
marks of the sheep rancher in Montana. 

In 1890 Mr. Harrington married Miss 
Martha Flemming, a native of Arkansas and 
the daughter of Hiram and Mary Louisa 
(Bramblett) Flemming, both natives of 
Arkansas. When Martha was a child of ten 
years, the family came on to Kansas and there 
the father died five years later. The mother 














ABRAHAM HARRINGTON 







BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


529 


still lives in Kansas. Mrs. Harrington came 
to Montana in 1890, the year of her marriage. 
The children born to this union are nine, Flos¬ 
sie Helen, Callie May, Sylvia, Panzy, who died 
when four, Eva, Evelyn, Eugene, Abraham, 
and Frank who died when six months old. 


JAMES N. SCOTT, a native of Wood 
county, Ohio, now resides on a fine ranch 
two and one-half miles north of Roscoe, Car¬ 
bon county. The date of his birth was Febru¬ 
ary 28, 1865. His father, James N. Scott, also 
born in the Buckeye State, at Fremont, Sep¬ 
tember 9, 1831, was reared in that vicinity 
and followed the avocation of a farmer. In 
1866 he removed to Washington county, Iowa, 
where he located on a farm and followed at 
various periods the trade of a carpenter. Two 
years subsequently he removed to Stanton 
county, Nebraska, in 1868, where he located 
on a farm, remaining two years, going thence 
to Hamilton county, same state, where he set¬ 
tled on a farm along the Platte river. Here 
he lived seven years, thence removing to 
Dawes county, same state, and securing a farm 
when the Burlington & Missouri Railroad was 
being constructed in the state. On this road 
he took a contract and with the work came to 
Huntly, Montana, and the same year located 
on the Stillwater river, near Columbus, Mon¬ 
tana, and where he still lives. 

The mother of our subject, Ervilla (Jen¬ 
nings) Scott, was born in Sandusky, Ohio. 
She died in Montana in January, 1900. 

Our subject and his father remained to¬ 
gether until the former came to his present lo¬ 
cation, in 1894. He then secured a homestead 
of 160 acres, which is all under an excellent 
system of irrigation and well improved. In 
1895, Mr. Scott was united in marriage to 
Orra J. Mosier, born in the vicinity of Des 
Moines, Iowa. Her father, Cross O., was a 
native of Missouri, removing to Iowa when 
34 


two years of age. Her mother, Ann (Harvey) 
Mosier, was a native of Indiana. Mr. and 
Mrs. Scott have seven .children: Walter, Wil¬ 
lie, Maud, Blanche, Daisy, Harvey and Harry. 


MICHAEL HURLEY is to be numbered- 
with the progressive and industrious pioneers 
of Custer county and his labors have been put 
forth here for a quarter of a century with dis¬ 
play of wisdom and sound judgment, so that 
he has won the success that is gratifying when 
the golden years of life begin to run apace. Mr. 
Hurley has a nice ranch about two miles up 
the Tongue river from Miles City and he 
gives his attention to stock raising and the pro¬ 
duction of the fruits of the field. He was born 
in county Limerick, Ireland, where his ances¬ 
tors before him were born for several genera¬ 
tions, the date of his advent into the world be¬ 
ing June 15, 1838. His fathej, William Hur¬ 
ley, remained in county Limerick until the 
time of his death in the forties. He had mar¬ 
ried Mary Connor, also a native of the same 
county. After studying in the public schools 
until 1854, and doing between times work in 
various capacities, our subject went over to 
England in 1854 and there remained for four 
years. Then he came to the United States and 
in 1858 landed in New York City and went 
thence to Hartford, Connecticut, and there fol¬ 
lowed the tailor trade he had previously mas¬ 
tered, until the breaking out of the war in 
1861. Mr. Hurley was among the very first 
to offer his services to put down the rebellion 
and enlisted in the Fifth Regular United 
States Infantry. He served all through the 
war, being in the detachment sent to New 
Mexico in the Department of California and 
other southwestern points, and was among the 
troops that opposed Sibley in his campaign in 
New Mexico. After the way, he was honor¬ 
ably discharged in Kansas and there remained 
until 1874, when he re-enlisted in the regular 







530 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


army at Fort Hayes, taking his place in the 
same company and regiment as before. After 
a station period at Fort Hayes and Fort Leav¬ 
enworth, he came to Montana with General 
Miles in 1877 and served through the Indian 
campaign and received his honorable discharge 
in May, 1879. Mr. Hurley was actively en¬ 
gaged in many Indian campaigns, both in the 
southwestern portions of the United States 
and farther north and has always shown cour¬ 
age of the true and patriotic soldier. After be¬ 
ing mustered out he settled on the ranch he 
now occupies and gave his attention to rais¬ 
ing stock which has occupied him since, to¬ 
gether with farming. He has achieved good 
success and is a well esteemed man in the com¬ 
munity. 

In September, 1869, Mr. Hurley married 
Ellen Kennedy, a native of Ireland, and to 
them have been born the following named chil¬ 
dren : Fannie M., wife of S. F. Randall, in 
Chicago; Mary C., wife of Thomas W. Chaf¬ 
fee, in Miles City; Margaret E., wife of Mar- 
tyn Hawkins, of Chicago; William R., in Cus¬ 
ter county; John K., deceased; and Anna M., 
a stenographer for the Northern Pacific at 
Glendive. 


J. H. LUTZENHISER, born in Benzie 
county, Michigan, March 13, 1878, is one of 
the enterprising and prosperous ranchmen re¬ 
siding one and one-half miles north of Roscoe, 
Carbon county. His parents were natives of 
Ohio. Henry, the father, removed to Michi¬ 
gan with his parents at an early day. In 1897 
he came to Montana and located where now 
lives the subject of this sketch. The mother, 
Lucinda (Jennings) Lutzenhiser, when quite 
young went to Michigan with her relatives. 
Herself and husband are now living with our 
subject near Roscoe. 

The first preliminary education received by 
bur subject was in the district schools of 


Michigan. Subsequently, while yet a small 
lad, he accompanied his parents to Garfield 
county, Nebraska, and here he remained about 
three years, when he moved again with his 
parents to Pickens county, Alabama. Three 
years subsequently the family returned to the 
old home in Michigan. It was in 1897 that our 
subject came to Montana, where he secured a 
homestead, and where he is now located. He 
has his land under thorough cultivation and 
has made many improvements. Our subject 
has a full and a half brother; the latter Arthur 
E. Janes, the former, William, both enterpris¬ 
ing ranchers in Carbon county. He has two 
sisters; Rachael, wife of S. M. Jenkins, an<f 
Anna May. The latter is a teacher in the 
Orphan’s Home School, at Twin Bridges. 
She finished a common school education in 
Michigan, which she completed in the Boze¬ 
man Agricultural college. 

The paternal forefathers of our subject 
came from Germany to Pennsylvania in early 
days where they located. They were an old 
distinguished American family. His maternal 
ancestors came from England and were New 
England settlers. 


JOHN SUCCETTI. Among the earliest 
settlers of the valley of the Yellowstone is 
the gentleman whose name forms the caption 
of this article. He is a native of Sunny Italy, 
having been born in the north part of' that 
kingdom, near the Switzerland line, July 24, 
1850. His father, Antonia, a native of the 
same country, cultivated all kinds of fruit and 
manufactured wines. He died in 1893. The 
mother, Cathrina (Tromna) Succe'tti, born in 
the same place, died in 1883. 

The early education of our subject was 
secured in Italy. At the age of 29 he came to 
the United States and located first at Eureka, 
Nebraska, where he found employment burn¬ 
ing charcoal. In 1879 he came to Butte, Mon- 












BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


53i 


tana, where he joined his brother, Baptista, 
and together they worked three years. It was 
in 1881 that Mr. Succetti came to his present 
location in the Yellowstone Valley, locating 
on a homestead where he has since resided. 
He and his brother, Baptista, are living and 
working together. They have about one-half 
section of land, and another quarter section 
in the immediate vicinity. They were among 
the first settlers in the valley. At that period 
there was nothing in the country in the way of 
civilization, but any number of Indians and 
antelope. The brothers have a fine, handsome 
ranch and are comfortably provided for, the 
fruits of their own industry. There are two 
other brothers, Angelo and Louis. 


JOHN LARSEN, who resides about nine 
miles west from Forsyth, is one of the suc¬ 
cessful agriculturists of Montana and has had 
a long and varied experience in the various 
walks of frontier life, having been in some of 
the remote places of the west. His birth oc¬ 
curred in Denmark, March 25, 1845, his par¬ 
ents being Lars and Kissten (Jendatter) Nel¬ 
son, both natives of the same country as our 
subject. They followed farming and remained 
in their native place until death. Our sub¬ 
ject was reared and educated in his native land 
and learned well the art of the agriculturist 
from a thrifty and careful father. In 1867, 
young Larsen determined to try the new world 
and accordingly made preparations to come to 
Chicago, where he landed the same year and 
went to work on the first tunnel that was driv¬ 
en under the river there. Shortly afterward 
he went to work on a farm in the spring of 
1868, he went to Michigan where he was oc¬ 
cupied in the sawmills and in the woods until 
the spring of 1870. Then he came up the Mis¬ 
souri to Fort Benton and on to Helena, whence 
he journeyed to Deer Lodge and went to 
work on a farm. Here and in the mines he 


wrought until 1872 when he took up a ranch 
near Garrison. In 1874, Mr. Larsen deft this 
ranch and in the fall landed in the Puget sound 
country, making the journey on horseback. 
In the spring of 1875 he started for the mines 
of Alaska, the journey being by the Stikine 
river to telegraph station or landing. From this 
point he went on foot to Dish Lake one hun¬ 
dred miles, hiring Indians to pack his goods. 
Across Dish Lake in an improvised boat, and 
down Dish river one hundred miles to Mc¬ 
Dermott’s lake and there prospected till the 
fall, at which time he returned to Fort Wran¬ 
gle. The next spring he prospected again and 
in the fall returned to Victoria, British Co¬ 
lumbia. A year later he went down the sound 
further and in 1878 journeyed on to Cali¬ 
fornia. One year later he came back to Port¬ 
land, Oregon, and thence overland to Walla 
Walla, where he wintered and in the spring 
procured a horse and rode back to the ranch 
he had left six years before. Then Mr. Larsen 
felt like settling down and did so till 1884, 
when he came to his present place, which has 
since been his home. 

In 1892, Mr. Larsen took a journey to 
Denmark and while there married Miss Aba- 
lona Larson, a native of that country. Return¬ 
ing soon after with his wife they settled on 
the ranch and since then have been occupied 
in making it one of the choice places of this 
county. They have seven hundred acres of 
land, good buildings and other improvements 
in comparison and are rated substantial and 
well to do citizens of this county. Consider¬ 
ing that Mr. Larsen started without means 
this speaks well for his thrift and industry. 

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Larsen 
are John P., Anna, Helena and Catherine. 


MARTIN ARTHUN, residing six miles 
south of Absarokee, Carbon county, a pros¬ 
perous and enterprising ranchman, was born 
in Norway, September 29, 1858. His father. 









53 2 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


Nels O., a native of the same place, is at pres¬ 
ent living there on a farm, the name of which 
property is Arthun, the title of the family 
The mother, Martha (Ostemim) Arthun, a 
native of the same place, is still residing there. 
Herself and husband have been married sixty- 
two years. 

Having received a fair education in the 
district schools of his vicinity, our subject, at 
the age of twenty-nine years, came to the Uni¬ 
ted States, and'first went to Pembina county, 
North Dakota, where his first employment 
was working for wages. Remaining in North 
Dakota only until 1888, he removed to the 
vicinity of Caledonia, Minnesota, leaving there 
April 6, 1899, and coming to Bigtimber, Mon¬ 
tana, and thence to Meagher county, same 
state, where he found employment with Fred 
Miller, a sheep man, and with whom he re¬ 
mained two years. Thence in company with 
two brothers, John and Thomas, he engaged 
in the sheep business, and purchased three sec¬ 
tions of railroad land in Sweetgrass county. 
This property they disposed of in 1901, and in 
April of the same year they went on the Mus¬ 
selshell, in Meagher county, locating on the 
south fork of that stream, where they con¬ 
tinued the same business. Here they remained 
until the summer of 1903, when they located 
on Butcher Creek, Carbon county, Montana, 
the firm being John Arthun & Brothers. This 
partnership was continued until the fall of 
1904, when it was dissolved. Since that date 
our subject has remained alone in business, 
ranching and running sheep. 

September 28, 1895, Mr. Arthun was un¬ 
ited in marriage to Elizabeth Aanstad, a na¬ 
tive of Norway, coming to America a short 
time previous to her marriage. Her parents 
are Eric and Anna (Jorina) Aanstad, both 
living in Norway, where they were born. Mr. 
and Mrs. Arthun have six children: Martha, 
born June 1, 1896; Eric, June 16, 1897; Anna, 
October 10, 1898; Markus, April 9, 1902 and 
Elmer L., January 7, 1905. 


JEROME A. BISHOP resides on Brack¬ 
ett creek, two miles west of Clyde Park and 
also in Livingston, maintaining a residence in 
both places. The former place is his headquar¬ 
ters for his large sheep industry, in which he 
has been eminently successful while the latter 
is for the purpose of educating his children, 
and the balance to enjoy some of the comforts 
of life. He was born in March 9, 1845, near 
Chicago, Illinois. His father, Jerome.A. Bis¬ 
hop married Lora Davis, a native of Vermont 
and he died when our subject was four years 
of age. In 1851, Mrs. Bishop started across 
the plains with ox teams for California, but 
owing to the hostilities of the Indians, she was 
obliged to remain at Salt Lake City and there 
she married a second time. After remaining 
three or four years in Salt Lake City, the fam¬ 
ily moved to Indiana and our subject when 
aged fifteen, started in life for himself, it then 
being i860. He arrived in Denver in the fall 
of that year and went to work freighting with 
ox teams from Salt Lake to Denver, in which 
he continued until the fall of 1862. During 
that time he freighted also to Fort Union, 
New Mexico, for the government and in 1863, 
he began ranching below Denver. On the first 
day of March, 1864, Mr. Bishop started for 
Montana and arrived at Virginia City the last 
day of April, 1864. He took up ranching in 
the valley where the Big Hole and Beaver 
Head come together, now called Twin Bridges, 
which place was taken from him by a squaw 
man. He moved higher up the river and sel¬ 
ected another place upon which he started a 
road ranch. He made good money during the 
winter and in the spring sold out and went 
to Silverbow where he was employed at twenty 
dollars per day, for himself and ox team. In 
the fall of 1865, he again returned to ranch¬ 
ing, but as the grasshoppers ate up everything, 
he was obliged to take up freighting again. 
This continued until 1866 when he went into 
the stock business on Beaverhead, where he 
continued for sixteen years. Then came a 






BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


533 


move to Bozeman and later he came to Shields 
river and embarked in sheep raising bringing 
the first band of sheep that ever came on to 
the upper river. Since that time he has con¬ 
tinued steadily in the same business and has 
purchased more land from time to time until 
now he has many hundred acres under fence. 
He has made a splendid success in handling 
sheep^ and is rated as one of the wealthy men 
of the county. 

On December 20, 1865, Mr. Bishop mar¬ 
ried Celia Mize, who is the daughter of Free¬ 
man and Catherine (Adkins) Mize. To this 
union nine children have been born, seven of 
who are now living, named, with their dates 
of birth as follows : Andrew, October 28, 1867; 
Arthur J., October 29, 1876; Della, the wife 
of Frank Cain, July 10, 1878; Daisy, the wife 
of William F. Hanns, July 22, 1881; James, 
November 11, 1883; Dolly, the wife of 

Charles Bartlett, January 4, 1886; Addie, No¬ 
vember 26, 1890. Mr. Bishop is a pioneer and 
has labored hard since the early sixties to build 
up Montana. He has passed through many 
experiences from the days of the vigilantes to 
the present prosperous condition of the great 
state of Montana and no little credit is due 
him for the lion’s* share he has accomplished 
by his industry and wisdom. 


ARTHUR C. ANDERSON, one of the 
fortunate landholders and enterprising ranch¬ 
ers of the attractive Stillwater valley residing 
four and one-half miles west of Absarokee, 
Carbon county, on the Stillwater river, was 
born in Johnsville, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
October 23, 1874. His father, James, also a 
native of the Buckeye State, was a farmer, 
born at New Lebanon, February 18, 1827, 
dying August 29, 1900. His entire life was 
passed in Ohio. The mother, Catherine (Ziler) 
Anderson, was born in Maryland, January 
16, 1833. With her parents she removed to 


Ohio, where she was married, and passed her 
life. She died June 23, 1892. 

Our subject is the youngest of eight chil¬ 
dren. His brother, W. E. is vice-president 
of the Columbus State Bank. Until he was 
nineteen years of age our subject made his 
home with his parents, and attended the pub¬ 
lic schools in Ohio. He then married, and a 
year later left for the west. He came direct 
to Absarokee, where one of his brothers then 
held a ranch. Here he secured a “bench” 
ranch, but relinquished it and purchased a 
“squatter’s” improvement on an Indian allot¬ 
ment. Through a complication in the title, 
Mr. Anderson was engaged in a long and con¬ 
tinued litigation to secure a clear title, and 
during this time he worked out by the month, 
his wife remaining on the contested ranch. 
When he arrived in Montana, he had only 
$165, and during the first few years he barely 
existed. During that time he, or rather his 
wife, made what improvements were possible, 
keeping the crop irrigated and harvesting 
while he worked elsewhere. Industry has told 
powerfully for their present home, for it is a 
model of neatness and comfort. He has now 
160 acres of the choicest land in the valley, 
and under irrigation. 

April 15, 1894, Mr. Anderson was united 
in marriage to Alva J. Kein, born in West 
Alexander, Ohio, ten days previous to the 
birth of her husband. Her father, Frederick 
W., is a native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 
born March 16, 1836. At present he is a 
farmer living in Ohio. Her mother, Sophia 
M. (Eickhoff)) Kein, was born in Dayton, 
Ohio, October 2, 1847, Prussian parentage. 
She still lives. Mrs. Anderson has a brother, 
Oliver Kein, near Absarokee, and a sister, 
Mrs. W. E. Anderson, her husband being a 
brother of our subject, residing at Columbus, 
Montana. Our subject and his estimable wife 
have one boy, Orville Bryan, born November 
10, 1897. An offer was made by a couple of 
bachelors, friends of our subject, to start him 







534 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


in the cattle business if he was named Bryan; 
hence his name. Politically Mr. Anderson is 
a Democrat, and holds the office of road super¬ 
visor. He never permits party politics to af¬ 
fect his vote in local affairs. 


ALBERT TROGER, a stockman residing 
twelve miles north of Gardiner on an estate 
of four hundred acres of deeded land, was 
born April 14, i860, at Ottawa, Illinois, being 
the son of Andrew and Anna Marie (Birken- 
buel) Troger. The father was born in Ba¬ 
varia, came to America in 1850 and settled in 
Illinois where he followed his trade of car¬ 
pentering. The mother was born in Prussia 
and came to this country in the early fifties 
with her parents, being married about 1857. 
Our subject has one brother and three sisters 
living. After receiving a business education 
in the schools of Illinois, Mr. Troger left home 
when twenty years of age and went to Yank¬ 
ton, South Dakota, where he took up river 
steamboating. In 1881 he followed construc¬ 
tion work on the Northern Pacific and two 
years later engaged in prospecting in Bear 
Gulch and on the eastern slope of the Rockies. 
During that time he located and became in¬ 
terested in a number of good claims as the 
Graham, Mountain Chief, Tip Top, Iron Duke, 
Traction, Empire State and Vanity Fair. He 
followed mining with varying success until 
1904 when he quit the business and engaged in 
farming and stock business. Where he now 
lives, he secured a homestead in 1905 and 
has added until he has a fine estate. Mr. Tro¬ 
ger makes a specialty of Angora goats, hav¬ 
ing at this time the largest band owned by any 
single individual in the state. He has demon¬ 
strated that in this latitude the goats as they 
grow older become much heavier producers 
in fleece weight. Last year he shipped in and 
bas now on his ranch, Lazarus, one of the 
most famous bucks in America. He was 


champion at the Royal Stock Show in Mis¬ 
souri and sold for seven hundred dollars. Mr. 
Troger takes great interest in the Angora 
goat business and is making a splendid success 
of it. 

At Gardiner in 1894, Mr. Troger and Vic¬ 
toria Fridlin were married. Mrs. Troger was 
born in Germany and came to this country in 
1886. They have become the parents of three 
children, Alice E., born September 4, 1896; 
Irene V. March 12, 1898, and Henry R. Sep¬ 
tember 25, 1900. 

Mr. Troger has always been an active Re¬ 
publican and is often delegate to the county 
and state conventions. In 1893 he was elected 
justice of the peace and in 1900 was chosen 
county commissioner and has held the office 
ever since. 

Mrs. Troger’s father was Lambert Bruder, 
born in Seebach, Germany, January 9, 1826. 
He is a Forest Ranger in his country. His 
father, Joseph Bruder, was a very successful 
farmer and died in the summer of 1898, aged 
ninety-two. Mrs. Troger’s mother was Eliza¬ 
beth (Braun) Bruder and she was born in 
Seebach, Germany, November 19, 1830. Mrs. 
Troger is the second of two children, her old¬ 
est sister being Caroline, born June 7 > 1 %S 7 > 
and the date of her birth was August 15, i860. 


JACOB P. WEAST, of the firm of Weast 
Brothers, railroad contractors and general 
ranchers, resides eighteen miles northwest of 
Red Lodge, Carbon county. The place of his 
nativity is Woodford county, Illinois, where 
he was born January 23, 1871. 

The father of our subject, John Weast, a 
native of the same place, was born April 20, 
1846, and was a railroad contractor and pro¬ 
moter. He also laid out the town of Benson, 
Illinois, going to Nebraska twenty-six years 
ago, where he femained four years. Thence 
he went on to Wyoming, where he again en- 










BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


535 


gaged in contracting. In October, 1895, he 
located on the fine ranch now held by the fam¬ 
ily, where he died February 12, 1898. 

Owing to reverses in Nebraska, whither his 
family had removed when our subject was a 
lad, he did not secure a chance to Study until 
after he had attained his majority. He then 
availed himself of two terms of schooling. 
Following this he found employment on rail¬ 
roads, in which line he has been engaged in 
contracting since he was fifteen years of age. 
In company with his brother two years young¬ 
er our subject took a railroad contract of two 
miles of construction work, and with a capital 
of only $90, but plenty of nerve, turned it 
into a profitable investment. Since that period 
his work in this line has steadily increased at 
different points on the Burlington, and includ¬ 
ing a seven-mile contract on the newly com¬ 
pleted Montana Railroad extending into Lew¬ 
iston. 

Two years prior to that event our subject 
returned to Nebraska where he built ten miles 
of the “Brush” branch of the Burlington, from 
Lyons to Guernsey. Mr. Weast is one of the 
promoters of the Rosebud Irrigation system, 
incorporated under the firm name of the Rose¬ 
bud Irrigation Company. Work on this en¬ 
terprise was commenced in June, 1892, and at 
this date eighteen miles of ditch have been 
completed. It is intended to add another 14- 
mile ditch which will irrigate in all about 
15,000 acres. The officers of this company are 
Alfred Pillsbury, president, Minneapolis; 
George Huff, secretary and treasurer, Brid- 
ger, and M. G. Swan, consulting engineer, 
Gebo. 

December 2, 1905, our subject commenced 
on a twelve-mile contract on the Burlington 
system of the Big Horn, Wyoming, and is 
about to begin another thirty-mile job for the 
same firm. Last year he completed a twenty- 
two-mile contract on Yellowstone Park rail¬ 
road from Bridger. From the $90 outfit with 
which they began work the firm now has a 


$95,000 plant, with the most up-to-date equip¬ 
ment. 

The mother of our subject, Mary (Som¬ 
mers) Weast, was born in Woodford county, 
Illinois, and was three months older than her 
husband, with whom she went to school. She 
reared a family of six: Mrs. Annie Fredrick, 
wife of W. R. Frederick, of Joliet, Montana, 
a railroad contractor; our subject; William 
F., a partner of subject; John F., Mrs. Mary 
Turnicliffe, of Merritt, Montana; Martin W., 
(Grover), a nickname. Politically Mr. Weast 
is a Democrat, and takes an active interest in 
party issues, but was compelled to oppose the 
re-election of President Cleveland. Two years 
since he made a visit to the old place in Illinois, 
where he found the log building of his boy¬ 
hood’s home. Aside from his contracting en¬ 
terprises Mr. Weast has an excellent ranch of 
a section of land, where he rears draft horses. 
When the father of our subject left Illinois 
for Nebraska he carried with him a capital of 
$80,000, all of which he lost during his four 
years of “fighting grasshoppers.” 


ROBERT B. ROWLAND resides sixteen 
miles below Gardiner and follows general 
farming. He was born March 26, 1839, at 
Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His father, John 
Rowland, was born in Chester county, Penn¬ 
sylvania, in 1778 and followed farming. He 
was the son of John Rowland, who was a vet¬ 
eran of the Revolutionary War. Our sub¬ 
ject’s mother Marinda (Buchanan) Rowland, 
was also born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, 
and came of Scotch extraction. She was mar¬ 
ried in 1838 and became the mother of three 
children, our subject being the eldest and the 
only one living. Robert B. attended the public 
schools until twelve years of age and then com¬ 
menced life’s activities for himself. His first 
work was on the farm, after which he went to 
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and in 1862, he en- 








BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


536 


listed in the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth 
Pennsylvania Volunteers, being the Second Di- 
^ vision, Second Corps and Third Brigade. He 
served throughout the war and in 1866 en¬ 
listed in Company A, Sixteenth U. S. Regu¬ 
lars. In 1870, he was ordered from Salt Lake 
to Fort Ellis, marching all of the way, being 
in Company A, Seventh U. S. Infantry. He 
remained at Fort Ellis until his discharge in 
1874 and Montana has been his home since. 
After leaving the army, he did hunting and 
trapping until 1876, then located mining claims 
at Cook City. In 1877, he enlisted as a 
scout under General Howard and was one of 
the active followers of Chief Joseph on his 
famous retreat. After Joseph surrendered he 
returned to Cpok City and from 1877 to 1892 
he conducted a pack train and took tourists 
through the Park. In 1892 he located his 
present place and has been engaged in the stock 
business and farming ever since. He has eight 
hundred acres under fence and is prosperous. 

Mr. Rowland takes an active part in poli¬ 
tics, being a Republican, while in fraternal 
affiliations he is an Odd Fellow. 


IVER THOMPSON, well and favorably 
known as a progressive rancher residing five 
miles west of Absarokee, Carbon county, was 
born in the central part of Norway, May 10, 
1862. His father, Claus, was born and died 
in Norway, the latter event occurring March 
17, 1905, at the age of sixty-eight years. The 
mother, Alata (Ingbrightsen) Thompson, is 
still living in the old country at the age of sev¬ 
enty-seven. 

Our subject is the third of six children, 
all of whom with the exception of himself 
are in Norway. Until he was nine years of age 
he attended the public schools in Norway, and 
he then began work as a herd boy, still at¬ 
tending school winters until he was fifteen. 
Since that date he has continued to take a 


man’s part in life. Until he was twenty years 
old he followed farming, and then he began 
logging. He came to the United States in 
1889, arriving in New York and going thence 
to Minneapolis, arriving there June 4 th of th e 
same year. There he began work in a lumber 
yard during the summer months, and in winter 
he resorted to the woods. The following 
spring he came to Livingston, Montana, leav¬ 
ing soon for the Yellowstone Park, remain¬ 
ing there one summer. In the fall he removed 
to Castle, then a “boom” mining camp. Three 
years subsequently he returned to Minneapo¬ 
lis, remaining eighteen months, still working 
in lumber yards and the woods. In the spring 
of 1896 he came back to Livingston, and 
passed the summer in the Park, cutting bridge 
material for the government. Then he re¬ 
turned to Castle. 

During the time he spent in Castle he 
worked a year in a saw mill, but became finan¬ 
cially embarrassed in the panic, and lost every 
cent of his hard-earned capital, and then he re¬ 
turned to Castle. He worked in the mills dur¬ 
ing the winter, and then went to the Mussel¬ 
shell valley, where he secured employment on 
a sheep, ranch for a season. 

July 23, 1897, Mr. Thompson was married 
to Olivia Wester, also native of Norway, com¬ 
ing to the United States in 1896. Her parents 
are still in Norway. She had a brother 
drowned at Stanwood, Washington, July 4, 
1905. His name was Joleff. The rest of the 
family are in Norway. Mr. and Mrs. Thomp¬ 
son have three children, Alma, Hilda and Cora, 
all born in Montana. 

Following his marriage Mr. Thompson de¬ 
cided to found a home. The same fall he pur¬ 
chased seventy head of cattle and ranged them 
in the valley. The following spring he pur¬ 
chased a farm on Cottonwood Creek which 
he. held eighteen months, disposing of the same 
in 1901, and th^n coming to his present loca¬ 
tion, purchasing a “squatter’s right.” There 
was nothing then save a cabin and raw land. 












BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


537 


Here he has made one of the best homes in 
Carbon county. He has 80 acres now under 
irrigation, and is raising alfalfa and stock. He 
has 50 head of fine cattle and proposes to en¬ 
gage in the sheep business and dairying. 

Politically Mr. Thompson is a Republican, 
and takes active interest in the party cam¬ 
paigns, although by no,means a partisan office- 
seeker. Himself and wife belong to the Lu¬ 
theran church. 


LOUIS H. SHAFER resides three miles 
north of Fridley and follows general farming, 
having a fine ranch of about two hundred and 
sixty acres. He was born in Lawrence county, 
Ohio, December 22, 1837, the son of Philip 
J. and ‘Mary L. (Stajerman) Shafer, who 
were married in Cincinnati. The father was 
born in Hamburg, Germany in 1811, came to 
America about 1830, settling in Cincinnati 
when it was but a village, having only fourteen 
brick buildings in the entire place. Being a 
butcher, he opened a shop and continued there 
in business. The mother was born in New 
Bremen in 1820. They were the parents of 
twelve children, seven boys and five girls, three 
of whom besides our subject are living. Fred 
W. in Cincinnati; Louisa Martin in Jackson, 
Ohio, and Christena Smedley in Huntington 
county, West Virginia. After completing a 
common school education, Louis H. finished at 
the Bryant & Stratton College in Cincinnati 
and in 1864 he started out for himself. He 
soon came west and in September, 1867, took 
a position in the quartermaster's department 
at Fort Leavenworth, where he remained un¬ 
til March, 1868. Then he took another trip, 
visited the Mosier river and various places in 
Idaho. He then went to White Pine. Nevada. 
In July, 1873, he left there for Montana, ar¬ 
riving at Bozeman in August. The following 
winter was spent at Bear Gulch and in July, 
1874, he came to the vicinity of Emigrant. 


Since that time he’has been mining, stock rais¬ 
ing and ranching in various places. On April 
1, 1897, he secured his present property. It 
is a fine bottom ranch, well watered and very 
valuable. He gave his attention to stock rais¬ 
ing and farming until recently, having now 
sold most of his stock. 

On December 11, 1882, Mr. Shafer-mar¬ 
ried Mrs. Mary Swan, who was bom in Indiana 
on August 23, 1838, the daughter of Benja¬ 
min and Margaret (Trimble) Jones. The fa¬ 
ther was a native of Georgia. 

Mr. Shafer is a Republican in politics and 
has frequently been at the county conventions. 


JAMES E. REA. From the earliest days 
the business of handling and raising stock of 
various kinds has occupied a most prominent 
position in the economy of human industry 
and from the days when Abel’s flocks furn¬ 
ished their first quota till the present time it 
has always held rank among the most substan¬ 
tial and honorable of human callings. The 
wonderful advancements that have been made 
in many lines of this work by bringing to a 
more nearly perfect state the various domestic 
animals are worthy the study and investiga¬ 
tions of all who are interested in advancement. 
The boundless west has furnished most ex¬ 
cellent opportunities in many lines for stock 
raising and Montana is by no means least in 
the advantages- she has held out to the wise 
and progressive stockman. Many of the most 
substantial citizens of this state are numbered 
with the stock breeders and the gentleman 
whose name is at the head of this page ranks 
among the leaders in this important industry 
at this time. Having also been one who has 
spent the major portion of his life in Montana 
he is entitled to a place in her history with 
those who have made the state. 

On June 27, 1879, in Ontario, Canada, 
James E. Rea was born to William and Helen 









538 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


(Davidson) Rea, natives of Scotland and Og- 
densburg, New York, respectively, and of 
Scotch ancestrage. The father had held the 
position of shepherd on the estate of Lord 
Polwarth in Scotland and there remained un¬ 
til nineteen when he migrated to Ontario, Can¬ 
ada, and engaged in farming and sheep rais¬ 
ing. In 1872 he moved west to Fargo, now in 
North Dakota, being about the earliest settler 
there, and followed farming. Ten years later 
he settled near Miles City and took up sheep¬ 
raising in connection with the farm at Fargo. 

The winter of 1886-7 reduced his flocks 
from six thousand to one thousand five hun¬ 
dred and then he began to buy sheep and feed 
for the Chicago markets. In company with his 
sons, the firm being known as Rea & Sons, he 
continued in this business till his death in 
1898. He started in America without capital 
and despite the reverses he met he became one 
of the wealthy men of Montana. His wife 
preceded him some years in death and they 
both lie buried on the old home farm near 
Fargo, which his sons still retain. 

James E. was educated primarily in the 
first schools of Fargo and in 1899 entered the 
University of Minnesota where he was gradu¬ 
ated in due time with the degree of LL. B. 
After this he spent some time in the law office 
of Childs, Egerton & Wickwise and then 
returned to the sheep business. All the time 
he has followed this business he has been in 
partnership with his three brothers, William, 
John and David, the former of whom is now 
in Billings. John died in 1905. Until 1903 
they were extensively engaged in buying and 
feeding sheep, many of their feeding stables 
being near Chicago, and they were rated one 
of the very largest firms in this business in 
the entire country. At the date last mentioned 
the brothers purchased the Cold Springs 
Ranch, situated just one mile north of For¬ 
syth, then owned by the Gould Brothers. 
It was one of the oldest and best known ranch¬ 


es in the state and consisted of. twelve thou¬ 
sand acres of land. Since purchasing this they 
have added much more land and have about 
six hundred acres under the ditch, with a large 
proportion in alfalfa. It is one of the most 
complete and well ordered sheep ranches in 
the west and is a land mark as well as a pride 
to this portion of the state. 

In 1904, Mr. Rea married Miss Pansy 
O’Brien, the daughter of Patrick and Fannie 
(Higgins) O’Brien. Mr. O’Brien is assistant 
postmaster in St. Paul, Minnesota and has 
been in the office for thirty-five years. Mrs. 
Rea is a native of St. Paul and was born in 
1880. One child, George A., born in St Paul 
is the fruit of this marriage. Mr. Rea is a 
member of the M. W. A. and is one of the 
the prominent young men of this part of the 
state, being president of the Rosebud, county 
fair commissioners and secretary of the Rea 
Brothers Sheep Company. 

It is of interest to note that in the early 
days when the Indians were on the war path, 
the elder Mr. Rea was faced with the problem 
of leaving the country or fighting it out. With 
a few others whose courage was equal to the 
occasion he remained, even in the time of Cus¬ 
ter’s defeat and never deserted his farm. The 
Cold Springs place is one of the historic spots 
of this part of Montana and there still re¬ 
mains on it a block house that was built in 
early days to enable the residents to success¬ 
fully cope with the Indians. It is marked with 
bullet holes and shows signs of the fights that 
formerly raged here. The place was taken up 
by a man named Murphy and he erected the 
block house, which later became a stage sta¬ 
tion, and in 1880 was a government station, 
being on the telegraph line to Fort Buford. 

The Cold Springs Ranch is named from 
the many springs on the land, while in the large 
spring at the mouth of the tunnel that leads 
up to the blockhouse flows the finest water 
in all Rosebud county. 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


539 


WILLIAM J. NIX is one of the well 
known men of Forsyth and he has spent 
twenty years in the state. At present he is 
deputy game warden at Forsyth and is also 
engaged in the commission business handling 
hides and wool. He is a man well informed in 
the issues and questions of the day and holds 
a firm belief in the Democratic platform and 
is well acquainted with the political economy 
of the state. On August i, 1904, he was ap¬ 
pointed to the position he still occupies and is 
an efficient officer. While Mr. Nix is in no 
sense of the word a politician in the usual ap¬ 
plication of that word, still he always takes 
a keen interest in the campaign as a loyal and 
patriotic citizen and is a strong worker for his 
friends and for the principles he stands for 
in the political world. He has frequently been 
put forward for various positions of honor 
but he has never yet allowed his name to be 
placed on the ticket, although his friends are 
often urging him to do so. 

William J. Nix was born in Osborn. New 
York, August 26, 1865. His father, Thomas 
Nix, was born in Ireland and came to New 
York when a lad of thirteen. He served 
through the Civil War and carries marks of a 
severe wound he received in the service of 
his country. In 1867 he came west to Ben¬ 
ton county, Minnesota, and settled on a farm 
where he still resides. He had married Miss 
Julia Hogan, a native of Ireland, who came 
to the United States when a young girl. She 
died in 1892. Our subject was a small child 
when he came to Minnesota with his parents 
and there he grew to manhood and in the 
schools of Benton county he was educated. 
When he had reached his majority, he came 
west and soon entered the employ of the North¬ 
ern Pacific at Glendive. He rose steadily un¬ 
til in 1899 he occupied the position of road 
master, which position he continued to fill un¬ 
til 1903. 

In 1899, Mr. Nix married Miss Maud E. 
Rozell, the daughter of Joshua Rozell. She 


came from North Dakota to Montana. Mr. 
Nix is one of the prominent men of our county 
and has taken a great interest in the advance¬ 
ment of affairs in all lines. He keenly appre¬ 
ciates the necessity of strict adherence to the 
game laws, and sees that they are enforced in 
his territory. The importance of preserving 
the game has been more patent to the people 
at large and it is hoped this very important 
branch of legislation will be carefully 
looked after in the days to come. 


GEORGE HERBERT. One of the earl¬ 
iest pioneers of the Yellowstone Valley is the 
subject of this sketch, now residing one mile 
southwest of Laurel, Yellowstone county. He 
is a native of the Keystone State, having been 
torn July 3, 1833, in Franklin county. 

His father, A. K. Herbert, was a native of 
Germany, going to Pennsylvania at an early 
day where he remained until his death. The 
mother, Sarah Herbert, was also a native of 
Germany. 

The public schools of Pennsylvania af¬ 
forded an education to our subject, and at the 
age of seventeen he went to Kentucky, and 
subsequently on to Illinois. Following the close 
of the Civil War he went to Missouri, and in 
1867 he went to Utah, but in the fall of the 
same year came to Virginia City, Montana, 
(Alder Gulch). He then worked his way to¬ 
ward the Gallatin valley. He was among the 
first to enter Yellowstone Park in 1869. When 
he reported what he had seen his story was 
met with derision by many of the old timers. 
It was in 1881 that he located on his present 
property. Since coming here he has been en¬ 
gaged in the stock business. 

In 1880 Mr. Herbert married Nancy Ellen 
Seright, a native of Illinois, who had come to 
Montana with her parents in early days. Her 
father, Joseph Seright, was torn in Indiana, 
February 7, 1827, and his people were pioneers 









540 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


of Decatur county, Indiana. Her mother, Mar¬ 
tha A. (Uttinger), was a native of Decatur 
county, born in 1831. 

Six children have blessed the union of Mr. 
and Mrs. Herbert: Emma,, wife of William 
Chaffin; George Herbert, at home with his 
father; Arthur, at home; Mattie, wife of Louis 
Webster; Joseph H. and Henry: 


HENRY C. THOMPSON, who is train¬ 
master for the government at Fort Keogh, is 
one of the well known men of this portion of 
Montana and is a man of wide and varied ex¬ 
perience in many lines, especially with the 
army in the west. He was born in eastern 
Tennessee, on December 27, 1847, the son of 
Vincent and Lydda (Bolton) Thompson, na¬ 
tives of eastern Tennessee, and Virginia re¬ 
spectively. The father followed farming until 
the war broke out and then joined the Union 
army, Tenth Tennessee Cavalry, and was 
killed while fighting- bushwhackers shortly 
afterwards. His widow was of German de¬ 
scent and came from Virginia to Tennessee 
with her parents when young. She died in 
Tennessee, in the winter of 1880-1. Henry 
C. was reared in the mountain portion of Ten¬ 
nessee and received his education from the 
public schools during the first fourteen years 
of his life. Then the war broke out and as he 
and his father were on the Union side, they 
were the objects of hatred by those who sup¬ 
ported the confederacy. Being drafted by the 
confederates, they had to escape and did so, 
getting to the Union army. The father, as 
stated, at once joined the army and was killed. 
Young Thompson, being but fourteen, and be¬ 
ing too young to send to the front was de¬ 
tached to scout through the country and con¬ 
vey food and messages to men who were being 
hunted by the confederates. In this dangerous 
work he engaged until he enlisted in Company 
C, Eighth Tennessee Federal Cavalry. When 


the war was over he went home and remained 
until 1869 when he enlisted in the Fifth Reg¬ 
ular Infantry, under General Miles and served 
continuously for ten years. He was with Gen¬ 
eral Miles in all his important Indian cam¬ 
paigns in Indian Territory in 1874, and the 
Panhandle of Texas, and on July 12, 1876, 
he started with Miles for the Yellowstone on 
another Indian campaign, and was engaged 
against the Cheyennes, Sioux and Nez Perces. 
Thus he has participated in all the important 
struggles with the Indians on the plains for 
that period of active Indian warfare from sev¬ 
enty to eighty, and has passed over much of 
the country. He has always distinguished 
himself by faithfulness, courage and bravery, 
and won the esteem and confidence of his com¬ 
manders. On August 29, 1879, Mr. Thomp¬ 
son received his honorable discharge and then 
went to work for the government as scout, 
guide, packer, and so forth, and has remained 
With the military ever since, being now train¬ 
master, as stated before. 

In 1893 Mr. Thompson was employed by 
the government as trainmaster in the army un¬ 
der General Shafter and went to Cuba, serving 
all through that campaign, and returning un¬ 
der General Bates. Mr. Thompson has served 
frequently as interpreter and came out of the 
regular army as first sergeant. Nearly all his 
life has been spent in and about the army and 
he is a military man in the true sense of the 
word. 

Mr. Thompson has two children: 
Thomas T., who died while attending the 
state university at Lincoln, Nebraska; and 
Robert, who is now employed at Fort Keogh. 


OLE EGGEN, born in Norway, May 5, 
1866, now resides on a fine farm five miles 
south of Absarokee, Carbon county, Montana. 
His father, Samuel, born on the same farm as 
our subject, was an agriculturist and remained 











BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


54i 


in Norway until his death in 1902. The 
mother, Bertha, died when our subject was a 
child. 

In the public schools of Norway our sub¬ 
ject was educated. Here he worked on the 
farm until he was twenty-two years of age, 
when he emigrated to the United States, and 
came at first to Meagher couhty, Montana, 
where he worked for wages. He made his 
advent into Carbon county in 1899, and there 
he purchased the ranch where he now lives. 
He has a fine quarter section of land, all under 
an excellent system of irrigation, and which 
property he has vastly improved. He has 
buildings as good as any in the county. 

In 1900 he was married to Serena Olson, 
born in the same place in Norway as our sub¬ 
ject. In 1897 she came with her people to the 
United States, and they settled near White 
Sulphur Springs, Montana. Her father, 
Gustad, died in Norway, near where he was 
born; her mother was Mary Kavanaugh. She 
has four young children: Charlie, Oscar, 

Bertha and Mina. 


PETER KIRSCHER has one of the fine 
estates in Park county. The same consists of 
eight hundred and forty acres in one body, 
located fifteen miles north from Livingston 
and admirably fitted both for general farm¬ 
ing and stock raising. In addition to this, 
Mr. Kirscher owns a half section in another 
portion of the state, besides considerable other 
property. His farm is well improved with 
fine buildings and skillfully laid out, and is a 
valuable and pleasant property. He was born 
on August 8, 1843, ' n Erie county, Pennsyl¬ 
vania, his parents being Peter and Caroline 
(Harman) Kirscher. The former was born 
in Alsace, France, and came to America with 
his parents when fourteen, followed farming 
and stock raising and in 1853 moved to the vi¬ 
cinity of Des Moines, Iowa, where he remained 


until his death in 1898. The mother was born 
in Baden on the Rhine, came to this country 
when fourteen with her parents and settled 
near Erie, Pennsylvania. She died in 1896. 
Our subject came west in the spring of 1864, 
landing on Alder Gulch September 10th. The 
following winter he was carried with the 
stampede to Last Chance Gulch where Helena 
now stands. He soon began to believe that he 
had no luck in mining, so, with a partner, he 
bought a whip saw and cut some of the lum¬ 
ber used in the first buildings in Helena. The 
next winter he tried his hand again at min¬ 
ing but soon turned aside and bought 'a yoke 
of oxen and crossed over to Diamond City 
where he engaged in hauling-timbers for the 
mines. In the spring of 1866, he formed a 
partnership with William Linhardy and took 
up ranching in the Missouri valley forty miles 
east of Helena. Improving this occupied 
him for four years then he sold out to his 
partner and bought a ten mule outfit and be¬ 
gan freighting from Corinne, Utah, to Helena, 
Montana.. He would make a round trip in 
thirty days, and he worked steadily at this un¬ 
til 1872, when he and his brother went to 
farming again in the Missouri valley. In 
1878 he sold out to his brother and bought 
a half section of land nearby which he still 
owns. It was in the fall of 1883 that Mr. 
Kirscher took his desert claim, three hundred 
and sixty acres of his present estate. Later 
he bought one hundred and sixty acres from 
the railroad and since then he has purchased 
another half section, which gives him the 
estate mentioned at the beginning of this ar¬ 
ticle. In 1889, he brought his family over 
here and since that time this has been the 
home place. Mr. Kirscher is an energetic, ac¬ 
tive man, has made a fine showing on his 
farm and is one of the well-to-do men of the 
county. 

On September 20, 1873, M r - Kirscher 
married Christiana Dinger, the daughter of 
George and Miria Dinger. Four children 









542 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


have come to gladden the home of Mr. and 
Mrs. Kirscher: Mrs. Josephine Killoin, born 
July io, 1874; Mrs. Ida Bliler, born October 
15, 1875; Ralph M., born October 6, 1879 and 
Alvin, born January 15, 1882. 

Mr. Kirscher, his wife and family are all 
members of the Catholic church. In matters 
that pertain to the advancement of the educa¬ 
tional affairs and the welfare of the state and 
so forth, Mr. Kirscher is keenly interested and 
he takes an active part in political affairs, be¬ 
ing allied with the’Democratic party. 


WILLIAM C. JONES, a general farmer 
and business man of the Yellowstone valley, 
residing ten miles west of Billings, was born 
in Jasper county, Iowa, June 22, 1844. His 
father, Joseph Jones, was born in a block 
house in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, during an 
Indian outbreak. He was a veteran of the 
Civil War, enlisting at Brownsville, Nebraska, 
in 1862, in Company E, Second Nebraska 
Volunteers, serving a little over a year. He 
was one of the earliest settlers of Iowa, being 
compelled to go sixty miles for store supplies. 
The mother, Nancy (Calhoun) Jones, was a 
native of Indiana. 

It was but a limited schooling that our sub¬ 
ject received in the state of Iowa. His mother 
died when he was quite young. On arriving 
at man’s estate he began farming in Iowa. In 
1863 he went to Kansas where he still fol¬ 
lowed farming, going later to Nebraska, 
where he followed agricultural pursuits for a 
number of years. Thence he removed to Wy¬ 
oming, remaining there about three years. To 
his present location he came in 1894, purchas¬ 
ing 165 acres, all of which he now has under 
ditch. Altogether he has a fine and handsome 
ranch. He served in the Civil War with his 
father. 

In 1864 he was rparried to Mariah L. 
Clements, born at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At 


the age of four years she was taken to Iowa 
by her parents who settled near where her 
husband lived. Her father, Isaac B. Clements 
was a native of Ohio, a pioneer of Wisconsin, 
and well versed in the Indian language. Her 
mother, Margaret (Kyburts) Clements, was 
a native of Germany. 

Mr. and Mrs. Jones have seven children: 
Estella, wife of Henry Hendrickson; Esther, 
wife of Robert Munyen; Emma, wife of W. 
H. Hiber; Isaac; Daniel; Burdie (dead); 
Candace, wife of Calvin J. Williams. 


CHARLES E. HIBER, a well and favor¬ 
ably known rancher in the Yellowstone valley, 
four and one-half miles east from Laurel, was 
born in New Ulm, Minnesota, February 4, 
1872. His father, August Hiber, was a native 
of Germany. At the age of thirty years he came 
to the United States and first settled in Chi¬ 
cago in the butcher business, his trade. Sub¬ 
sequently he went to Minnesota where he 
secured a homestead. In 1877 he went to Fre¬ 
mont county, Iowa, locating on a farm, where 
he remained until his death. The mother of 
our subject, Jane (Foster) Hiber, was a na¬ 
tive of Canada, of English descent and at an 
early day came to Minnesota with her parents. 

The immediate subject of this sketch, 
Charles E. Hiber, was removed to Iowa while 
still a lad, and there he secured his education. 
Following his arrival to manhood, he, in 1892, 
removed to Wyoming, and there rode the 
range for two years. In 1894 he returned 
east to Iowa and was engaged in agricultural 
pursuits in that state for three years. He 
came to the Yellowstone valley in 1897, where 
he has since resided. He owns one quarter 
section of excellent land, does' diversified farm¬ 
ing and is one of the prosperous agricultural¬ 
ists of the valley. 

In 1898, Mr* Hiber was united in marriage 
with Jennie Consolver, a native of Ohio. Her 











BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


543 


father, John Consolver, resides with our sub¬ 
ject. Four children have been born to Mr. 
Hiber and wife: Harold, who died in in¬ 
fancy ; Ernest, Dorothy and Belle. 


MATTHIAS BARLEY had an introduc¬ 
tion to the state of Montana that was not cal¬ 
culated to inspire confidence in the people or 
place, as will be seen later. He came here in 
1882, nearly a quarter of a century since, hav¬ 
ing but five dollars in money, unable to speak 
any English, and with a young wife to care 
for. Soon after landing here he was beaten 
out of the five dollars and so, without friends 
or money and no way of communicating with 
those about him, he was face to face with a 
proposition that was gloomy enough. He was 
not to be thrown down that way, however, 
and soon he had secured work of some kind 
and later took a homestead where he now re¬ 
sides, five miles east from Rosebud, on the 
north bank of the Yellowstone. Owing to his 
industry and careful handling of matters he 
soon began to prosper and added other land 
by purchase until now he owns a nice body of 
real estate one half section of which is under 
the ditch. In addition to general farming, 
Mr. Barley raises and handles considerable 
stock. He is one of the well-to-do agricultur¬ 
ists of the county and has a splendid property 
well improved. 

Turning to the earlier periods of Mr. Bar¬ 
ley’s life, we note the fact that his birthplace 
was in far away Austria, the local place being 
near Krainburg, Carnivla, and the date, Janu¬ 
ary 22, 1855. His father, Antone Barley, was 
born in the house where our subject first saw 
the light and there he passed from the earthly 
scenes. He was a farmer and followed it all 
his days. He married Maria Zager, who was 
born in a small village three miles distant from 
the Barley homestead. The Barley family had 
dwelt in that immediate vicinity for many 


generations. Our subject was reared in the 
manner common to the youth of his country 
and gained a good education from the com¬ 
mon schools. When of proper age he entered 
the Austrian army and there served for three 
years. In 1881, he came to the United States 
and soon was in Minneapolis, where he 
wrought in the sawmills for one year. Then 
he married Miss Gertrude Yanko, the date be¬ 
ing January 30, 1882, and the placq. of the 
nuptials was Minneapolis. Mrs. Barley was 
born in the same locality as her husband, as 
were also her parents, Joseph and Mary (Jem- 
nich) Yanko. Mr. Yanko was a soldier for 
twelve years. Mrs. Barley had come to St. 
Cloud, Minnesota, in 1879, to dwell with an 
uncle. There she learned German and later 
went St. Paul where she acquired a knowledge 
of the English. Soon after his marriage Mr. 
Barley made the trip we have mentioned, and 
since then he has resided in this section. The 
children born to this couple are : Katie, Mat¬ 
thias, Joseph, John, Frank, Gertie, Fanny and 
Martin. 


WILLIAM E. KNOWLES is insepara¬ 
bly connected with the success that the famous 
Chico Hot Springs have won throughout the 
state of Montana. Very few people in the 
state of Montana have not heard much of the 
wonderful curative properties of these springs, 
and thousands of the best citizens of the state 
have personally experienced the invigoration 
that comes from the proper use of their waters. 
Professor F. W. Clark, chief chemist of the 
U. S. Geological Survey, has given an ex¬ 
haustive analysis and finds them rich with the 
carbonates, sulphites, chlorides and so forth 
that are well known curative agents. In the 
spring of 1899, Mr. Knowles secured posses¬ 
sion of the springs and constructed the first 
plunge bath and from that time forward the 
attendance at the springs had constantly in- 












544 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


creased and the successful cures brought about 
are numbered by the hundreds. Every year 
Mr. Knowles increases the capacity of the 
hotels and baths and each succeeding year 
finds everything overflowing with enthusiastic 
guests. One word so universally prevalent 
on the lips of every one indicates better -than a 
volume could the splendid standing of this 
famous resort in the minds of all. A stranger 
passing among the guests when the time has 
come for them to depart would invariably 
hear, “I am having such a good time and feel 
so much at home here, I hate to leave. Com¬ 
bined with the excellent waters the fine sur¬ 
roundings and the first class accommodations 
are the hearty good welcome granted to every 
one by Mr. Knowles and the sweet and kindly 
care ever lavished by his wife, and altogether 
the Chico Hot Springs furnish all lovers of 
rest and recuperation, an ideal spot. 

William E. Knowles was born June 28, 
1851, in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, his 
parents being Henry and Eliza (Radbourn) 
Knowles, natives of England and born Janu¬ 
ary 18, 1810, and September 21, 1813, respec¬ 
tively. Their marriage occurred in Philadel¬ 
phia. In 1856 they moved to Illinois, our sub¬ 
ject being five years old and in that state he 
received his education from the public school. 
After his father’s death he remained at home 
until 1876, then came west and grew up with 
the country. In the fall of 1880 he landed in 
the Yellowstone valley and was engaged in 
various places until securing possession of the 
springs above mentioned. 

On October 13, 1891, Mr. Knowles mar¬ 
ried Percie Matheson, who was born on July 
26, 1861, at Woodstock, Ontario. She had fin¬ 
ished her education at the St. Thomas Col¬ 
legiate Institute and had been engaged in 
teaching school in Huron county, Michigan, 
until she came to Chico in 1888, taking charge 
of the Chico schools until her marriage. Her 
parents were John S. and Anna (McPherson) 
Matheson, natives of Canada. Their mar¬ 


riage occurred in 1848. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Knowles one child has been born, Radbourne 
Campbell, January 13, 1898. 

Mrs. Knowles is a member of the Pres¬ 
byterian church. Mr. Knowles is a Republi¬ 
can in politics and although never desiring of¬ 
fice, is very active in this realm, being a mem¬ 
ber of the Republican Central Committee. He 
is a member of the Masons and also of the 
Elks. 


LUDWIG C. LEHFELDT, one of the 
most extensive stock raisers in the Yellowstone 
valley, resides at Billings. He is a German by 
nativity, born April 3, 1865. His father, Ru¬ 
dolph Lehfeldt, came to the United States in 
1870, locating in Crawford county, Iowa, and 
coming to Montana in 1885, in company with 
his sons. Here he engaged in stock raising 
until 1890, when he returned to Iowa. Lud¬ 
wig and his brother continued the business 
until 1896,when the partnership was dissolved. 
At present our subject owns or controls about 
38,000 acres of land, 1,000. acres of w;hich is 
under cultivation and partly irrigated. He 
grows timothy, alfalfa and breeds horses, cat¬ 
tle and sheep. This grazing and agricultural 
land lies in Yellowstone and Fergus counties. 

December 23, 1891, at Billings, our sub¬ 
ject was united in marriage to Julia Staffek, 
born in New York City. Her father, Frank, 
was a native of Bohemia; her mother, Bar¬ 
bara, of the same country, now lives with our 
subject. Her father died in New York. She 
and her mother came to Montana in 1885 to 
join her brother, John. Mr. Lehfeldt has a 
full brother, Herman, and a half brother in 
Herman’s .employ. He has two sisters, Olga, 
wife of John Schroder, and Alvina, wife of 
Rudolph Molt, a stock raiser, living in Bil¬ 
lings. The wife of our subject has one brother 
and three sisters: Mrs. Annie Kostalak, of 
Great Falls, Barbara, and Mrs. Jennie McFar- 











MRS. EUGENE P. WRIGHT 


EUGENE P. WRIGHT 















BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


545 


land. He is a member of the Eagles and I. 0 . 
O. F. Politically he is in sympathy with the 
principles of the Republican party. 

Mr. Lehfeldt sold for $100,000.00 his 
ranches, but is still handling stock. 


HERMANN LEHFELDT, who is one of 
the most extensive stock raisers and general 
ranchmen in the valley of the Yellowstone, is 
at present living at Billings, Yellowstone coun¬ 
ty. He was born, March 17, 1873, at Denison, 
Iowa. His parents were Rudolph and Mary 
(Witt) Lehfeldt, both natives of Germany. 
Thirty-seven years ago the father, Rudolph, 
emigrated to the United States and located on 
a farm in Iowa. In 1885 he came to the Yel¬ 
lowstone Valley, but returned to Iowa in 1892. 
He is well-to-do, and at present is retired, liv¬ 
ing in Denison. The mother of our subject 
passed from earth while he was a babe. 

Following his early schoolboy days in Iowa 
our subject came to the Yellowstone Valley 
at the age of twelve years, where for a short 
period he continued his studies. Arriving at 
man’s estate he engaged in the stock business 
in company with his brother, Ludwig. In the 
Lake Basin they ran bunches of cattle and 
sheep, their range being in the country north 
of Billings. At the termination of five years 
the brothers divided the interests of the busi¬ 
ness and Mr. Lehfeldt has since “been for him¬ 
self.” 

December 11, 1895, he was married to 
Ottilie Martha Norhenberg, born in Germany 
and coming to the United States when four¬ 
teen years of age. She is the daughter of John 
and Amelia Norhenberg, both Germans. To 
To our subject and his wife have been born four 
children, Hidwig, Martha, Victor and Ottilie. 


EUGENE P. WRIGHT was born in John¬ 
son county, Iowa, October 6, 1857, the son of 
Samuel M. and Elizabeth (Humbargar) 
35 


Wright, both natives of Ohio. The father was 
born in Adams county, November 19, 1828, 
and moved to Indiana with his parents while a 
small lad. They settled near Frankfort, but 
removed from Indiana to Illinois in the latter 
part of the 40’s. About 1854 they went to 
Johnson county, Iowa, where the father en¬ 
gaged in agricultural pursuits, a business 
which he made his life work. He was of 
Scotch-Irish ancestry,' and his parents were 
early pioneers of the Buckeye State. He died 
May 1, 1901, age seventy-two. 

The mother of our subject was born near 
Mansfield, Ohio, September 16, 1830, going 
with her parents to Illinois where she was mar¬ 
ried. She was of German descent, her father 
having been born on the Rhine. 

Our subject accompanied his parents to 
Ottawa county, Kansas, when one year of age. 
This was in the fall, and he passed the first 
winter (1858-59) in Fort Buchanan, at the 
mouth of Solomon river. His mother was the 
first white woman in that country. Here our 
subject grew to manhood, and was educated 
in the district schools. He became a farmer 
and stock raiser. In 1886 he removed to 
Logan county, Kansas, and in 1888 he went to 
Arapahoe county, Colorado, and thence in 1889. 
to Albany county, Wyoming-. The fall of 
1890 found him on the Musselshell, and 
April 27, 1891, he came to his present location, 
where he has a fine and eligibly situated ranch 
of iog acres, all under a splendid system of ir¬ 
rigation. 

In 1878 our subject was united in marriage 
to Margaret Lynch, born in Bedford county, 
Tennessee, April 19, 1849. When a child she 
was taken to Illinois by her parents. Her par¬ 
ents Hon. William Westley and Sarah (Mar¬ 
tin) Lynch, were natives of South Carolina. 
The father was of English and Irish ancestry. 
He was a member of the state legislature. 

Mr. and Mrs. Wright are the parents of 
five children, namely; Gilbert S., born June 12, 
1880, and now engaged as a driver in the Na- 









546 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


tional park; Henry C., March 5, 1882, on a 
ranch near Dillon, this state; Clark, March 16, 
1884, a passenger brakeman on the Northern 
Pacific and married to Miss Helen Kelly of 
Bozeman, the daughter of Senator Kelly of 
Sweet Grass county; an infant that died with¬ 
out naming, born February 5, 1886; and Min¬ 
nie E., born December 13, 1887. 

Mr. Wright is a stanch Democrat and can 
give a reason for his political faith. He is 
one of the organizers of and is now a stock 
holder and director in the Yellowstone & Can¬ 
yon Creek Ditch Company. 


GEORGE W. PIERCE, a progressive 
and enterprising ranchman, is the subject 
whose name forms the caption of this arti¬ 
cle. At present he resides three miles north 
of the town of Roscoe, Carbon county. A 
locality seven miles from Fall River, Massa¬ 
chusetts, is the place of his nativity, where 
he was born March 28, 1858. His father, 
Wheaton, was born in 1819, and was a veteran 
of the Civil War. He served patriotically in 
the Fortieth Massachusetts Volunteers, and 
was killed in the battle of Cold Harbor, Vir¬ 
ginia, June 6, 1864. He left a family of four 
children, of which our subject is the sole sur¬ 
vivor. 

The mother of George W. Pierce, Han¬ 
nah (Follett) Pierce, was also a native of 
Massachusetts, born in 1840. She died in the 
Bay state in November, 1900. 

In the excellent public schools near Fall 
River our subject received his early education. 
Until the age of 14 he continued to reside with 
his Grandfather Pierce. He then began mak¬ 
ing his own way in the world. The paternal 
ancestors of our subject may be traced back 
to the landing of the Mayflower. Having 
worked industriously on a farm until 1876 
our subject went to Des Moines, Iowa,where in 
company with an uncle he drove with a yoke 


of cattle to north pf Grand Island, in Greeley 
county, Nebraska. Here he remained one 
winter and thence went to Howard county, 
where he was employed on a ranch for four 
years. At that period the country was in 
quite a pioneer state of development, and there 
was an abundance of Indians and buffalo. In 
the spring of 1881 in company with four oth¬ 
ers he pushed on to Fort Niobrara, where they 
were employed in building the fort. During 
the fall of 1881 he went to the Loup river 
(Howard county), and there drove the mail 
during the most severe winter ever experi¬ 
enced in the state (’81-’82). He remembers 
clearly seeing dead cattle piled up along the 
Kalamas river so thickly that it was possible 
to walk a distance of a half mile on carcasses. 
This was the hardest winter he ever experi¬ 
enced, the weather being so cold that he did 
not dare to leave his sleigh to carry the mail 
into the postoffice. 

The following spring Mr. Pierce returned 
to Fort Niobrara where he passed a few 
months, going thence to Ord, Nebraska, where 
he was married June 9, 1882. The following 
spring he left his wife with her parents, and 
went on to White River, Nebraska. Here he 
passed the succeeding summer and returned 
to Ord, where his wife and boy baby were 
awaiting him. In the spring of 1884 he re¬ 
turned to the ranch on the Ox Bow, one hun¬ 
dred and twenty-five miles from a railroad, 
where he passed the summer and returned to 
Ord, where he wintered. In the spring of 
1885, accompanied by his family, he removed 
to White River, and here he pre-empted 
land, being among the first settlers. Here 
he passed four years, but grasshoppers and hot 
winds drove him thence, and in the summer 
of 1890 he went to Crawford, Nebraska, 
where he conducted a boarding house and 
street sprinkler. The sprinkler he disposed 
of in the fall, and then managed a hack line 
to Fort Robinson, hauling soldiers. In this 
enterprise he continued fourteen months, and 









. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


547 


became the sole proprietor of seven hack lines, 
and could collect accounts at the fort. 

In the construction of the Burlington rail¬ 
road he was employed in 1892, and also did 
some freighting. Following this one summer 
he freighted and trapped during the hard 
times of 1893, ancl in the fall of 1894 he found 
himself in Big Horn, Wyoming, where he 
passed the winter. In the spring of 1895 he 
rented a ranch on Tongue river, Wyoming, 
fifteen miles northeast of Sheridan, and passed 
two years on it, thence moving to his present 
place. This was the year following its open¬ 
ing for settlement. Of his 160 acres he pur¬ 
chased 120. He had disposed of his stock in 
Wyoming, intending to remove to Idaho. Here 
he started with a few horses and $2 in cash. 
It was uphill business, working eighteen hours 
a day, but indomitable energy counted, and at 
present Mr. Pierce has a fine band of cattle and 
is quite prosperous in every way. He is 
breeding to Durham stock. 

The wife of our subject was Anna Scott, 
a native of Ohio. Her parents came to Mon¬ 
tana in 1895. Her mother is dead; her father 
at present resides with J. N. Scott, a next- 
door neighbor. Mr. and Mrs. Pierce have 
three children: Leonard W., married atid liv¬ 
ing at Columbus, Montana; Frank and Hazel. 
A little girl baby, a twin to Hazel, was called 
home by death when ten months old. 

Fraternally our subject is a charter mem¬ 
ber of Morris Homestead, No. 1027, as is Mrs. 
Pierce. Politically he is an ardent Republi¬ 
can, and active in party affairs. Locally 
however, he votes for the best man. He has 
served as a delegate to every Republican con¬ 
vention since locating in the county. 

In 1891, when there occurred the Indian 
outbreak in the Pine Ridge agency, Mr. Pierce 
served through the entire campaign, and dur¬ 
ing his cowboy life he has had many a skirm¬ 
ish with the redskins, and carries a scar as an 
unpleasant memento of Indian markmanship. 


PHILIP BOTTLER enjoys the pleasant 
distinction of having located the first ranch 
within the present confines of Park county.. 
A continuous residence here since entitles him 
to be classed among the leading pioneers of 
the state of Montana and on account of his 
labors and .successes here cannot but prove 
very interesting to every lover of Montana. 
His present place lies three miles south of 
Chico and consists of two thousand acres of 
valuable land supplied with the water needed 
for irrigation and stock purposes. It is an 
ideal stock ranch and Mr. Bottler knows how 
to produce the best results. 

In Summit county, Ohio, on December 
25, 1840, Philip Bottler was born, the son 
of Ernest and Catherine (Sharr) Bottler, na¬ 
tives of Germany and emigrants to the United 
States in 1838. After they had spent a little 
while in New York, they moved on to Ohio 
with their three children, who had been born 
in the old country. Our subject was reared 
and educated in Ohio and Indiana and in i860 
left home for a tour in the south. * He was in 
Louisiana when the war broke out and im¬ 
mediately returned to his home in Iowa. Here 
he enlisted in the Ninth Iowa and served three 
months and five days, receiving an honorable 
discharge because of a wound inflicted the 
7th of March, 1862. In April 1865, Mr. 
Bottler turned to the west and crossed the 
plains to the famous Gallatin valley. He took 
up a ranch and followed farming there for 
four years, then sold out and with his brother 
Fred, crossed the range into the Yellowstone 
valley and located the first ranch in Park 
county. For nine years these hardy pioneers 
followed the cattle busine'ss and then dissolved 
partnership. Mr. Bottler crossed the river 
from the old place and settled where we now 
find him. He at once began the sheep busi¬ 
ness and from that time until the present has 
been one continual line of success with him 
in this enterprise. In 1891, he purchased a 







548 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. • 


flock of two hundred and sixty-four Angora 
goats but he soon tired of them and sold them. 
In 1903, he bought out the government herd 
of Persian fat sheep. The pelts of the lambs of 
these animals are what the famous Persian 
capes and coats are manufactured from. Mr. 
Bottler owns the largest flock of these ani¬ 
mals in America and is very successful with 
them. He handles about twenty-five hundred ] 
head of sheep, half of which at least are thor- , 
oughbred and grade Persians, being very valu¬ 
able. In the sheep industry, Mr. Bottler is a 
thorough success as well as in farming, this 
being one line of enterprise he has followed 
for many years. However, he is a well in¬ 
formed man, up-to-date in all questions and 
takes a keen interest in the development and 
upbuilding of the country. 

In November, 1888, Mr. Bottler married 
Ida Melburn, a native of Michigan. On the 
4th of April, 1902, occurred the death of 
Mrs. Bottler and she left besides her husband, 
four children, Philip G., born August 18, 1889, 
Ernest A., May 3. 1893 ; Ruth F., February 
17, 1894, and Ester H., November 4, 1897. 

Mr. Bottler is an Adventist and takes much 
delight in church work. He is a progressive, 
up-to-date man and one of the well to do citi¬ 
zens of this portion of Montana. 


JOHN MARSHALL STAFFORD re¬ 
sides at Ashland, where he is engaged in 
ranching and stock raising, being one of the 
men who came into Montana over the cattle 
trail from Texas, and who has conserved the 
interest of the state by building up and im¬ 
proving as he has had opportunity since his 
advent here. He is one of the pioneers of Cus¬ 
ter county and has resided here for over a 
quarter of a century and is thus entitled to 
be classed with the pathfinders of Montana. 
The birth of our subject occurred in Marshall¬ 
town, Iowa, on January 19. 1863, and his par¬ 
ents, Robert and Margaret (Marshall) Staf¬ 


ford, were bom in Indiana and Illinois, re¬ 
spectively. When a young man the father 
came west to Iowa and there followed draying 
for a time, and in 1870 removed to Kansas, 
where he engaged in farming and followed the 
same steadily until his death, in 1877* The 
mother is still living in Derby. From a short 
start in the schools in Marshalltown, our sub¬ 
ject continued his studies in the public schools 
of Kansas and as early as fifteen went out 
into the world for himself. He first found 
himself in the great mecca of the west, then 
Leadville, and after spending some time in 
the mines, he was attracted by the alluring 
occupation of prospecting and later was en¬ 
gaged in freighting, in which capacity he vis¬ 
ited Canyon, New Mexico, Alamosa, Lake 
City, Durango, and many other places. Also 
he spent some time in work on the various 
railroads then building in the Centennial State. 
After this, we find Mr. Stafford engaged in 
riding the range and in 1881, he came on 
north over the trail with cattle and since then 
he has cast his lot with Montana. From the 
foregoing it is evident that Mr. Stafford 
is a man of energy and aggressiveness and has 
made the most of the days of frontier life. 
As sooft as he came to Montana he decided that 
he would give his attention to stock raising 
and so began to prepare for that business. He 
located a ranch got a band of cattle and has 
continued in the occupation with reasonable 
j success since. 

In 1888 occurred the marriage of Mr. 
Stafford and Miss Emma Snyder, a native 
of Illinois. Her parents, Levi and Catherine 
I (Penticoff) Snyder, were natives of Pennsyl¬ 
vania. came west to Illinois when young and 
later settled in Nebraska, where Mr. Snyder 
died, but where his widow still lives. 


ALBERT JOHNSON, born in Trondh- 
jem. Norway’/ July 23, 1871, is at present a 
leading and enterprising ranchman and stock- 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


549 


raiser in the Yellowstone valley, residing two 
miles west of Absarokee, Montana. His fa¬ 
ther, John, a farmer, lived and died in Nor¬ 
way. His decease was in 1901, at the age 
of sixty-two years. His mother, Johanna 
(Haxstad), died in 1879, aged forty. 

Our subject is the second of five children, 
the youngest of whom died when five years 
of age. Two sisters still live in Norway. He 
has one brother, John, living near Fishtail, 
Carbon county. 

Mr. Johnson was reared and educated in 
Norway, leaving school at the age of fourteen. 
He has made his own way since he was eight 
years old. At the age of nineteen he faced the 
west, coming to Ashland, Wisconsin, where he 
worked in the iron mines fifteen months. He 
the came to Meagher county, Montana, and 
for seven years was in the employ of the 
Grandy Brothers. At the termination of that 
period, in 1887, he removed to his present 
place, where he purchased a squatter s right of 
160 acres. He had then laid up about $1,800, 
but when he was fairly settled most of this was 
gone. Here he has resided since. He reared 
stock and now figures himself worth $10,000. 
He makes a specialty of Hereford stock and 
has about 160 head of graded stock, besides 
horses. He has led a very industrious life, but 
has suffered no particular set-backs, and con¬ 
siders himself in the best portion of Montana. 

June 15, 1898, our subject was united in 
marriage to Irene Erickson, a native of Nor¬ 
way, who came to the state alone. On a farm 
in Norway her father still lives. Her mother 
is dead. She has three children: Ingwald J., 
born October 19. 1899: Isabel J., April 23, 
1902, and Grace L., July 27, 1904. Politically 
he is a Republican. He is a member of the 
Lutheran church. 


M. S. BALLINGER, one of the pro¬ 
minent men among the early settlers of the 
Yellowstone valley, is now residing in Living- 


stone, having retired from his farm which is 
a fine estate of one thousand acres lying ten 
miles west of town. He was born in the 
country thirty miles south from Lexington, 
Kentucky, on July 20, 1821, his father being 
Henry Ballinger, a native of Virginia. Henry 
Ballinger came to Kentucky in 1790 with his 
father, Achilees Ballinger, also a native of 
Virginia and when he became of age, pur¬ 
chased a farm close to his father’s and married 
Lucy Jeffries. She was born in Kentucky, 
while her father was a native of Pennsylvania. 
Henry Ballinger died in 1870 after a long ill- 
j ness of pneumonia. His father had died in 
1842. Our subject received his education from 
private schools and remained with his father 
on the old homestead until 1839, when all 
journeyed to Illinois. They went thence to 
Missouri and in 1880 moved to Montana lo¬ 
cating upon the upper Yellowstone river, ten 
miles above Livingston. He gave his atten¬ 
tion to farming and stock raising until 1904, 

! when he leased his farm and moved into Liv- 
' ingston. During all of these years, Mr. Ball- 
| inger labored industriously and was rewarded 
, with splendid success and is consequently one 
1 of the well to do men of the country today. 

On July 13, 1852, Mr. Ballinger married 
j Jane E. Hardcastle, daughter of Edward and 
Eliza (Reed) Hardcastle. The father was 
bom on the eastern shore of Maryland. Later 
moved to Baltimore and learned the cabinet 
maker’s trade. In 1822 he went to Carrollton, 
Illinois. His wife’s father was Isaac Reed, 

■ a tanner and farmer, native of West Virginia. 

1 Mrs. Ballinger was bom at Carrollton, Illinois, 
February 12, 1832. Our subject and his wife 
have eight children, six of whom are living, 
Burnett; Julia, married to Judge Frank Henry, 
of Livingston; Joseph E. is married and is 
no\v in business in Tacoma; Eliza, the wife 
of E. H. Talcott, a banker in Livingston; 
Lula B. the wife of W. S. Davidson, a banker 
in Bozeman; Florence N. teaches in the Ag¬ 
ricultural College at Bozeman, this state. 







550 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


Both Mr. and Mrs. Ballinger are active 
members of the Christian church. 

Mr. Ballinger gave considerable study to 1 
political questions at the time Abraham Lin¬ 
coln was first nominated and finally voted for 
that celebrity. Since then, he has not been 
active in politics but has always remained a 
Republican. 

Mr. Ballinger's son taught the first dis¬ 
trict school in Park county, his daughter, Bur¬ 
nett, was the first county superintendent of 
Park county. The family is very prominently 
identified and a long residence of more than 
a quarter of a century entitles them to repre- j 
sentation among the earliest pioneers of this 
valley, while their labors and integrity have 
given them a standing of the very best. 


NELS A. NELSON, deceased. The sub¬ 
ject of this biographical memoir was born in 
Norway. He was by trade a stonemason, and ! 
when a young man came to the United States 
and settled on a farm in Polk county, Minne¬ 
sota. He remained there until 1884, when 
he moved on to Montana, and here he located 
on the Musselshell river, in Meagher county, 
where he engaged in the stock business and 
ranching, successfully, until his death in 1897. 

He married a native daughter of Nor¬ 
way. Antone J. Nelson, the oldest of the chil¬ 
dren, was born in Polk county, Minnesota, 
June 18, 1880. He came to Meagher county 
with his parents when he was five years of 
age. Here he was reared and educated in the 
public schools. Following the death of his 
father he became the responsible head of the 
family. He came with his mother, brothers 
and one sister to Carbon county in 1891, and 
they located on the Rosebud river, two miles 
from Roscoe, the nearest postoffice. He pur¬ 
chased the improvements and took this place 

as a homestead. The brothers are -, 

O., Willie and George. His sisters are Inga, 


wife of Ole C. Olson, living in Meagher 
county; Clara, wife of Albert Johnson, living 
in Livingston, Montana, and Nanie, at home. 


GEORGE W. REED, Sr., a prosperous 
Yellowstone valley, stockman, now retired, re¬ 
sides at Billings, Yellowstone county. He 
was born in Boston, Massachusetts, June 10, 
1829, the son of John S. and Emily (Allen) 
Reed. The father was, also, a native of Bos¬ 
ton, removing to Dover, New Hampshire, 
when subject was ten years of age. He re¬ 
mained in that state until his death which oc¬ 
curred soon after his arrival. He was a shoe¬ 
maker by trade. 

The mother was a native of New Bruns¬ 
wick, Maine, and following the death of her 
husband to her was left the care of the children 
of whom there were eleven. 

It was hard, laborious lines for all of them, 
including the subject of our sketch, and con¬ 
sequently he had but little opportunity to ac¬ 
quire a very liberal education. In his sixteenth 
year he left home and enlisted in a rifle regi¬ 
ment for service in the Mexican War, under 
Colonel Loren. His enlistment was for a per¬ 
iod of five years, and he was compelled to serve 
out his time long after the close of the struggle. 
Following the declaration of peace his regi¬ 
ment was ordered across the plains to 
California. During the first summer they 
passed over into Oregon and built the bar¬ 
racks at Fort Vancouver. The rifle regiment 
was disbanded and he was transferred to the 
dragoons, General Phil Kearny command¬ 
ing. The dragoons made a pretty extensive 
tour of California, visiting nearly all the prin¬ 
cipal points. Our subject also assisted in build¬ 
ing Fort Kearney, Fort Laramie and Fort 
Hall. After being mustered out of the serv¬ 
ice he returned to Fort Vancouver where he 
located a donation claim, but did not remain 
long enough to perfect the title. For a period 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


55 1 


he followed mining and was for two years at 
Yreka. This was in 1855* an d from there he 
went to Arkansas Dam, on Trinity river, where 
he mined two years more. In 1859 he crossed 
the mountains to Humboldt county, and en¬ 
gaged in farming. Here he remained twenty- 
three years, and engaged in raising sheep, 
cattle, hogs, etc., and this to quite a profitable 
degree. Here were his children reared and 
educated. Owing to ill health he removed 
from this locality, May 26, 1880, and came 
overland by teams to within three miles of 
where Billings now stands. This trip occupied 
three months and fourteen days. Here he 
bought a squatter’s right and began ranching I 
remaining there thirteen years. At the open- 
ing of the Crow reservation Mr. Reed with 
his son located on Five-mile creek, another 
ranch on which he remained until 1902, when | 
he came to Billings. Since coming to Montana j 
subject has been engaged in the sheep and j 
cattle business the greater portion of the time, i 

In 1848 he was married to Miss Emily j 
Porter, a native of Knox county, Ohio. With ! 
her parents she crossed the plains to the Wil¬ 
lamette valley, Oregon, in 1845, an <l it was j 
in this vicinity that she was reared and mar- * 
ried. The ceremony occurred at Oregon City. 1 
Mrs. Reed was called from earth March 10, 
1895. Her parents were among the earliest 
pioneers in Oregon. Seven children were born 
to Mr. and Mrs. Reed, viz.: Alfonso, Mary 
E., George W., Charles A., John S., Lelia 
and Emily. 

Three years of the life of Mr. Reed were 
passed scouting during the perilous times of 
the Modoc war. When the Otney family were 
crossing the Yuma desert, en route across the 
plains, they were captured by Indians. The 
parents were killed and the children taken 
prisoners, including two girls and a boy. Our j 
subject was a member of one of the two com- j 
panies of soldiers dispatched after these hos- 
tiles. On the desert they underwent terrible 
hardships; their supplies gave out. In one 


skirmish with the redskins they lost five men, 
but finally rescued one of the girls. The other 
children, the savages claimed, had died. The 
rescued girl was tatooed, and quite an inter¬ 
esting narrative of her adventures has since 
been published. 


JULIUS SCHAUDEL resides about three 
and one-half miles south of Ashland, in Rose¬ 
bud county, and is engaged in stock-raising. 
He operates in partnership with his brother, 
Robert and they handle horses and cattle. Mr. 
Schaudel has had a long and varied experience 
in the west and especially in military opera¬ 
tions, having been in some of the hard cam¬ 
paigns against the Indians, as well as the Span¬ 
ish American war. 

Julius Schaudel was born in St. Louis, 
Missouri, on July 28, 1865, his parents, Mat¬ 
thews and Catherine Schaudel, being natives 
of Germany. The father came to America in 
1833 and settled on a farm in Ohio. Later 
a move was made to Illinois and there he was 
occupied in farming until his death. The mo¬ 
ther came to the United States when a small 
girl. Our subject was educated in the common 
schools of Illinois and when of proper age 
learned the boilermaker's trade, which he fol¬ 
lowed until 1886. The following year he en¬ 
listed in the regular army, Twenty-second 
Regiment, and was at first stationed at Fort 
Keogh. For three and one-half years that was 
his headquarters and then his command was 
removed to Colorado. He participated in the 
campaign against the Sioux Indians and was 
one of Lieutenant Casey’s scouts. Also he did 
much scout duty in company with the Chey¬ 
enne Indian scouts and was of great service 
to his command in this capacity. After five 
years of service in the regular army, he en¬ 
listed for three years in Rugsbys’ rough riders. 
When the Spanish American war broke out, 
Mr. Schaudel at once offered his services and 











552 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


was enrolled in Company I, Third Regular 
Regiment, and was promoted to the position 
of sergeant. In all his military career, Mr. 
Schaudel was a man of courage and made 
a splendid record as a soldier and scout. After 
his honorable' discharg-e he went to Lame 
Deer, Montana, and took a ranch. Later the 
government purchased the rights of all the 
settlers and he sold out and came to his pres¬ 
ent place and secured another ranch. Since 
then he has continued in the work of improv- 
ings his farm and raising stock and has pros- 
perered in his labors. 

In 1892, Mr. Schaudel married Miss Tillie 
Pripeno, and to them four children have been 
born, named as follows: Robert, Edna, Lillie, 
and Nellie. 


R. B. TEESDALE is one of the agricul¬ 
turists of Carbon county who has made a good 
success here and today owns a quarter section 
of fine irrigated land about one mile north 
from Bridger, where the family home now is. 
His land is all under the ditch and is well im¬ 
proved and one of the very productive places 
of the Clarke’s Fork valley. 

R. B. Teesdale was bom in Wayne county, 
Iowa, on February 6, 1866, the son of Ben¬ 
jamin and Mary (Hicks) Teesdale. The fa¬ 
ther was a native of England and 1836 was the 
year of his birth. He came to Michigan with 
his parents when a small lad and later moved 
to Iowa. He followed painting until later in 
life when he did farming-. From Iowa he went 
to South Dakota and there remained until his 
death. His wife was born in Iowa and died in 
South Dakota. Our subject was educated in 
the common schools of Iowa and South Da¬ 
kota, having gone to the latter place with his 
parents. Then he embarked in farming and, 
also, gave attention to stock raising, until the 
western fever attacked him and he made a 
trip with team to the Palouse country, Wash¬ 


ington. After one winter there he visited the 
Grande Ronde valley in Oregon and southern 
Idaho. Two years were consumed in this tour¬ 
ing and then he settled in Carbon county, se¬ 
curing in 1897 the place where he now resides. 
Since then Mr. Teesdale has given his atten¬ 
tion to the improvement of his farm with 
happy results and his is one of the good es¬ 
tates of the valley. 

In 1891, Mr. Teesdale married Miss Lib- 
bie Nelson, a native of Minnesota. The wed¬ 
ding occurred in South Dakota. Mrs. Tees- 
dale’s father, Peter Nelson, was born in Nor¬ 
way, followed carpentering and farming and 
died in Carbon county, in 1903. He had mar¬ 
ried Miss Mary Nelson, also a native of Nor¬ 
way and she is still living in Carbon county. 

Mr. and Mrs. Teesdale have one child, 
Robert, and he was born in Meade county, 
South Dakota, in 1892. Politically, Mr. Tees¬ 
dale is a Republican and manifests a good in¬ 
terest in this realm. 


OLAUS NILSON, deceased. A biogra¬ 
phical memoir of the subject whose name 
forms the caption of the article discloses the 
fact that he was bom in Lennas, Sweden, De¬ 
cember 11, 1844. He was the son of Nels 
Nilson, native of Sweden. His father was a 
farmer and throughout his life remained in 
Sweden. 

In the public schools of Sweden our sub¬ 
ject received a good education, and subse¬ 
quently he learned the trade of a carpenter. 
But at the age of twenty-four, in 1868, he 
came to the new world, landing in New York 
where he remained but a brief period. Thence 
he went to St. Louis where he worked at his 
trade, as well as in a number of other leading 
cities in the United States. Finally he drifted 
on to Billings, Montana. This was about twen¬ 
ty-four years ago. Here he contracted for the 
erection of a number of the buildings in this 











BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


553 


city. In 1891 he returned to his native coun¬ 
try for a brief sojourn, returning to Bill¬ 
ings the following year. Mr. Nilson was quite 
enthusiastic in the praise of this attractive city. 
About nineteen years, ago he purchased a good 
ranch five miles west of the city, and this prop¬ 
erty is’ still owned by his widow. 

During his life Mr. Nilson was an indus¬ 
trious, thrifty citizen and accumulated con¬ 
siderable property. April 20, 1905, he passed 
from earth, leaving many mourning friends 
who had learned to appreciate his true worth. 

In 1892 he was married to Josephine An¬ 
derson, a native of Valon, Sweden. She was 
born April 6, 1867, and grew to womanhood 
and was educated in Valon. She came to Bill¬ 
ings in 1892. She is the daughter of Andrew 
Olson, a farmer of Sweden. Her mother was 
Brittastina (Davidson) Olson, a native of 
Sweden. Six children survive the death of 
their father, David V., Paul O., Henry A., 
Olaus, George W. and Annie J. 


JOHN WASTPETER, who resides 
twelve miles south from Lee, is one of the 
prosperous stockmen in Rosebud county and 
has had a long experience, both in the hard 
side of the stock business and now in that 
which is more gratifying from a financial 
standpoint. He was born in Westfalen, Ger¬ 
many, September 4, 1863, being the son of 
Henry and Mary (Lemer) Wastpeter, natives 
also of Germany and still residing on the old 
farm in Germany. The father served in the 
wars of his country and is now enjoying a 
good ripe age amid friends and with his chil¬ 
dren. Besides our subject three other children 
were born to this couple, Henry, Mary and 
Catherine, all three living in Germany. Our 
subject was educated and reared in his native 
country and when twenty-one came to the 
United States to seek a place for himself. He 
landed in Nebraska and soon went to work 


for wages, and in 1886 came on west 
to Miles City and there went to work 
for wages. In 1891 he had sufficient saved to 
warrant his starting for himself and so he pur¬ 
chased a ranch on Little Pumpkin creek and 
engaged in the cattle business. Later he sold 
his cattle and bought sheep. He changed just 
in time to come into the panic Of 1893 with a 
band of sheep and before those hard times were 
ended, he had been forced to sell all that he 
had and apply it on his debts. This left him, 
after he had paid over all he had, still one 
thousand dollars in debt. Mr. Wastpeter had 
no other property and he could easily have 
avoided paying the balance of his debts, but 
he was not that kind of a man, and as soon as 
he had sold all, he went to work the very next 
day herding sheep and received his wages reg¬ 
ularly to apply on his indebtedness. He con¬ 
tinued thus until he had paid every penny he 
owed in full, and also till he had saved enough 
additional capital to start him in business 
again. On June 3, 1905, Mr. Wastpeter bought 
a quarter section of land under the ditch on the 
Rosebud, about forty-five miles from the town 
of Rosebud and again began business for him¬ 
self. In the spring of 1906, he rented the well 
known Baranger ranch on the Tongue river, 
one of the choicest ranches on this river and 
here he is now engaged in sheep raising. He 
has leased the place for five years and has a 
band of two thousand sheep. In addition he 
owns horses and mules besides other property 
and is prospering in his labors. He enjoys 
the confidence and esteem of the people and 
is a man respected by all. 


HON. JOHN BLEWETT, member of 
the state legislature, resides two and. three- 
fourths miles southeast from Fromberg on a 
choice estate of three hundred and five acres 
of well improved and irrigated land. His is 
one of the excellent estates of the valley and it 









554 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


bears the marks of wise improvements. Good 
buildings are in evidence, an air of thrift is 
patent to all, and the place is a credit to the 
county. Mr. Blewett raises diversified crops, 
has an orchard of ten acres and is just now 
entering on the sugar beet industry, having 
become convinced that the beets will be a 
money-maker for this section. 

John Blewett was born in St. Austell par¬ 
ish, Cornwall county, England, on December 
7, 1858. His father, Edward B. Blewett, was 
born in England, on May 12, 1832 and was 
a miner and local preacher. He died of min¬ 
er’s consumption April. 1861. He had 
married Miss Hariet Blight, who was born 
in England, on April 18, 1831. Her death oc¬ 
curred in England, in 1902. After completing 
his education in the common schools, our sub¬ 
ject began. May 5, 1875, to work in the mines 
of North Wales. He continued steadily at that 
until September, 1878, when he returned to 
Cornwall and in 1879 came to Luzerne county, 
Pennsylvania, and engaged in coal mining. In 
the fall of the year of his arrival he left Penn¬ 
sylvania and went to Georgetown. Colorado, 
did mining and at the beginning of 1880 we 
find him in Summit county, Colorado, and for 
seven years following that he prospected. In 
1882, with two associates, Mr. Blewett located 
four claims that were rich in silver and lead. 
The partners became wrought up over the 
find, quarreled, and one killed the other. The 
criminal was sentenced to ninety-nine years 
and one day in prison at Canyon City and is 
serving his time yet. Mr. Blewett realized 
from the property and in 1887 he came on to 
Butte. After spending some time working in 
the mines, he was severely attacked with the 
prospector’s fever and securing a team of 
horses, he started out for new fields. He fin¬ 
ally decided to stop at an old deserted camp, 
known as Copperopolis, in Meagher county. It 
had been located in 1867. He purchased claims 
and prospected from 1889 to 1901, when he 
sold a portion of his holdings to the late Mar¬ 


cus Daly of Anaconda. Then Mr. Blewett 
went from coast to coast and also back to 
England searching a place to make a home. 
Finally he came to his present place and built 
the home where he now resides. In addition 
to the enterprises mentioned, Mr. Blewett pays 
considerable attention to stock raising and has 
two stallions, one an American Draft and the 
other an English Shire, both thoroughbreds 
and fine animals. 

The marriage of Mr. Blewett and Clara 
(Jones) Blewett occurred at Butte, in 1888. 
Mrs. Blewett, was a widow and her father, 
J. G. Jones, was born in New York state and 
followed farming. He came to Ohio in early 
days and there married. After that he drove 
on to Iowa and there died October 8, 1901. 
His wife in maiden life was Miss Anabell 
Groves, a native of Pennsylvania, whence she 
came with her parents, when a small girl, to 
Ohio. She died in 1896. Mrs. Blewett was 
born in Stark county, Ohio, October 28, 1859, 
and came with her parents to Iowa when four 
years old. There she was educated and came 
to Montana with some acquaintances with 
horse teams when seventeen. It was in 1879 
they reached the Gallatin valley and for seven 
years she resided there, taking two trips each 
during that time. 

Our subject and his wife have the following 
named children: Sam, working in the Kendell 
mines; Elmer, attending the Mechanical school 
of Engineering of the Bozeman College; Grace 
and Laura, both at school in Oskaloosa, Iowa; 
Edward B., who died at the age of five and one 
half years. The first two named are the issue 
of a former marriage of Mrs. Blewett. Mrs. 
Blewett is a Methodist, but Mr. Blewett does 
not belong to any denomination. 


REV. JOHN G. CLARK is the pastor of 
the Methodist church in Bridger, Montana, 
and has his residence one mile east from From- 








BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


555 


berg. He was born in Cheshire, England, on 
November 9, 1852, the son of John and Emma 
(Henshaw) Clark, both natives of England, 
the father having been born in 1831. The 
father was educated in the schools of his native 
place and came to Philadelphia in 1852, and 
while viewing a large fire soon after arriving, 
he caught a severe cold that resulted in his 
death. He had come with his wife and some 
of her relatives to introduce the silk spinning 
business in this country. Our subject was 
reared in Philadelphia, graduated from Its 
high school, engaged in business there, after 
which he went to Newfield, New Jersey, and 
spent six years in preparation for the ministry, 
receiving his ordination in 1890. He built the 
Methodist Episcopal church there and the next 
year after that he served the Richland cir¬ 
cuit in New Jersey, and finished the church at 
Richland. He then accepted a position on the 
missionary staff of the Methodist church in 
Utah under the direction of Dr. T. C. 
Gliff. Four years of hard labor were 
spent in that capacity and then Mr. Clark 
came to the Red Lodge. He served also the 
White Sulphur and Virginia City churches 
and the accepted his present position. Dur¬ 
ing these years of labor in the ministry, Mr. 
Clark has also taken interest in the study of 
fruit culture and recently has been enabled to 
carry out his ideas. He owns a fruit ranch 
of forty acres which is one of the model fruit 
producers of the county. In fact, Mr. Clark 
is one of the pioneers in the culture of fruit 
in Carbon county and is deserving of much 
credit for the demonstration that the county 
will produce good fruit. He sold last year 
over five hundred dollars worth of fruit off 
his young trees, which are just beginning to 
bear. 

At Philadelphia, in 1884, Mr. Clark mar¬ 
ried Miss Frances I. Wilcox, a native of New¬ 
field, New Jersey. She was well educated in the 
public schools and has been a devout and worthy 
assistant to Mr. Clark in his life’s work. Her 


father, Rev. Chauncy Wilcox, was a Method¬ 
ist minister during his life and was a highly 
educated man. He died in 1885. He had mar¬ 
ried Miss Sarah I. Sanderson, a native of 
Canada, and of English extraction. To our 
subject and his wife one child was born, Fran¬ 
ces. 

By a former marriage in early life three 
children were born to Mr. Clark, namely, Eli¬ 
zabeth, William, and Nettie, the latter being 
now the wife of Robert L. Banta of this 
county. 


JOHN T. AMES, who follows farming 
and stock raising resides about one mile north¬ 
east from Bridger where he has an estate 
of four hundred acres of irrigated land. The 
place is well improved and is a good dividend 
payer. Mr. Ames raises diversified crops and 
pays considerable attention to breeding sheep 
and cattle, handling, also, some horses. In 
connection with his business he manifests wis¬ 
dom and skill and is obtaining splendid results 
both from the farm and from the stock . 

John T. Ames was born in Otoe county, 
Nebraska, March 3, 1874. His father, Ran¬ 
som Ames, was torn in Lake county, Illinois, 
and followed farming all his days. He mar¬ 
ried Miss Louisa Balfour, who was torn in 
Germany and came to the United States with 
her parents when a small child, being three 
or four years of age at that time. Our sub¬ 
ject received a good common school education 
in his native state and then took a course in 
the business college in Stanberry, Missouri. 
Then he returned to Nebraska and after farm¬ 
ing there for some time came on in 1896, to 
Billings, Montana. For several years he 
worked on the ranches and also at carpenter¬ 
ing, a trade he had mastered earlier in life, 
and about 1899 he came to the section of the 
country where he now resides. One year was 
spent in working on a ranch and then he rented 









556 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


the place. Later he purchased and, as stated 
above, he now possesses four hundred acres 
of fine soil, all under the ditch. 

In 1905, Mr. Ames married Miss Mary 
Ellis, the wedding occurring at Red Lodge. 
The wife’s parents are John and Mary (Roan) 
Ellis, residents of Carbon county, and Mr. 
Ellis is engaged in farming. In political mat¬ 
ters, Mr. Ames is a Republican although not 
partisan. 


SOLOMON C. TOLIVER. The subject 
of this sketch is a prominent rancher residing 
ten miles northeast of Billings, Yellowstone 
county. He was born in Independence, Vir¬ 
ginia, March 19, 1864. His father, Jacob Toli¬ 
ver, was a native of North Carolina, near the 
Virginia line, having land on both sides of the 
line, and consequently in two states. The 
school house of his district was in Virginia, 
as was, also, the postoffice. He followed the 
avocation of a farmer, and remained there un¬ 
til 1887, which year occurred his demise. 

The mother of our subject is Matilda 
(Higgins) Toliver, a native of* Virginia, her 
birthplace being quite near the North Carolina 
line. At the present writing she is residing 
in North Carolina. 

The earlier education of our subject, Sol¬ 
omon C. Toliver, was received in Virginia. 
In 1884 he went to North Platte, Nebraska, 
and in that state he was in the employment of 
the famous scout and popular showman, “Buf¬ 
falo Bill,” -or William F. Cody, at that period 
a resident of North Platte. It was in 1885 
that he came to the Yellowstone valley and en¬ 
gaged in the employment of William Deal 
for the period of one year. Subsequently he 
worked for Thomas McGirl for the period of 
seven years. He then purchased a ranch of 265 
acres upon which he is now comfortably lo¬ 
cated. 

In 1889 Mr. Toliver was married to Sarah 
L. McGirl, a native of Missouri. Her father 


was James McGirl, a native of Ireland; her 
mother, Frances (Dobson) McGirl, was a na¬ 
tive of Dobson, North Carolina. Two children 
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Toliver, viz.: 
a daughter, that died in infancy and Earl R., 
now aged ten. 


JEREMIAH F.' CRIMMINS was born 
at Troy, New York, March 27, 1841, the son 
of Michael Crimmins, a native of Cork county, 
Ireland. The mother in maiden life was Jo¬ 
hanna O’Brien, a native of Cork county, Ire¬ 
land, and in the family were thirteen children, 
only three of whom survive. Besides our sub¬ 
ject are Richard, at Drummond, Montana, and 
Mary Keliher in Troy, New York. Our sub¬ 
ject went to Rome in that state when nineteen 
and learned the blacksmith’s trade. He re¬ 
mained in Rome three years, mastering every 
part of that intricate trade and then traveled. 
In 1873, we 6nd in Florence, New York, 
and the same year he married Miss Alice Con- 
niff of that city, her parents being Michael 
and Mary Conniff. For three years Mr. Crim¬ 
mins and his wife remained in Florence and 
two children were born to them there, William 
R. and Elizabeth. In 1876 they removed to 
Deadwood, South Dakota, and the next year 
went to Fort Custer, Montana, where he worked 
at his trade. In 1881, Mr. Crimmins moved to 
Junction City, Montana, and remained there 
until the fall of 1890. Mr. Crimmins has been 
engaged in various things besides blacksmith- 
ipg, as stock-raising, merchandising and 
so forth, while from 1894 to 1898 he 
was postmaster in Forsyth. He has 
traveled very much and been in almost 
every state of the union. Also we find him in 
various places in Montana and once he was in 
Alaska. In 1903 he opened a shop again in 
Forsyth and is still conducting a blacksmith 
business here. 

On December 22, 1905, a daughter was 
born to Mr. and Mrs. Crimmins, Alice M. 










BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


557 


and their son, William R., died at Forsyth 
on January 22, 1905. Their daughter, Eliza¬ 
beth, was married to Elmer E. Powell in 1895. 
He is a railroad conductor and they reside at 
Los Angeles, California. 

Mr. Crimmins is a Republican and he and 
his wife are members of the Catholic church. 


ANDY BILLMAN knows Montana by 
personal experience since the very early sixties 
when Alder Gulch saw its palmiest days, and 
during all the succeeding years he has resided 
here, being now one of the substantial and 
highly esteemed men of the Yellowstone Val¬ 
ley. He lives about two miles west of Living¬ 
ston on a quarter section of land which he 
homesteaded nearly a quarter of a century ago. 
Sixty acres of this are under the ditch and the 
place is a valuable one. Mr. Billman was born 
in Fostoria, Ohio, on January 24, 1838, the 
son of Andrew and Elizabeth E. (Gunther) 
Billman, the former born in Pennsylvania Jan¬ 
uary 28, 1800, and the latter in the same state 
on January 1, 1805. The father followed 
farming and pump-making. The children were 
ten in number, six boys and four girls, our 
subject being the fourth one. He received 
his education from the primitive schools and 
in the fall of 1853 started in life for himself, 
working principally on the farms. Three years 
later he left Ohio for Iowa and after spend¬ 
ing three years in that state, he started in the 
fall of 1859 for Pike’s Peak. They were 
forced to spend the entire winter on the plains, 
reaching the foot of the mountains in April, 
i860. For three years subsequent to that Mr. 
Billman was prospecting and placer mining 
in various portions of Colorado, then he se¬ 
cured an outfit and drove through Montana 
via Fort Bridger and Soda Springs, Idaho. 
That winter was spent digging gold in Alder 
Gulch, and in the spring of 1865 he came over 
to the Last Chance where Helena now stands. 


He prospected during the summer and in the 
spring of 1866 joined a party going into the 
Gallatin valley. He prospected in various por¬ 
tions of the Yellowstone valley around Emi¬ 
grant Gulch and since that time he has made 
his home in this valley. For several years he 
spent his entire time in prospecting, trapping 
and hunting, but in 1876 made a trip into the 
Black Hills, Dakota. He secured some rich 
claims but owing to the impossibility of get¬ 
ting water on them and having no dumping 
facilities, he gave them up and returned to 
the Yellowstone valley. In 1877,'Mr. Billman 
began raising stock and more or less he has 
followed this ever since. He took a squatter’s 
right on Fleshman creek in 1881 and later 
sold that and moved on the island about two 
miles above Livingston. It was in 1883 that 
he took his present place as a homestead and 
a portion of that year was spent in traveling 
by team from his home to Puget Sound and 
return. Since the time of settling here, Mr. 
Billman has continually labored for the ad¬ 
vancement of the country and has done stock 
raising and farming, wherein he has been 
blessed with good success. 

Mr. Billman married Mrs. Sarah E. 
Wright, the widow of Captain Joseph Wright, 
who edited the first paper published at Boze¬ 
man, and the wedding occurred in 1884. Mrs. 
Billman was born in Galena, Illinois, on March 
9, 1850, the daughter of Samuel and Sarah 
(Robinson) White, natives of Ireland. The 
mother was born April 3, 1823, came to Amer¬ 
ica in 1825 and is now residing at Bozeman 
hearty and able to care for her house¬ 
hold duties. To Mr.* and Mrs. Billman two 
children have been born, Bessie, now the wife 
of H. L. Woods, and Della, still at home with 
her parents. 

Mr. and Mrs. Billman are members of the 
Methodist church, and politically he is a Re¬ 
publican. Mr. Billman has had many thrill¬ 
ing and trying experiences on the frontier. He 
has in his possession a steel arrowhead which 









558 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


was shot into his right side. He also has a 
leaden ball in his right shoulder. This was re¬ 
ceived from an engagement in the Judith Basin 
in 1874. It was amusing and yet very for¬ 
tunate for Mr. Billman that when he was 
wounded he had no hair on his head, for the 
Indians being utterly unable to scalp him, let 
him live. Mr. and Mrs. Billman are typical 
westerners and hospitable to a fault, genial, 
kind and broad minded as the people of the 
frontier become. They have hosts of friends 
throughout the country and they are highly 
esteemed people. 


JOSEPH T. SIMPKINS, born in Salem 
county, New Jersey, August 12,-1870, now a 
leading ranchman in Carbon county, resides 
one mile east of Tony, on Volney Creek. His 
father, Alfred F., was born in New Jersey, 
is a veteran of the Civil War, and is still liv¬ 
ing on a farm in New Jersey. The mother, 
Amanda (Dolbow) Simpkins, is a native of 
the same state, where she at present resides. 

The public schools afforded our subject 
a good business education, and in 1893 he 
came to what is now Carbon county, Montana, 
where he took up the homestead claim upon 
which he now lives. This was in 1897, and he 
has since remained here. 

The same year he was united in marriage 
to Carolina Gambett, a native of Missouri, 
born in Putnam county, where she was reared 
and educated. She was three months crossing 
the plains by team, and in 1878 she settled in 
the Gallatin valley, and was there married to 
a Mr. Lay. The wife’s father, George Gam¬ 
bett, was a native of England, coming when 
a young man to Missouri. He was a soldier 
of the Civil War, during the progress of which 
he died. The mother, Christina A. (Young), 
was a native of Indiana. She went to Mis¬ 
souri with her parents while a child. 


SAMUEL J. HOPPLE, who is well and 
favorably known throughout the Yellowstone 
valley, is most eligibly located on a fine ranch 
eight miles west of Billings. He was born in 
Perry county, Pennsylvania, May 4, 1838, the 
son of David and Sarah (Moule) Hopple, 
both natives of the Keystone state. The fa¬ 
ther was of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry; the 
mother of German origin. David Hopple re¬ 
mained a Pennsylvania farmer up to the time 
of his death. 

It was in the public schools of Perry coun¬ 
ty that our subject received an excellent busi¬ 
ness education, and in 1859 he came to Chi¬ 
cago, even at that early day a promising city, 
and for the period of two years he farmed in 
that vicinity. He then secured employment 
on a railroad as a brakeman, the Illinois Cen¬ 
tral, and for eighteen years he never lost a 
day’s pay. Subsequently he removed to Den¬ 
ver, Colorado, where he was employed on the 
Denver & Rio Grande road. He had been su¬ 
perintendent of the city railway previous to 
his experience with the Denver & Rio Grande. 
In 1880 our subject came to Glendive, Mon¬ 
tana, with Superintendent Ainsley, of the 
Northern Pacific road, and was conductor of 
a passenger train two years. He ran the first 
passenger train through to Billings, Living¬ 
ston, Bozeman and Helena, and the first train 
across the summit of the Rocky mountains. 
This was previous to the completion of the 
tunnel. It was in 1882 that he located the 
ranch upon which he is now living. But since 
then he has been in the government service 
three and one-half years as mail carrier. 

June 13, 1880, he was married to Miss 
Reno Feyler, a native of the Pine Tree state. 
At an early day she came to Montana with rel¬ 
atives. She is the daughter of Rufus and Erne- 
line Feyler. Mr. and Mrs. Hopple are the par¬ 
ents of four children: Harry S., with his fa¬ 
ther on the ranch; Mable E., at home, Myr¬ 
tle and Bert F. 








BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


559 


JOHN FRASER, who resides on a gard¬ 
ening farm of five acres one mile west from 
Livingston, is one of the oldest settlers in 
this part of the country. He was born in Wil- 
liamston, on December 9, 1833, the son of 
John and Jeanie (Fraser) Fraser, natives of 
Invernesshire, Scotland, of the same name but 
no blood relation. The father was a black¬ 
smith and came to Canada in 1832. Having 
operated a shop eighteen months at Williams- 
ton, he sold out and took a farm of two hun¬ 
dred acres in Kenyan township, where he re¬ 
mained until his death in 1873, aged then 
eighty-three. The mother died the next year, 
aged eighty-seven. Our subject has three 
brothers and six sisters, all of whom are dead 
except the youngest brother, who resides on 
the old homestead in Canada. As our sub¬ 
ject was taken on to the frontier by his fa¬ 
ther and there assisted in opening a farm, he 
had little opportunity to gain an education. 
In 1868, he left the old homestead and lo¬ 
cated a farm of one hundred acres near Lan¬ 
caster and there remained until 1874, when 
he came to Montana by way of Utah, having 
as a companion, Hugh McMillan, his cousin. 
They hired passage from Utah to Bozeman I 
and shortly after arrival, our subject entered 
the employ of the government and assisted to 
remove a sawmill from the upper agency to a 
point on the Yellowstone river sixteen miles 
west from Columbus. It is of interest that 
they built the boat, upon which they moved the 
machinery, where Livingston now stands. 
After completing the stockades, cabin and sta¬ 
ble of logs, they were located by the Sioux 
Indians. This was about the latter end of 
June, 1875, an d f° r a y ear and more there was 
one steady fight and everything had to be 
done under cover of rifles. During this time 
they lost three men, James Hilderbrant, one 
whose name is lost and a Mexican. On one 
raid the Indians stole forty-four horses and 
left only three in the post. This attack was 
made early in the morning and continued un¬ 


til four in the afternoon, when a cannon that 
was in the stockade, was brought to bear upon 
them and a bursting shell scattered them. 
Later their opinion of the affair was heard 
through the friendly Crows and was that the 
whites had a gun that would shoot today and 
kill tomorrow. After spending two years in 
the wilds, Mr. Fraser returned to Bozeman, 
then the center of civilization of this part of 
. the state and did carpentering for several par¬ 
ties and Major Pease. Being unable to get 
his pay, he took lumber, which he constructed 
into a raft and floated down the Yellowstone 
to where the old town of Miles City stood. He 
erected some buildings and a corrall and sold 
the balance, having the honor of bringing the 
first lumber into that city. Fort Ellis was 
moved that ye^r to within three miles of Miles 
City and settlers with their families began to 
come in. Our subject took a homestead ad¬ 
joining the town where he remained until the 
fall of 1899, when he removed to Livingston. 
In the fall of 1883 Mr. Fraser brought his 
family out as the country was then compar¬ 
atively safe from Indians, the road having 
come in. 

Mr. Fraser married Miss Ann McMillan, 
the daughter of John and Creste McMillan, 
natives of Canada and descendants from 
Scotch ancestors. Mrs. Fraser was born on 
June 15, 1841, in Canada and there was reared 
and educated. To our subject and his wife 
seven children have been born: James, Jan¬ 
uary 12, 1861; Flora, April 9, 1862 ; Hugh, 
October 12, 1864; John, February 1, 1865; 
Archie, July 21, 1868; John A., February 21, 
1870; and Dan, November 3, 1872. 

Mr. and Mrs. Fraser are both stanch mem¬ 
bers of the old Scotch Presbyterian church. 

In politics Mr. Fraser is a well informed 
Republican and takes an active part. 

Their home place is all under ditch and 
produces a nice dividend annually. Our sub¬ 
ject’s only daughter married Dan McPher¬ 
son, a Canadian, and died September 22, 1899, 







5 6 ° 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


leaving three children: Florence, Hattie J. 
and Alexander. 


J. W. HUTTON, a native of the Buckeye 
State, born in Jefferson county, June 2, 1836, 
is at present eligibly located on a fine ranch 
one-half mile south of Tony, Carbon county. 
His father, John M., was born in Westmore¬ 
land county, Pennsylvania but removed to Ohio 
with his. parents when he was a small lad. 
Of that section of the state his family were 
pioneers. . By trade he was a shoemaker, but 
usually had considerable farming property. 
He went to LaSalle county, Illinois, in 1856, 
where he remained until his death in 1872. 
He was throughout his life a, distinguished 
political leader, first a Whig and later a Re¬ 
publican. At one period he was one of the 
commissioners of LaSalle county. Originally 
his family came from Germany and were 
among the early settlers of Pennsylvania. .The 
mother of our subject, Mary E. (Beckett) 
Hutton, born in Westmoreland county, in the 
Keystone State, removed to Ohio with her 
parents at an early day, dying in 1880. Her 
people were of German origin and pioneers 
of Pennsylvania. 

The elementary schooling of our subject 
was received in Morgan county, Ohio. He 
went to LaCrosse, Wisconsin, in 1854, and 
here he was engaged in the lumber business, 
contracting for logs. Many hardships were 
endured by the lumbermen of Wisconsin in 
those days. From this point Mr. Hutton re¬ 
moved to LaSalle county, Illinois, where he 
followed farming until 1872, thence going to 
Polk county, Iowa, where he followed the bus¬ 
iness of contracting and building. He had 
erected a large number of mills and houses, be¬ 
fore going to Iowa, in Wisconsin. 

It was in 1885 that Mr. Hutton came to 
Custer county, Montana, and here he located 
a ranch on the Rosebud river, where he re¬ 


mained until 1901, coming thence to his pres¬ 
ent location. He purchased 160 acres of land 
which he has greatly improved and has it un¬ 
der irrigation. 

Mr. Hutton was married in 1857 to Irene 
Cooley, a native of Ohio. While still a young 
girl she came with her people to LaCrosse, 
Wisconsin, where she was married. Her fa¬ 
ther, Elan Cooley, was a native'of New York. 
Her mother’s name was Ruth Backer. Our 
subject has two brothers living: L. K., in 
Omaha, Nebraska, and James C., residing at 
Springfield, South Dakota. Another brother, 
William B., was claimed by death. He has 
two sisters, Mrs. A. E. Snedaker and Mrs. 
Mary E. Pickens. 

Politically our subject is a stanch Repub¬ 
lican, and always takes an active and lead¬ 
ing part in the various campaigns of that 
party. At one period he was assessor of Cal¬ 
houn county, Iowa. Fraternally he is a mem¬ 
ber of the I. O. O. F. He and his three broth¬ 
ers enlisted in the army during the Civil War, 
but owing to the fact that the three went at 
once it left the home unprovided for and our 
subject was forced to return home, while his 
brothers served through their terms. 


MARCE SORENSON, one of the for¬ 
tunate ranchers who have located in the Yel¬ 
lowstone valley, resides ten miles west of 
Billings. He is a Dane by nativity, having 
been born at Jyland, Denmark, August 25, 
1855, the son of Marce and Anna M. (Olson) 
Sorenson, both natives of Denmark. The fa¬ 
ther was a weaver by trade. 

The elementary portion of our subject’s 
education was received in Denmark, but in 
1870, accompanied by a small sister, he came 
to the United States. They arrived at Ogden, 
Utah, at that period the terminus of the Union 
Pacific railway, and here they were met by 
Mr. S. R. Miller, who had come to receive the 











Mr 


t 


S 








J. W. HUTTON 





BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


56i 


young emigrants from Jefferson Island, Mon¬ 
tana. With Mr. Miller our subject remained 
two years at Jefferson Island and then faced 
the world on his own account and for the first 
time began to do for himself. He worked for 
day wages at first, saved money, purchased 
calves when he could spare the funds and 
eventually secured a fine bunch of cattle. Un¬ 
til 1884 h e remained in the counties of Jef¬ 
ferson and Madison, thence going to southern 
Iowa where he purchased a farm. It was in 
this enterprise that he lost all his hard earned 
savings and was obliged to again face the 
world practically without a penny. 

In June, 1895, h e returned to Montana and 
resumed working for wages. In the Yellow¬ 
stone Valley, he purchased a ranch in 1896, 
where he is at present located. 

Mr. Sorenson has been twice married. In 
1884 he was united to Miss Lizzie Gaulter, 
a native of Utah. She died in 1891. In 1894 
he was united in marriage to Emma Jensen, 
a native of Denmark. Our subject is the father 
of four children, Louis M., Harry, Lester and 
Christina A. He is prosperous and surrounded 
by the comforts of a good home in the midst 
of a most eligible ranch. 


SAMUEL INDRELAND, one of the 
progressive and influential general farmers 
and business men of the Yellowstone country, 
was born in Wass, Norway, September 1, 
1869. At present he lives on a handsome 
ranch three miles northeast of Tony, on Vol- 
ney Creek. His father, Elling, a native of the 
same place as his son, was a farmer, and re¬ 
mained in Norway until his death in 1895. 
The mother, Sigrid (Crow) Inderland, was a 
native of Norway, in which country she re¬ 
mained until she died in 1896. 

The youth of our subject was passed in 
Norway, here he was educated in the public 
schools. At the age of eighteen he came to 
36 


the United States, at first to Minnesota, and 
here for a period he worked in the wood for 
wages. Later he drifted on to North Dakota, 
and engaged in farming. It was in 1890 that 
he came to Meagher county, Montana, and 
here he, also, worked for wages. To Carbon 
county he came in 1895, taking up a home¬ 
stead claim upon which he is now comfortably 
located. 

In 1897 our subject was married to Lizzie 
Olson, born at Salor, Norway, where she was 
reared and educated. At the age of sixteen 
she came to the United States with her par¬ 
ents, settling in Minnesota. Her father, Ole 
Olson, a native of Norway, died in Dakota. 
Her mother was Anne (Jackson) Olson. She 
has two children: Elmer Oscar and Selma 
Arthur. 


EMIL HANNING is to be numbered 
among the stockmen of Custer county who 
are making a splendid success of their labors,, 
and who are making wealth of the country 
to increase and are among the most substantial 
class of people who inhabit our state. He is; 
the owner of a ranch at Brandenburg, on the 
Tongue river, although at the present time he 
is living with Mr. Seupke, his brother-in-law, 
near Stacey. 

Emil Hanning was born in Minnesota, in 
1866, the son of H. F. Hanning, a native of 
Germany, born in 1829. He came to the 
United States, we are not told the date, and 
finally located in Minnesota, where he was 
numbered with the agriculturists of that state. 
On June 8, 1880, he landed with his family 
in Miles City, Montana, and soon was engaged 
in the sheep industry, which continued to oc¬ 
cupy him until his death in 1893. The 
mother of our subject, Doreta (Menzsing) 
Hanning, was born in Germany, and died in 
Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1872. Our sub¬ 
ject was with his father when he landed in 










562 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


Miles City and has since spent his life in this 
state. He has been engaged most of the time 
in the stock business and now is handling 
cattle. 

Mr. Hanning is still one of the jolly bach¬ 
elors of the county, and is not affiliated with 
any fraternal order. 


I. W. WALTERS, born in Dare county, 
Missouri, March, 1868, is now a prosperous 
ranchman living on a fine farm eighteen miles 
northwest of Red Lodge, Montana. His fa¬ 
ther, William, was a native of Tennessee, and 
when a young man removed to Missouri, 
where he died when our subject was a small 
lad. The mother, Martha (White), died be¬ 
fore her husband when subject was quite 
young. 

Accompanied by his stepmother and her 
husband he crossed the plains in 1876 with a 
horse team, and was reared in the Gallatin 
valley. On attaining manhood he worked for 
wages. He came to his present location in 
1896, where he secured his present homestead, 
and which he has materially improved. 

In 1900 our subject was married to Eliza 
McLean, born. in Scott county, Kansas, in 
May, 1884. Since she was two years or age 
she has traveled considerably with her parents, 
having visited nearly all the western states. 
Her father, Hector, was born in Bowling 
Green, Kentucky, and was reared in Texas. 
He has been a great traveler during the past 
twenty-five years, and is now living quietly 
on a ranch near our subject. Her mother, 
Fremont (Combs) McLean, was born in Scott 
county, Kansas, September, 1866. Mr. and 
Mrs. Walters have one child, Eva May 
Walters. 


WILLIAM SEUPKE, one of the intel¬ 
ligent and industrious men who have made 
and are making Custer county one of the 


wealthy divisions of Montana, is now engaged 
in stock raising and ranching, having his home 
place near Stacey, on the Little Pumpkin. He 
was born in Germany in 1848, the son of C. 
F. and Henrietta (Olland) Seupke, both na¬ 
tives of Germany. The father was born in 
1808, followed merchandising in his native 
land until 1866, when he came to Wisconsin 
and did farming. Later he removed to Young 
America, Minnesota, and resumed a mercantile 
career until his death in 1876. The mother 
was born in Hamburg, and on the twenty-first 
day of November, 1868, while out taking a 
sleigh ride, she was struck by a train and 
killed. Our subject received the initial por¬ 
tion of his education in the public schools of 
Germany, then came with his parents to Wis¬ 
consin. Later we see him in Michigan occu¬ 
pied with the fishing industry, after which he 
returned to Wisconsin. The next three years 
were spent in fishing and hunting in Wiscon¬ 
sin, North Dakota and Minnesota. Having 
satisfied his desires as a nimrod, he returned 
to Minneapolis and was occupied there three 
years, when he married Miss Regina Hanning, 
a native of Minnesota. Her father, H. F. 
Hanning, was born in Germany in 1829, came 
to the United States, then located in Minne¬ 
sota and followed farming there until 1880, 
when he migrated to Montana, landing in this 
state on June 8. He embarked in the sheep 
business which he followed until his death in 
1893. Mr. Hanning married Mi?s Doreta 
Menzsing, a native of Germany and^ whose 
death occurred in Minneapolis in 1872. 

Subsequent to his marriage Mr. Seupke 
removed to Young America and engaged in 
the mercantile business. Later we see him in 
Plato, Minnesota, and for eleven years he was 
occupied in buying wheat. It was 1893 that 
he came on to Montana and engaged in ranch¬ 
ing and raising stock and these enterprises 
have been followed steadily by him since. 

To Mr. 9.71 d Mrs. Seupke the following 
children have been born: Annie, the wife of 








BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


563 


Wilber Wasmut, deceased; Emma, the wife 
of W. J. Glenn, dwelling- on Pumpkin creek; 
Lillie, the wife of Bert Weaver, living in 
Miles City; Alma, at home; and Willie and 
Hattie, twins, also at home. 


JACOB M. HARTLEY, born in Cedar 
county, Missouri, at present resides on a hand¬ 
some ranch twelve miles northwest of Red 
Lodge, Carbon county, and where he is exten¬ 
sively engaged in the rearing of stock. His 
father, John E. Hartley, was a native of Ten¬ 
nessee, and went to Missouri when a young 
man, and there he married. He came to Mon¬ 
tana in 1865 and thus became one of the 
earliest of pioneers of this state. He located 
on a piece of land about twelve miles above 
Deer Lodge. In 1872 his wife died, and with 
the remainder of his family, all but the subject 
of this sketch, and the oldest son, he returned 
to Missouri, where he remained until his death, 
June 13, 1898. While in Montana he was an 
extensive stock dealer and capitalist, and at 
Stockton, Missouri, he engaged in banking, 
and served two terms as sheriff of Cedar coun¬ 
ty. The mother of our subject, Sarah (Sher¬ 
rill) Hartley, was born in Tennessee, coming 
to Missouri with her parents when a child. 

When quite a small lad Jacob M. Hartley 
came to Montana, secured a good education in 
the public schools in Deer Lodge Valley. 
When his father left for Missouri our subject 
and an older brother were left to manage the 
Montana ranch, which they did successfully 
until it was sold in 1878, and our subject re¬ 
turned to Missouri, but came back in the 
spring of 1879 bringing a band of mules and 
horses. While at Deer Lodge he purchased 
the ground where now stands Anaconda. This 
was in the early 8o’s. For two years he farmed 
this property, and then disposed of it to the 
Anaconda Company for $5,000.00. Since then 
he has been in the Yellowstone Valley. In 


1898 he located in Carbon county, where he 
is successfully engaged in cattle business. He 
has three brothers: W. L., at Emporia, 
Kansas, a capitalist; James H., stock raising 
in Missouri, and R. L., who assumed charge 
of his father’s banking business when the 
latter died. Our subject has three sisters: 
Minnie L.,' Sarah D., and Eugenia, and one 
half sister, Leona. 


LAWRENCE T. SWAN is one of Mon¬ 
tana’s army of substantial agriculturalists and 
has spent the major portion of his life within 
the boundaries of the farfamed state of mines, 
stock, and mammoth ranches. Stark county, 
Ohio, is his native place and his birth oc¬ 
curred on July 25, 1868. Enos Swan, the fa¬ 
ther of our subject, was also born in Ohio and 
has the distinction of being a veteran of the 
Civil War. In 1870, which was a very early 
day for what is now Montana, the elder Swan 
drove overland with teams bringing his fam¬ 
ily to the Gallatin valley and began the good 
work of assisting to make a state. He labored 
here for ten years and then removed to Port¬ 
land, Oregon, where he entered the real estate 
business and is one of the successful dealers in 
that city at the present time. He married 
Mary Jones, a native of Indiana, and she is 
now residing with her husband in Portland. 
Our subject received his early education at 
Chico, whither he came when young with his 
parents. When he had reached manhood’s 
estate he was employed by Story & Lee, and 
for eight years he was connected with that 
firm and then he located a ranch on Trail creek 
and began tilling the soil. He prospered in 
his chosen work and finally, in 1901, he pur¬ 
chased the property where he now resides, 
about ten miles south of Livingston, which has 
been the family home since. 

In 1888 Mr. Swan married Miss Edna 
McLaughlin, who was bom in Minnesota and 










564 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


came to Montana with her parents in the early 
eighties. Her father, Horace McLaughlin, 
a native of Maine, married Miss Marguerite 
Benjamin, a native of Providence, Rhode Isl¬ 
and, and together they came to the west. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Swan have been born 
three children, Leonard, Donald and Albert. 


WILLIAM ITZIN, one of the fortunate 
ranchmen of Yellowstone valley, residing 
seven miles west of Red Lodge, Carbon coun¬ 
ty, was born at Racine, Wisconsin, June 19, 
1859. His father, Fred Itzin, was a native of 
Germany, coming to the United States in 1848 
and locating at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He 
had served thirteen years in the German army, 
and was by trade a carpenter. He soon went 
to Burlington, Wisconsin, remaining there un¬ 
til 1859, when he went to St. Louis, Missouri, 
where he died February 3, i860. He was 
aboard a boat, at the time, and as the craft 
stopped at the landing he dropped dead ol 
heart failure. The mother, Eva Itzin, also a 
German by birth, came to Wisconsin with her 
husband, dying at Burlington. 

In the common schools of Wisconsin our 
subject received a good business education, 
and on arriving at man’s estate he engaged in 
the lumber industry, in northern Wisconsin. 
He was also employed on Mississippi river 
steamboats. In 1884 he enlisted in Company 
I, Fifteenth Regular Infantry, and went to 
Fort Pembina, North Dakota, remaining there 
until he was mustered out in March, 1889. He 
then farmed for a period in North Dakota, 
coming to Gallatin county, Montana, in 1893. 
To his present location he came in 1895, where 
he has since resided. 

In 1886 he was united in marriage to 
Annie Wagner, born near Winnipeg, Mani¬ 
toba. Here she was reared and educated, com¬ 
ing to St. Vincent, Minnesota, with her peo¬ 
ple in 1877, and where she was married. Her 


parents were Michael and Betsy (Swain) 
Wagner, the former a native of Germany; the 
latter of Manitoba. She has three children: 
Letha, Mary and Fred. 

-- 

JOHN A. MORGAN. The subject of 
this sketch is one well deserving the estimation 
in which he is held by the people of the ever 
famous Yellowstone valley. A prosperous 
farmer, residing five and one-half miles west 
of Billings, he was born in St. Lawrence coun¬ 
ty, New York, February 21, 1863. He is the 
son of Orin Morgan, also a native of St. 
Lawrence county. He was all his life en¬ 
gaged in farming in the Empire state. His 
father, the paternal grandfather of our sub¬ 
ject, Forest Morgan, also followed the avo¬ 
cation of an agriculturist. Originally this 
family came from Wales, but for several gen¬ 
erations have been in the United States. 

The mother of our subject, Lucretia R. 
(Whiteing) Morgan, who is still living, is 
a native of St. Lawrence county, New York, 
where she resides. The members of her family 
originally came to this country from England. 

In the public schools of St. Lawrence 
county our subject received his education, al¬ 
ternately working and studying until he ar¬ 
rived at the age of twenty-two years. He then 
removed to Morris, Minnesota, remaining with 
relatives of his family one year. Thence he 
came to Montana, and his first employment 
was with a cowboy outfit, for the period of 
one year. Shortly after attaining the age of 
twenty-four he came to Billings, and here he 
was in the employment of W. O. Parker for 
two years, subsequently being taken into part¬ 
nership with his employer in the sheep busi¬ 
ness. Since that period he has followed this 
avocation the greater portion of the time. 

It was in 1891 that he was united in mar¬ 
riage to Miss 'Mary Lamey, who was born in 
Minnesota. When a small child she was 












565 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


brought to Montana by her father, Daniel 
Lamey, a native of the state of New York. 
Subsequently he removed to Minnesota and 
later to Montana, where he became one of the 
earliest settlers of the Yellowstone valley. The 
mother of the wife of our subject, Sarah Mc¬ 
Cormick Morgan, was a native of Ontario, 
Canada. To them have been born two chil¬ 
dren, Dora L. and Sarah O. Fraternally our 
subject is a member of the A. O. U. W., the 
Highlanders and the Mountaineers. 


JOHN M. DARROCH resides about fif¬ 
teen miles south from Livingston, where he 
owns twelve hundred acres of land and gives 
attention to stock raising, handling horses, 
cattle and sheep. He has prospered in his 
labors and has continued here for fourteen 
years and is one of the men whose life is 
filled with labors and business, and whose ef¬ 
forts have redounded to much success. 

John M. Darroch was born in Parke county, 
Indiana, October 25, 1855, being the son of 
John and Caroline (Pett) Darroch, natives 
of South Carolina. The father was brought 
by his parents when a small child to Indiana, 
they being among the first settlers in that state. 
He was well educated and admitted to the bar 
to'practice law; but after a short time in the 
profession he found his tastes led him to agri¬ 
cultural pursuits and so he went to farming 
and raising stock. He was one of the com¬ 
mittee of three who handled the swamp land 
of Indiana and set it aside for school purposes 
which proved so useful in after years. He was 
a prominent and wealthy man and did much 
for the advancement of his state. His an¬ 
cestors came from Scotland to South Caro¬ 
lina in early colonial days. The mother of our 
subject was also brought to Indiana when 
young and her father was one of the promi¬ 
nent men of the state as well as one of the 
early pioneers. Our subject’s parents went 


from Parke to Newton county, in Indiana, and 
in the latter county he received a' good com¬ 
mon school education. Arriving at manhood’s 
estate he went to farming and stock raising, 
and in 1875 came on west to southern Colo¬ 
rado. Here he engaged in stock raising, hand¬ 
ling cattle, and in 1879 returned to Indiana, 
whence, in 1892, he came to Montana and 
purchased land where he now resides. To this 
he has been adding by purchase until he now 
owns the nice estate of twelve hundred acres 
mentioned before. 

Mr. Darroch has four children, Louise, 
John Isaac, Minnie F., and Taylor M. 


W. A. ENOCHS, a prosperous farmer in 
the handsome Yellowstone valley, resides 
seven miles west of Billings. By birth he is a 
Missourian, the place of his nativity being 
Gentry county, where he was borh July 31, 
1869. 

The parents of our subject are E. F. and 
Lucinda (McGuire) Enochs, the father a na¬ 
tive of Ohio; the mother of Missouri. Both 
are living. E. F. Enochs removed with his 
parents to Missouri when twelve years of age. 
He is a veteran of the Civil War, and resides 
at present on the “old farm.” 

In the public schools of Missouri our sub¬ 
ject, W. A. Enochs, received a fair business 
education and, on attaining his majority, he 
went to Colorado where he worked one year, 
subsequently returning to Missouri. He came 
to Yellowstone county in 1893, purchased land 
of excellent quality and upon which he now 
resides. 

It was in 1890 that he was united in mar¬ 
riage to Miss Eliza A. Moore, a native of 
Missouri. She is the daughter of Charles D. 
and Sarah (Romisha) Moore, the father a 
native of Nova Scotia. Their union has been 
blessed with four children, Merle, Clara, Mar¬ 
garet and Helen. 










566 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


ALEXANDER HUNDLEY is one of the 
pioneers of Montana and now resides seven 
miles southwest from Joliet. He was born in 
Hawkins county, Tennessee, May 27, 1838, 
being the son of Joseph and Mary Frances 
(Phelps) Hundley, the former born in Haw¬ 
kins county, Tennessee, and the latter in Vir¬ 
ginia, in 1813 and 1818, respectively. Our 
subject’s father removed to Iowa in 1847 an< ^ 
there remained until 1858, when he located 
in Vernon county, Missouri. After 1865 he 
went to Barry county, Missouri, and there was 
engaged in farming and stock, raising until 
his death. Our subject’s mother came to 
Montana with her son in 1883 and died here 
in 1888. Jordan and Betsey (Brown) Hund¬ 
ley, the grandparents of Alexander Hundley, 
came from Irish ancestry. The Browns emi¬ 
grated from the north of Ireland to the New 
World in colonial days and several members of 
the family were active in the Revolution. Also 
our subject had one uncle, John Phelps, who 
served with distinction in the Mexican war. 
Jordan Hundley was born in North Carolina 
and died at the advanced age of one hundred 
and seven, being then in Hawkins county, 
Tennessee, where he was the first white settler. 
The wife of this venerable pioneer was living 
when ninety-seven years of age and at that time 
was active in her household duties. At what 
age she died is unknown to our subject, the 
records having been lost. Our subject’s grand¬ 
parents on his mother’s side of the house were 
James and Nancy (Smith) Phelps. The 
former was born in Scotland and came to the 
United States in early days settling first in 
Virginia whence he migrated to Tennessee. 
His first wife was born in Virginia and came 
with her parents when a small child to Ten¬ 
nessee, then went to Missouri and finally re¬ 
turned to Tennessee, where she died. 

Alexander Hundley’s school days were 
spent in Iowa whence he went with his parents 
to Missouri. In i860 he started in business 
for himself and the next year, June 8, 1861, 


he enlisted in Company F, Second Missouri 
Volunteer Infantry, under Col. Clinton Hun¬ 
ter. He was in the fight at Dugg’s Springs, 
Wilson’s Creek and Prairie Grove, besides sev¬ 
eral other engagements and skirmishes. At 
Wilson’s creek a bullet burned his face, another 
his shoulder and finally one ploughed up his 
scalp. He was twice taken prisoner, once was 
exchanged and the other time escaped. In 
1863 he was taken home owing to serious ill¬ 
ness, the results of which were painfully felt 
many years later in his life. In 1865, May 14, 
he joined an emigrant train bound for Mon¬ 
tana and was engaged in handling the loose 
stock on the route. The start was made from 
Atchison, Kansas, and all arrived in safety 
at Bear Gulch in due time. There and in Lin¬ 
coln gulch he mined until July, 1871, at which 
time he went to Madison valley and some two 
years later removed from that place to Gal¬ 
latin valley. Owing to failure of his health 
from the hardships of the war, he spent three 
years after this in hunting and trapping on the 
Yellowstone. In 1875 he assisted to erect the 
buildings of the Crow agency and then entered 
upon a career of stock raising, which more or 
less he has followed since. In the panic of 
1893, he suffered heavy loss, but was enabled 
to get on his feet again and since then he has 
prospered well. In 1896 Mr. Hundley located 
on his present ranch and it is a place of value, 
being well irrigated and in a high state of 
cultivation. 

In 1875 Mr. Hundley married and he has 
one daughter, Abbie, now the wife of Jacob 
Lande. They dwell in Carbon county and are 
the parents of the following named children: 
Dewey, George and Jordan. Mr. Hundley 
is a man who receives and is entitled to the re¬ 
spect and confidence of his fellows and is 
esteemed a man of worth. 


JOHN A. 'LOVELY owns a fine farm 
about eight miles south of Livingston \yhere 











BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


567 


he makes his home, while, also, he owns a sec¬ 
tion on the Shields river. His home place 
consists of two hundred and eighty acres of 
fertile agricultural land and is well improved 
with buildings, fences, and so forth. He de¬ 
votes his attention to stock raising and general 
farming and is one of the prosperous men of 
Park county. 

John A. Lovely was born in McDonough 
county, Illinois, on May 14, 1854. George W. 
Lovely, his father, was born in Marysville, 
Kentucky and came to Illinois with his par¬ 
ents when a small boy. When he grew up he 
settled on a farm in Illinois and later went to 
Kansas, then Missouri and in 1882 came to 
Montana where he resided till his death. The 
family came, from England in Lord Balti¬ 
more’s colony and then members of it came on 
west to Kentucky, being among the first set¬ 
tlers in that state. George W. Lovely mar¬ 
ried Miss Flora Cox, a native of Indiana, who 
came with her parents to Illinois in early days. 
Her mother was a McCormick, of Irish ex¬ 
traction and our subject has a letter of recom¬ 
mendation written by a priest for his great¬ 
grandfather at the time that gentleman em¬ 
barked for America. Our subject came to 
Nemaha county, Kansas, with his parents in 
1861 and in 1870 went thence to Newton 
county, Missouri. In the spring of 1877 he 
came to Franklin, the end of the railroad then, 
and thence staged to Bozeman, and from there 
made his way to where Gardiner now stands. 
Here he visited an old friend for a month and 
then returned to Bozeman and worked for 
wages and later taught school on the Yellow¬ 
stone and in the Gallatin valley for several 
years. In the spring of 1878 he located on the 
ranch where he now resides and since that time 
he has given his attention to stock raising and 
farming. 

In 1887 Mr. Lovely married Miss Mar¬ 
garet Davis, who was born in Bozeman. She 
was among the first pupils to graduate from 
the Bozeman high school and then completed 


her education in a private school. She taught 
school in Park county the first year after it 
was organized as a county. Her father, J. 
J. Davis, was born in Albany, New York, and 
came with ox teams to Montana in 1864, 
bringing his family with him. He was an at¬ 
torney by profession and was the first lawyer 
in Bozeman. Later he became a member of 
the first legislature of the territory and after 
this practiced in Bozeman and often held the 
office of justice of the peace. The territory 
he represented in the legislature was a large 
portion of the. state and is now divided into 
many counties. He came from a Welsh fam¬ 
ily the first of whom in this country was R. 
E. Lee in the Revolution. He married Mar¬ 
garet Davis, who died when Mrs. Lovely was 
a small child. Mr. and Mrs. Lovely have one 
child, Justin D., a junior student in the Park 
county high school. 


FERDINAND LEIMBACH, who dwells 
three miles southwest from Joliet, where he 
has a fine farm of one quarter section, is a 
native of Germany and was born on March 
8, 1841. His father, George Leimbach, was 
removed to Moris, Minnesota, remaining with 
tive country at the age of ninety-three years. 
He had 'followed farming all his days. He 
married Miss Marie Odensas, who was born 
in Germany in 1790, and is now deceased. 
From the common schools of his native coun¬ 
try our subject received his educational train¬ 
ing and when of the proper age was apprent¬ 
iced to learn the brewing business. He fol¬ 
lowed that in Germany until 1859 when he 
migrated to the United States, settling first in 
New York where two years were spent. Then 
he went to Philadelphia and for twenty-one 
years was engaged in the brewing business 
there. In 1882, he determined to try the west 
and chose Butte as the objective point of his 
journeys. In that thriving city he was en- 








5 68 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


gaged in hotel keeping and also operated a 
bar. For twenty-two years he continued in 
those occupations and then secured the place 
where he now has his home. The land is all 
under the ditch and very valuable. Mr. 
Leimbach has improved the place in good 
shape and raises much stock, cattle and horses. 
He takes a great interest in his farm and keeps 
a very neat and well tilled place. 

In the year 1865, while in Philadelphia, 
Mr. Leimbach married Miss Eliza Merker, 
and together they have traveled the pilgrim 
way since. They are the parents of four chil¬ 
dren, namely: Augusta, born in 1872; Fred, 
born in 1874; Ernest, born in 1876; and Eliza, 
born in 1882. The boys own Philadelphia as 
their native place and Eliza was born in Har¬ 
risburg, Pennsylvania. The children have all 
started well in life for themselves and Fred 
is living with his father. He has never seen 
fit as yet to seek a companion in life, but re¬ 
mains under the parental roof. He has a 
■quarter section of choice land adjoining his 
father’s farm and it is said that it is the best 
kept farm in the valley. This speaks well of 
the thrift and energy of Mr. Leimbach. 

Mr. Leimbach and his family are adherents 
of the Lutheran church. While he takes the 
interest becoming the well informed citi¬ 
zen in politics still he is not a politician. 


OLAF W. MATTSON lives on a ranch 
about four miles up the Yellowstone river 
from Livingstqn and here he devotes his at¬ 
tention to farming, while he raises some stock 
and handles a lime kiln. He has prospered 
in his labors and is one "of the well-to-do men 
of the county. His birth occurred in Sweden, 
July 28, 1841. His parents. Johanah and 
Mary (Elison) Mattson, were both natives of 
Sweden and followed farming. The children 
of the family consisted of six boys and two 
girls. Two besides our subject dwell in this 


county; Andrew at Moline, Illinois, and Mag¬ 
nus, on Mill creek in the Yellowstone valley. 
After securing his education in his native 
country Mr. Mattson continued to assist on 
the farm and also learned the stone mason’s 
trade. Finally, in 1864, he decided to come 
to America and soon we see him in Michigan 
where he was employed for a year. Then he 
came on to Illinois and secured employment 
in a machine shop, where he remained for five 
years. Then he went to St. Joseph and worked 
at the mason trade until 1882 when he came 
on to Montana and purchased the ranch where 
he now resides. Soon after settling here he 
opened a lime kiln and found good market 
for the product even as far as Miles City. He 
floated it down the river on flat boats con¬ 
structed at his farm. His attention and time 
have been occupied thus with the lime busi¬ 
ness and farming to the present. 

On July 19, 1886, Mr. Mattson married 
Miss Mary Elison who was born in Sweden, 
May 5, 1857, She came to America in 1885. 
Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Mattson: Olive E., November 2, 1887; Lilly, 
December 8, 1894; Ruth, October 28, 1898; 
and Esther, December 16, 1900. Mr. and 
Mrs. Mattson are members of the Congrega¬ 
tional church and are people of gc>6d standing. 
Politically Mr. Mattson is allied with the Re¬ 
publicans and in all movements for the ad¬ 
vancement of the county and state he is keenly 
interested. 


RICHARD L. MCDONALD, a brother of 
Malcolm McDonald, a sketch of whom ap¬ 
pears elsewhere in this work, resides on an ex¬ 
cellent ranch adjoining his brother’s, twelve 
miles up the Rosebud river from Fishtail, in 
Carbon county. He was born in Randolph 
county, Indiana, November 27, 1856. Sketches 
of his parents will be found in full in the arti¬ 
cle devoted to liis brother, Malcolm. He re¬ 
ceived a common school education in the high 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


569 


and graded schools of Perrysville, Indiana. 
When twenty-one years of age Mr. McDonald 
went to the Black Hills, where he engaged in 
the sawmill business for about two years. He 
came to Montana in 1880 and did sub-contract¬ 
ing oh the Northern Pacific railroad until it 
was completed. Coming to Billings when it 
was a town of tents he resided there about 
four years, freighting most of the time to what 
is now Lewiston and down into Wyoming. 
In 1886 he located a ranch on Fidler creek, 
which he named, where he now resides. He 
supposed he was locating on public land, but 
owing to an erroneous survey he was within 
the limits of the Crow reservation. He as well 
as all the other settlers were greatly harrassed 
by the Indian police and the hangers on at the 
agency. Mainly by his efforts, assisted by 
Fred H. Foster and the Hon. O. F. God¬ 
dard, both of Billings, a special agent, Captain 
Duncan, from Washington, D. C., was sent 
out to adjust the matters between the settlers 
and the Indian department, which resulted sat¬ 
isfactorily to the settlers, at least, as every set¬ 
tler secured the ranch on which he was located. 

Mr. McDonald has always taken an active 
part in politics, being in national matters a 
Republican, but ignoring party lines in local 
politics. He was one of the seven delegates 
to the Carbon county convention in 1895. 

Mr. McDonald is engaged in ranching and 
cattle raising. In 1897 while in Chicago with 
cattle he made the acquaintance of Miss Eve¬ 
lyn Haskin, a teacher in the public schools of 
that city and they were married the next year. 
Miss Haskin was born in Lake county, Indi¬ 
ana, in 1867. She is a graduate of the Indi¬ 
ana State Normal School at Terre Haute. Her 
father, R. A. Haskin, was a veteran of the 
Civil War and a. brother of Col. D. C. Has¬ 
kin of New York, the originator of the first 
tunnel under the Hudson river, between Jer¬ 
sey City- and New York. They are descend¬ 
ants of veterans of the Revolution. 

Mr. and Mrs. McDonald have four chil¬ 


dren, Charles, Marjorie, Dorothy and Joseph 
Worth. 


CHARLES M. SIMPSON is one of the 
veteran stockmen of the great stock state of 
Montana. His place of business is in the vi¬ 
cinity of Beebe, where he owns a good ranch 
and has all the improvements that are needed 
in conducting a stock business. He is a man 
well acquainted with the business from per¬ 
sonal experience and has traveled the country 
from Montana to Texas several times, besides 
having been long riding the range in this 
state. 

Charles M. Simpson was born in Boston, 
Massachusetts, on December 10, 1867. His 
father, Willard E. Simpson, was born in 
Maine, and came to Boston when quite young, 
engaging in the mercantile business. In 1875, 
he retired from that business and went to 
Texas where he took up farming until his 
death. He had married Miss Hannah J. Mow¬ 
er, a native of Maine and still living in Texas. 
Our subject got the first year of his school¬ 
ing in Boston, and then went with his par¬ 
ents to Texas, where he - was privileged to 
study further in the common schools. He con¬ 
tinued thus until eighteen when he commenced 
riding the range, having, also, been engaged 
thus at intervals before that time. He was 
engaged in various portions of the Lone Star 
state and in 1887-8 he made two trips with 
stock from Texas to Montana. In 1888, he 
decided to remain in Montana, and was soon 
in the employ of the Hereford Cattle Com¬ 
pany, where he continued for a decade, con¬ 
stantly employed with stock. Finally, in 1898, 
Mr. Simpson decided to start in business for 
himself, so sought out his present ranch and 
began raising horses and cattle. At the pres¬ 
ent time he has some fine bands of these ani¬ 
mals and is prospered in his labors. Owing to 
his long experience in the business, Mr. Simp- 








570 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


son is one of the very skillful stockmen of the 
county and he shows the same in his conduct 
of his business. 

In November, 1898, Mr. Simpson married 
Miss Maggie S. Shy, who was born in Mis¬ 
souri, and came to Montana in 1891 with her 
parents. Her father, Walter C. Shy, is en¬ 
gaged in ranching on the Little Pumpkin. 
He married Jannie Elliot, a native of Mis¬ 
souri and now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Simpson one child has been born, Milton C., 
in Miles City, in December, 189^. 


SAMUEL J. TUTTLE, one of the most 
successful ranchers of the Yellowstone valley, 
resides on a fine farm nine miles west of 
Red Lodge, Montana. He was born in Ing¬ 
ham county, Michigan. His father, Frederick 
A. was born in Bunker Hill township, Mich¬ 
igan. In 1864 he enlisted in Fifth Mich. Light 
Art. serving until the close of war. Following 
his term of service he learned the trade of a 
harnessmaker, and went to Colorado in 1880, 
locating at Leadville. Remaining here one 
year, he went to the foothills above Denver, 
and there he farmed about three years on a 
ranch near Denver. In 1892 he came to the 
place where he now resides, and secured a 
homestead, remaining on the same until his 
death, in 1901, he being fifty-four years old. 
The mother, Mary L. (Moore) Tuttle, was 
born in Washtenaw county, Michigan, where 
she was reared, married and came west with 
her husband. Originally the Moore family 
came from New York state. 

In the public schools of Colorado and Mon¬ 
tana our subject received his education. He 
was a boy of fourteen years of age when he 
came with his parents to Montana. Follow¬ 
ing the death of his father he assumed charge 
of the home ranch, and at present lives with 
his mother and an unmarried sister. He has 
two sisters: Mattie M., wife of A. A. Ellis; 


Jennie A., at home with her mother and 
brother. It was during a financial panic that 
the family of our subject came to Montana, 
and for a few years it was exceedingly diffi¬ 
cult to make a 'living. However, they are now 
in excellent circumstances and surrounded 
with all the comforts of life. 


BENJAMIN STRICKLAND resides in 
Paradise valley, Park county, and is numbered 
with the leading and substantial stock raisers 
and farmers of this section of Montana. He 
handles about five hundred head of cattle each 
winter, mostly Shorthorns, and has a domain of 
two thousand five hundred acres well improved 
and tilled in a manner that produces annually 
handsome dividends. 

The birth of Mr. Strickland occurred in 
Broome county, New York, April 5, 1832, his 
parents being David and Betsey (Wheeler) 
Strickland, natives of Saint Lawrence county, 
New York and Connecticut, respectively. Ben¬ 
jamin was one of seven sons and five daughters 
and in 1855 the family all came west to Iowa, 
where the father passed the remainder of his 
life on a farm. Mrs. Strickland’s father, 
Joshua Wheeler, was a seafaring man for 
many years. 

Benjamin Strickland received his educa¬ 
tion in his native state and remained with his 
parents until 1852, in which year he came on 
west to Portage, Wisconsin, and there engaged 
in lumbering for five years. Then he jour¬ 
neyed to his father’s home in Iowa and there 
remained until 1861, in September of which 
year he enlisted at Albert Lea, Minnesota, in 
Company H, First Minnesota Rangers, 
mounted, and served under. Colonel Pender. 
They at once started in pursuit of the Indians 
and the entire time of Mr. Strickland’s service 
was in the Indian warfare and he saw much of 
it. However,'”he never received from the 
weapons of the savages but slight wounds. On 











BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


571 


one occasion his horse was shot from under 
him and he was permanently injured, for 
which he is now receiving from the govern¬ 
ment a small pension, From Fort Ridgeley 
they began the tour of two years, always in 
hot pursuit of the savages in one place or an¬ 
other, the engagements being numerous and 
many of them hotly contested. Finally, un¬ 
der General Sibley, the troops drove the In¬ 
dians across the Missouri and Mr. Strickland 
returned with his command to Fort Snelling, 
Minnesota. Later on he acted as one of the 
escort of the governor of Minnesota who ef¬ 
fected a treaty with Red Cloud and Hole-In- 
the-Day, the Indian chieftains. Receiving his 
honorable discharge at Fort Snelling in Sep¬ 
tember; 1863, Mr. Strickland returned to his 
father’s home and there remained until the 
following April, when in company with a train 
of three hundred, he started west to Emigrant 
Gulch, Montana. Arriving in August 27, 
1864, without molestation from the Indians, 
he at once went to mining and after one year 
spent in the gulch, devoted five years more to 
that absorbing work in various camps in the 
northwest. 

It was 1874 when Mr. Strickland located 
on his present place taking a quarter section 
as a homestead. Since those days he has been 
prospered exceedingly and is counted one of 
the most successful men of the county and 
one of the representative men of the state. Mr. 
Strickland is a Jeffersonian Democrat and al¬ 
ways manifests a keen interest in the campaigns 
and the upbuilding of the state and county. 
He has acted as school trustee, but never 
reaches for public office. He is affiliated with 
the Masons, being a Knight Templar. 

On May 16, 1868, Mr. Strickland mar¬ 
ried Miss Nancy J. Daley, a natiye of Iowa, 
whither her father, Ebenezer Daley, came 
from to Virginia. Seven children have 
born to this marriage: Katherine, Frank, Mil¬ 
lie, Ebenezer and Samuel; besides Mary and 
John, who are deceased. 


A. J. MORRISON. The subject of this 
biographical tribute is one well deserving 
of the prominent name he bears of one of 
Montana’s earliest pioneers and a mighty nim- 
rod of his day. Probably there is no man in 
the state with a better record as a hunter 
and trapper than he, and his war record is 
sans reproche , and most meritorious. At pres¬ 
ent our subject is a prosperous rancher, resid¬ 
ing four and one-half miles east of Billings. 
He was born in Steuben county, New York, 
September 22, 1833. 

His parents were Thomas and Hannah 
(Sullivan) Morrison, the father a native of 
County Down, Ireland, the mother of the 
Empire State. It was in 1811 that Thomas 
Morrison came from Ireland to the United 
States. Here he served patriotically all 
through the struggle of 1812 under Generals 
Scott and Brown. Following the close of this 
war he located on a farm in the state of New 
York. His trade was that of a mechanic at 
which he worked industriously the greater por¬ 
tion of his time. In 1854 he removed to Dane 
county, Wisconsin, at that period “way out, 
west,” where he continued at his trade until 
1858, when he took the road as a seller of cer¬ 
tain patent rights. He died in Minnesota. The 
mother of our subject followed the fortunes 
of her husband, accompanying him on his 
numerous journeys and dying in the same 
state, Minnesota. 

With his parents our subject removed to 
Wisconsin. At that period he was quite a 
small boy. His elementary education was se¬ 
cured in the public schools of that state. With 
his parents he went to Minnesota. In 1866 
he crossed the plains with mule trains, ar¬ 
riving in Deer Lodge county, where for three 
years he was engaged in mining. He then 
followed the business of trapping and hunting 
in which he achieved a wide celebrity along 
the Missouri river. He assisted in the erec¬ 
tion of the first house in Judith Basin. For 
sixteen years he followed the precarious, yet 









57 2 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


remunerative avocation of a hunter and trap¬ 
per. Thousands of wolves have fallen before 
his unerring rifle. Seven hundred and sev¬ 
enty-five of these “varmints” he slew in the 
winter of 1870-71. He has killed a great 
many buffalo, elk, deer, antelope and bear. 
As a proficient scout, he has been engaged in 
the service of the government on numerous 
occasions, involving great peril and hardship. 
In 1862 Mr. Morrison enlisted in D Company, 
Thirteenth Wisconsin Infantry, under Colonel 
Maloney. Subsequently his regiment was 
commanded by Colonel Lyons, under 

General Thomas. For twelve weary 

months he languished as a prisoner in 
Andersonville. During the Nez Perce war, in 
1878, our subject served as a scout, and spe¬ 
cial courier carrying dispatches. At the time 
the Nez Perce Indians crossed the Missouri 
river, about one hundred and fifty miles below 
Fort Benton (at Cow Island), Major Elgis, 
of Fort Benton, raised a company of about 
forty men, comprising mainly wood-choppers, 
hunters, etc. To this sturdy band our subject 
belonged. Accompanied by a half breed Nez 
Perce Indian he was sent on a scouting expe¬ 
dition for the purpose of locating the camp of 
the hostile Indians. Within fifteen hours they 
rode one hundred and twenty-five miles. On 
the way they conversed with two of the enemy 
and this company had a battle with the recal¬ 
citrant redskins the following day near Cow 
Island. They suffered the loss of one man. To 
many tribes of Indians in Montana, Idaho and 
Washington our subject is well known, as in 
early days he traded with them extensively. 

Twenty years ago Mr. Morrison located 
in the Yellowstone Valley, although he had 
many times visited the vicinity previous to 
this. Here he at present has a fine ranch sur¬ 
rounded by all conveniences for successful and 
profitable farming. Throughout their event¬ 
ful lives our subject and his father have been 
pioneers in the western empire. While resid¬ 
ing in Minnesota they were compelled to jour¬ 


ney one hundred and fifty miles to mill. Many 
a sharp skirmish has our subject had with 
hostile Indians, and during his eventful life he 
has slain 104 bear. 


HENRY C. HENDRICKSON, one of the 
prosperous farmers of the attractive Yellow¬ 
stone valley, residing ten miles southwest of 
Billings, on the Yellowstone, was born near 
Springfield, Illinois, December 25, 1859, the 
son of Henry C. and Mahala (Elder) Hend¬ 
rickson. Both were natives of Marion county, 
Ohio. At the age of seventeen the father came 
to Illinois and located on a farm. After his 
son left home he sold his farm and engaged 
in the grocery business at Fancy Prairie, Illi¬ 
nois. His father, Harvey, was born in Penn¬ 
sylvania, and was a veteran of the Revolution¬ 
ary War, and an early settler of that portion 
of Ohio. The family are of German ancestry. 

With her parents the mother came to Illi¬ 
nois when a child and was here reared, and 
is here still living. Her father, George Elder, 
came from Ohio to Illinois at a very early day, 
and there he secured a homestead in Menard 
county. He was of English ancestry. 

In Illinois our subject was reared and edu¬ 
cated, and on attaining manhood he engaged 
in agricultural pursuits. In 1881 he removed 
from Illinois to Nebraska and there farmed 
for a while. It was in 1896 that he came to 
his present location, purchasing eighty acres 
of bottom land, which is now under irrigation. 

In 1889 he was married to Castella Jones, 
born near Marysville, Kansas. She accompan¬ 
ied her parents to Nebraska when a child 
where she married. Her father, William C. 
Jones, was a native of Pennsylvania; her mo¬ 
ther, Maria (Clemmens) Jones, was born in 
Wisconsin. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hendrickson have six chil¬ 
dren : Bertha, 'Ressie, Maud, William, Ralph 
and Teddie, besides two that died in infancy. 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


573 


With the exception of the youngest two they 
are all at school. Our subject has two broth¬ 
ers and two sisters: Mary, wife of Thomas 
McDonald; Addie, wife of William J. Snod¬ 
grass ; Charles and 'Harvey. 


MALCOLM M. McDONALD, who is 
one of the well and favorably known citizens 
of Carbon county, residing on a handsome 
ranch twelve miles south of Fishtail, on the 
Rosebud, was born in Troy, Ohio, August 26, 
1852. His father, Joseph L., a native of Dela¬ 
ware, born in 1826, was a cooper by trade, but 
greatly preferred the avocation of a farmer. 
During the Civil War he enlisted in the army, 
the first time in the Sixty-ninth Ohio Volun¬ 
teers, and the second in the One Hundred and 
Eighty-second Indiana Volunteers. He was 
first sergeant in the Sixty-ninth and a lieuten¬ 
ant in the latter regiment. He was with Gen¬ 
eral Grant in all the latter’s battles during the 
Vicksburg campaign, and at Champion Hill 
was shot in the calf of the leg. Following his 
discharge he moved back to Ohio, where he re¬ 
enlisted and participated in the battle at Nash¬ 
ville. Following the close of the war he en¬ 
gaged in farming in which he continued until 
his death, in 1869. The mother of our subject, 
Sarah (Worth) McDonald, was a native of 
Indiana, and was married at Troy, Ohio, in 
1851. She died in 1867. 

When four years of age our subject re¬ 
moved with his parents to Indiana. He had 
but little chance in the public schools in his 
vicinity, but he made the best of his advan¬ 
tages. When only thirteen years old he went 
to Covington, Indiana, and' here he worked in 
the coal mines. When he had arrived at the 
age of eighteen he came west, and when twen¬ 
ty-four, went to Fort Sully, Dakota, where 
he secured a government contract for wood. 
Subsequently he removed to Standing Rock, 
Dakota, and here he engaged in the same busi¬ 


ness. Men were scarce, and the government 
to secure their services actually “shanghaied” 
men. Our subject with others was placed on 
an island where it was thought they could not 
escape, but the treatment was so severe, that in 
company with another man, he swam the Mis¬ 
souri river in October and escaped to Bis¬ 
marck, Dakota. He was caught in a severe 
blizzard and was compelled to sleep one night 
in the snow. In 1887 he assisted in blocking 
out the first mail route between Bismarck and 
Whitewood, in the Black Hills. 

Our subject then went up the Yellowstone 
river to Miles City, where he engaged in cut¬ 
ting wood which he sold to steamboats. Fol¬ 
lowing this he hunted -buffalo, deer and poi¬ 
soned wolves and made one trip carrying dis¬ 
patches for General Miles. From 1877 to 1881 
he followed hunting, and engaged in some 
rather exciting episodes with hostile Indians. 
Two of his partners were killed by them. The 
redskins stole every horse except the one upon 
which he rode. One of his partners was crip¬ 
pled and crawled down the river before he 
died, having first notified our subject of his 
peril. The Indians attempted to ambuscade 
Mr. McDonald, and take his life, but were 
driven away by a man coming down the river. 
In the spring of 1881 a brother of our subject, 
Richard, joined him at Miles City, Montana, 
and they secured a* contract on construction 
work on the Northern Pacific railroad, west 
of Miles City. This consumed the greater por¬ 
tion of one year. They then engaged in pros¬ 
pecting near Stillwater river, or where Nye 
now stands. In company with William Hamil¬ 
ton, Joseph Anderson and James Hubble, he 
made the first location at Nye in 1883. They 
still own their original location which they be¬ 
lieve to be rich in copper and some silver, and 
lead. He again, for a period followed hunt¬ 
ing, and in 1886 settled near his present lo¬ 
cation, and engaged in various pursuits, in¬ 
cluding mining and stock raising. He and his 
brother Richard were instrumental in opening 








574 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


the ceded portion of the Crow reservation, and 
he has in his possession letters that he received 
from President Arthur in regard to the enter¬ 
prise. Previous to the opening a petition was 
circulated praying the government to lease the 
reservation land. Had this prevailed it would 
have resulted in shutting out all small owners, 
To President Arthur our subject wrote, ex¬ 
plaining the facts in the case. His letter was 
turned over to Secretary of the Interior Tel¬ 
ler, who favored the leasing of the lands. A 
man was sent from Washington to investi¬ 
gate conditions, and it was then decided to 
open the reservation. For this great credit 
is due Mr. McDonald. 

At Billings, Montana, in November, 1891, 
our subject was united in marriage to Mary 
J. Clark, born in Lake county, Indiana, No¬ 
vember 30, 1855. Having received an excel¬ 
lent education in Indiana, she has proved a 
worthy helpmeet to her husband, and their 
home life is a most happy one, and always 
hospitable to guests. Her father Joseph A., 
was a native of Ontario county, New York, 
and was a cabinet maker and farmer. In 1837, 
he removed to Indiana, where he followed 
farming until his death in 1859. Her mother, 
Harriet (Story) Clark, was also a native of On¬ 
tario county. Mrs. McDonald had three broth¬ 
ers in the Civil War, one of whom died in the 
service. The other two reside in Indiana. 

The maternal grandfather of our subject, 
Daniel Worth, was a member of the Indiana 
legislature in the twenties. He was converted 
and ordained as a minister of the gospel. He 
went to North Carolina where he sold a book 
entitled “Helper’s Impending Crisis.” and 
for this he was indicted and placed under bonds 
of $5,000. He later fled from the state, but 
subsequently paid his bondsmen. Had he not 
escaped the North Carolinians would undoubt¬ 
edly have hanged him. 

At present our subject has 160 acres of ex¬ 
cellent land, and fine brands of cattle and 
horses. The land is under good irrigation. 


JAMES KENNEDY has resided within 
the borders of Montana for nearly a third of 
a century and this long residence, together with 
the added fact that he has always been a hard 
laborer for the building up of the country and 
the establishment of those institutions which 
are the pride of the American people, the school 
and free representative government, entitle 
him to be placed in the front rank of pioneers 
of the great state of Montana. His present 
residence is some four miles east from Rose¬ 
bud, on the north side of the Yellowstone river. 
Here in 1877 Mr. Kennedy staked out a home¬ 
stead from the wilds and here he .has bestowed 
his labors with wisdom and thrift since as the 
premises show; for he has been prospered in 
the things of this world well, owing to his 
wise management of affairs that have been 
placed in his hands. It was slow work in the 
later seventies when without much of the con¬ 
veniences supplied with civilization, he went 
to work and began the development and im¬ 
provement of the homestead he had selected. 
The country was wild, neighbors were far 
apart, necessaries were high in price and pro¬ 
duce was low in price. Still, Mr. Kennedy was 
made of the stuff that does .pot faint at an ob¬ 
stacle and he soon had won the smiles of Dame 
Fortune. From time to time he purchased land 
adjoining until now he owns twelve hundred 
acres of choice land all under the ditch and 
very valuable. Such is the accomplishment of 
this industrious resident of Montana and the 
fruits of his toil and wisdom are proof of the 
worth of the proprietor. 

James Kennedy was born in Syracuse, 
New York, October 24, 1850, being the son of 
Michael Kennedy, a native of Ireland. Ten 
years previous to the birth of this son the fa¬ 
ther had come from Ireland and settled in 
Syracuse where he entered the employ of the 
salt works company. In due time he had risen 
to the position of manager of the works. But 
in 1852, he resigned this place and went west, 
being imbued with the real spirit of explora- 






BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


575 


tion so instilled in the very air of this country. 
He selected a piece of land in Clayton county, 
Iowa, and there settled to general farming. He 
remained in that place until 1901 when he 
made a trip to Montana to visit his son. Here 
he died soon after arriving being aged eighty- 
four. The mother of our subject had died 
when he was a small child and before he could 
remember her. James grew up and was edu¬ 
cated in Iowa and in 1875, he started out on a 
journey of investigation which lasted two 
years. At the end of that time he had ar¬ 
rived in Montana and had viewed the country 
sufficiently so he was satisfied to settle near 
where he now besides and shortly after he se¬ 
lected the homestead mentioned above, and 
which was the nucleus of his now mammoth 
estate. 

In 1884, Mr. Kennedy married Miss Mary 
A. Horisky, a native of Connecticut. She 
came with her parents to Iowa and later to 
Nebraska. The children to this marriage are 
eleven, six of whom are living, Margaret, 
Richard, Harry, Walter, William and Joseph. 

Blessed with a fine large family, favored 
with the prosperity so sought after by the hu¬ 
man race everywhere, and surrounded with 
many' friends and cheered by the success he 
has gained, Mr. Kennedy is privileged to en¬ 
joy the good things of this life and may find 
leisure to give the mind the hours of medita¬ 
tion and thought on the greater things of life, 
while he stands one of the successful and sub¬ 
stantial citizens of Montana. 


BENJAMIN F. MYERS, who resides 
twelve miles north of Livingston, was born 
June 28, 1846, in Andrew county, Missouri. 
Mention of his brother, Alfred Myers, occurs 
in another portion of this volume and to that 
the reader is referred for further reference to 
Mr. Myers’ parents. The early life of our 
subject was spent much 1 as that of the ordinary 


youth in Missouri, where he remained with 
his parents until 1870, being then twenty-four 
years of age. In that year he started to Texas 
and drove a herd of cattle through to Mon¬ 
tana, via Bannack, wintering en route at Fort 
Rocks on the Arkansas. He arrived in Jef¬ 
ferson county, Montana, the last of October, 
in 1871, and handled his cattle there the first 
year. Then he drove to the Sun river. In 
T ^ 73 > h e s °ld out to A. S. Clark and moved 
back to Boulder, remaining there three years 
during which time he followed the dairy bus¬ 
iness and also.carried mail from. Harrison to 
Boulder. In 1876 Mr. Myers entered into 
partnership with his brother and again took 
up the cattle business running their stock in 
the Shields river valley. For fourteen years 
they continued successfully in this line of bus¬ 
iness then it being 1890, our subject sold his 
interests to his brother and returned to Mis¬ 
souri. In 1892 he came again to Montana 
and the next year bought his present location 
on Shields river, since which time he has given 
his attention to general farming and handling 
horses and cattle. He has met with good suc¬ 
cess and is one of the well known and substan¬ 
tial men of the valley. 

On January 4,* 1882, Mr. Myers married 
Clara Laney, the daughter of David H. and 
Martha. (Waugh) Laney. Four children have 
been born to them: Ben A., January 23, 
1883; Clara May, June 10, 1886; Rubina R., 
November 20, 1887, and Hazel, September 
17, 1893. 

Mr. Myers is a good strong Democrat and 
thoroughly able to give a good and substan¬ 
tial reason for his political views. He fratern¬ 
izes with the Masons and Elks and is rated 
one of the substantial men of Park county. 


GEORGE D. LATHOM, born in Daviess 
county, Missouri, and now residing six miles 
southwest of Columbus, Montana, on the Still- 








576 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


water river, is a successful and enterprising 
ranchman. His father, Thomas J., was a na 
tive of Indiana, but he passed the greater por¬ 
tion of his life in Missouri. He was a veteran 
of both the Mexican and Civil Wars, and 
fought under General Price for the Confed¬ 
eracy. At the close of the war he settled 
on a farm in Missouri, remaining there until 
his death. The mother, Rebecca , (Edward) 
Lathom, was a native of Kentucky, dying in 
1863, aged 35 years. 

Following the death of his mother our sub¬ 
ject lived with near relatives, and when he 
was eight years of age his father remarried, 
and our subject remained with him until fif¬ 
teen years old, when he faced the world for 
himself. He went to Iowa as a horse jockey, 
following this profession two years. In 1882, 
in company with his brother, he purchased a 
band of cattle in Iowa, and shipped them to 
Pierre, South Dakota, and thence drove them 
to Wyoming. From this bunch was developed 
the “Forked Lightning Cow Outfit,” one of the 
most extensive in Wyoming. Having dis¬ 
posed of his interest in this enterprise he rode 
the range until 1884, when he came to Mon¬ 
tana, continuing in the same business five 
years, two years of which time with the five 
bar outfit. His excursions over the state had 
taken him from Frenchtown to Dakota. He 
rented land in 1889 near Livingston, Montana, 
and here he resided until 1894, when he came 
to his present place and purchased a squat¬ 
ter’s right, and thus laid the foundation of a 
comfortable home. Indeed our subject owns 
a fine ranch, mainly under good system of 
irrigation, and here he successfully cultivates 
a variety of crops and fruits adapted to that 
climate. Since his arrival in this section he 
has engaged extensively in the cattle industry. 

November 28, 1889, he was married to 
Mamie Denny, born in Jefferson, Indiana. She 
came to Montana with her parents when a 
young girl. Her father, Lemuel, is now in 
the mercantile business in Columbus, Mon¬ 


tana. Her mother, Martha (Osborne), re¬ 
sides with her husband in the same city. They 
are a fine old couple and are widely and fav¬ 
orably known as “Grandpa and Grandma 
Denny.” Mr. and Mrs. Lathom have five 
children: Ray A., born January 30, 1891; 
Myrtle O’D., April 20, 1892; Mattie E., No¬ 
vember 18, 1898; Thomas E., December 25, 
1900, and Lemuel, October 27, 1905. Po¬ 
litically our subject is distinctively independ¬ 
ent, and has never taken an active part in par¬ 
tisan politics, but in educational affairs he man¬ 
ifests a deep interest. He was prominent in 
the organization of the district school in his 
vicinity, and has served efficiently as clerk and 
director. 


CHARLES D. LANTIS resides at Gar¬ 
land, his wife being postmistress there since 
1900, and he is occupied in ranching and stock 
raising. In addition to those enterprises he is 
conducting a road house and stage station and 
his place is favorably known far and near. Mr. 
Lantis is a pioneer in the true sense of the word 
and has had a large experience in various por¬ 
tions of the west and in different lines. He is 
especially well acquainted with the stock busi¬ 
ness and is having abundant success in this 
line. 

Charles D. Lantis was born in Taberock, 
Nebraska, August 10, 1865, being the son of 
Daniel W. and Asubra O. (Stephens) Lantis, 
the former born in Mackinaw, Illinois, on May 
23, 1833, and the latter in Tazewell county, 
Illinois, in October, 1835. Their marriage oc¬ 
curred in Illinois and Mrs. Lantis accompa¬ 
nied her husband on all his journeys except 
into Arkansas and Idaho. Daniel W. Lantis 
was reared on a farm and in 1864 went from 
Illinois to Nebraska. He followed milling and 
the millwright trade in Nebraska, being em¬ 
ployed in the Blacklaw mills. He returned to 
Mackinaw, Illinois, in 1866 and in 1870 he 









MRS. CHARLES D. LANTIS AND DAUGHTER 


CHARLES D. LANTIS 


MR. AND MRS. MAURICE POWERS 


JOSEPH EICHHORN 










\ 




» 



























BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


577 


went to Idaho and took up mining, returning 
to Illinois in 1880, he remained five years and 
in 1885 went to Arkansas, where he spent one 
year. Returning to Illinois he removed his 
family to Manville, Wyoming, in 1887, and in 
1895 he came thence to Custer county and set¬ 
tled down to stock raising. When he came 
here he was well • advanced ,1 age and was 
without means but he is now one of the well 
to do men of the county and has gained it 
all in raising stock. The family comes from 
Pennsylvania Dutch stock. 

Our subject remained in Illinois until he 
was sixteen, receiving there his education. 
Then he went to Dakota and was soon engaged 
in the thrilling life of the cowboy, which he 
has followed more or less since. He was four 
years engaged thus at first, and saw much of 
Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming and 
then traveled back' to Illinois, and journeyed 
much through Arkansas and Missouri. It was 
1890 when Mr. Lantis came to Custer county 
as a cowboy from Wyoming with the Converse 
Cattle Company. He rode the range till 1896 
when he put a saw mill on Liscombe creek and 
continued in the operation of it for two years. 
During the time he had ridden the 
range he had gained stock for himself 
and in 1900 he came to his present 
place and gathered his stock around him and 
went to work to make a permanent home. He 
has been engaged at it since with the other oc¬ 
cupations mentioned before. 

In 1885 Mr. Lantis married Miss Mary E. 
Copp and she has accompanied him in his 
journeys since. She was bom in Eureka, Illi¬ 
nois, on January 29, 1868, where she was 
reared and educated. Her father, Jacob B. 
Copp, was born in Pennsylvania, is a veteran 
of the Civil War and still lives at Eureka, Illi¬ 
nois. He married Miss America Reeves, born 
in Kentucky, March 2, 1840. Mrs. Lantis has 
one brother, Jacob B., living at Eureka, and 
one sister, Katie A., wife of Joseph Smith of 
Chicago. Mr. Lantis has the following named | 
37 


brothers and sisters: Cash B., who followed 
riding the range and is now a barber at Wi¬ 
baux, Montana j Robert A., living with pa¬ 
rents ; Ida, wife of Albert Brininstool living at 
Mackinaw, Illinois; and Lizzie, wife of Curtis 
Spangle of Manville, Wyoming. 

Mr. and Mrs. Lantis have one child, Lil¬ 
lie E., born at Mammoth Spring, Arkansas, 
January 30, 1887. She was but one year old 
when the family came on to Wyoming and 
when four she owned a horse, and has practic¬ 
ally grown up in the saddle. Doubtless there 
are few ladies in the west who are more expert 
than she in horsemanship and she takes her 
place among distinguished equestriennes. 
When but six years of age she took her place 
on the relief herding with her father and when 
it is necessary she is able to rope and tie as vi- • 
cious an animal as roams the range. In 1900^ 
she was holding a herd of wild horses on the 
head of Foster creek in a very broken and 
rough country and a severe hail storm stam¬ 
peded them. With great skill and bravery she 
rode with them for five miles until she suc¬ 
ceeded in getting control of them again, and 
all without the loss of a single animal. 
Miss Lantis owns a nice band .of cattle in her 
own right and is one of the highly esteemed peo¬ 
ple of the county. Mr. and Mrs. lantis are well 
known people and are among the progressive 
residents who are always found on the side 
of improvement and up building of the country. 


JOSEPH EICHHORN, a native son of 
Philadelphia, now residing just outside of 
Miles City, is one of the substantial men who 
have assisted materially in making Custer 
county one of the prosperous places of the 
great state of Montana, as he has wrought 
here for ‘years and with a thrift and 
wisdom that have brought a worthy reward, 
as he has today a lovely home, beautifvlly set 
in a wealth of shade and fruit trees and made 











1 


57 § 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


attractive by the gardener’s skill, while an air 
of pleasant contentment abides with the prem¬ 
ises that adds the home charm and makes the 
dwelling place of Mr. Eichhorn one of the 
pleasant places of Custer county. Added to 
this is the kind hospitality that is so freely 
dispensed, for Mr. and Mrs. Eichhorn, while 
great lovers of home, are, too, openhearted 
and share their good things with others and 
many a soul have they lightened by their kind¬ 
ness and, indeed, it is this very home love, 
this spirit of home building, and love for one 
another, that combined make the loyal and 
stanch citizens, for the strength of any land 
is the combined strength, not of its wealth and 
military alone, but of its true homes. With 
pride, therefore, as loyal Americans, we point 
to this pleasant, cheerful and good home and 
the builders of it, as a portion of the real 
wealth and worth of Custer county. 

Joseph Eichhorn was bom on July 9, 1848. 
His father, Adam Eichhorn, born at Rhine 
Falls, Germany, came to the United States in 
1847 an d engaged in the grocery business in 
Philadelphia, where he remained 'for seven 
years. Then he sold his business and rented 
a farm that belonged to the John C. Calhoun 
estate and took up market gardening. In 
1864 he removed to the vicinity of Iowa City, 
Iowa, and there settled on a farm which he 
cultivated till his death, in 1890. He had 
married Miss Anna Marie Baldauffen, a na¬ 
tive of Germany, who came to America with 
her husband and died on the farm near Iowa 
City in 1869. Our subject spent his boyhood 
days on the farm and had little opportunity 
to gain an education, however, he made the 
very best of what means were at his hand. In 
1869, Mr. Eichhorn went west and from Al¬ 
buquerque, New Mexico, he was engaged in 
driving a herd of cattle through to Arizona, 
stopping at Prescott. He spent a year after 
that on the range and then went to northwest¬ 
ern Iowa where he took contracts of breaking 
the prairie sod. Finally he settled on a farm 


in Pottawattamie county and there he remained 
until 1881, in which year he came to Montana, 
setting out from Bismark on the first freight 
train over the road, Northern Pacific to Glen¬ 
dive, thence overland and by boat to Miles 
City. He settled on a homestead two miles 
east from town and engaged in stock raising 
until the hard winter of 1885-6. He removed 
to his present location in the winter of 1891. 
Since that time, Mr. Eichhorn has given his 
entire attention to market gardening and fruit 
raising and he has won a splendid success. His 
place consists of thirty acres of fine soil and 
his care and wise planning have made it a pict¬ 
ure throughout. He raises all kinds of fruit 
indigenous to this latitude and supplies the 
local markets. 

In 1878, Mr. Eichhorn married Miss 
Emma Campbell, the daughter of Robert E. 
and Elizabeth (Thompson) Campbell. The 
father was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 
in 1827, was there reared and educated and 
learned the blacksmith business. Some time 
after his marriage he removed to Iowa and 
settled in Cedar coupty and conducted a shop 
until 1881, when he came west and followed 
his trade in Miles City until his death in 1902. 
His wife was born in Salem, Ohio, accom¬ 
panied her husband on all of his journeys and 
is now living in Miles City aged seventy-one 
years. Mrs. Eichhorn was born eleven miles 
out from Iowa City, received a splendid high 
school education and also studied at the state 
normal in Iowa City, and taught several years 
before her marriage. The children born to 
Mr. and Mrs. Eichhorn are Arthur C., and 
Alda Terese. The former was born near 
Council Bluffs, Iowa, November 19, 1880, 
and after receiving his English education in 
the high school of Miles City went to Val¬ 
paraiso, Indiana, and graduated from the law 
department of the Northern Indiana College, 
and at present is manager of the sales depart¬ 
ment of the National Packing Company’s 
plant at Hutchinson, Kansas. He also pract- 






579 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


iced law in Hammond. Indiana, for a time. 
After his graduation he spent some months 
at home and is a very bright and promising 
young man, and holds at this time a very re¬ 
sponsible position. Alda T. was born in Mon¬ 
tana in 1886, and after graduating from the 
Custer county high school was attending the 
Stanford university, California, at the time 
of the recent earthquake disaster, but is at 
present at home. Miss Eichhorn is a very 
bright and charming young lady and has many 
friends. 

Mr. and Mrs. Eichhorn have labored hard 
to provide their pleasant home and give their 
children a fine education and they are amply re¬ 
warded in seeing the progress made and the 
keenness with which their children have taken 
advantage of the opportunities offered. They 
have a wide circle of acquaintances and num¬ 
ber many friends throughout Custer county 
and elsewhere. 


MAURICE POWERS. The subject of 
this biographical sketch was born in the Em¬ 
pire State, Westchester county, November 13, 
1857, a nd now resides on a profitable and well 
conducted ranch about seven miles northwest 
of Red Lodge, Carbon county. He is the son 
of David Powers, bom in Cork, Ireland, com¬ 
ing to New York when quite a young man. 
By trade he was a stone mason. During the 
Civil War he served for fifteen months in the 
Federal army. He died in New York, in 
1882. The mother of our subject, Catherine 
(Connors) Powers, was born in the north of 
Ireland, County Monaghan, and came to New 
York when a girl of seventeen. She died in 
1879, on New Year’s eve, in her forty-ninth 
year. 

In the public schools of New York our sub¬ 
ject received a good business education, and 
on attaining manhood he married, February 
16, 1881, and April 3d, of the same year, he 


came, with his wife, to Murry county, Minne¬ 
sota. It was in 1883 that he came to Billings, 
Montana, where he found employment. In 
1884 he went to Laurel, and in 1886 came 
to his present location and secured a home¬ 
stead where he has since resided. His wife, 
whose maiden name was Annie Gillen, was 
born in Ireland, coming to New York when 
a girl. Her father, was Patrick Gillen; her 
mother Catherine (Tesley) Gillen. They 
have ten children: James W., David H., 
Patrick J., Cathleen M., John E., Thomas G* p 
Annie M., Maurice, Charles and Francis. 


WILLIAM STRONG. As will be seen 
by the following detailed account of his life, 
Mr. Strong has been a genuine pathfinder for 
years and is as well, if not better acquainted, 
by actual personal experience, with this coun¬ 
try in early time's, and, in fact the entire plain 
region, than any man we could pick out in 
Custer county. One of the earliest settlers 
here, he has been identified in all that has had 
for its object the building up and advance¬ 
ment of the county and the country in gen¬ 
eral, being a leading figure all the time, and a 
man whose keen foresight and sound wisdom 
have always manifested themselves for the 
general welfare in an exemplary manner. To 
have passed a career as has Mr. Strong, is to 
have experienced the richest of the western 
life, that most unique of all phases of exist¬ 
ence in this or any other country, with all of 
its stirring danger, arduousness, wild freedom 
and boundless enjoyment to the true frontiers¬ 
man and brave American. It is with pleasure, 
therefore, that we outline the salient points of 
his life and are well aware that it will be read 
with great interest by all. 

William Strong was born in Devonshire. 
England, January 20, 1845, the son of Am¬ 
brose and Mary (Hole) Strong, natives of 
the same place as this son, and in fact for gen- 













580 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


erations back the Strong family had been bom 
in Devonshire, and were a leading and sub¬ 
stantial people. The father followed farming 
in his native place until his death. From the 
public schools, William received a good edu¬ 
cation and he remained at home until he had 
reached his majority. He was stirred by an 
adventurous spirit to see the unexplored west 
and in May, 1866, he landed in New York, 
whence he went directly to Lawrence county, 
Indiana, and began work on a farm, and later 
he was employed in operating a ferry boat on 
the Wabash. On January 1, i868, Mr. Strong 
enlisted in the regular army and was sent first 
to Carlisle for training, after which he came to 
Fort McPherson, Nebraska, and was assigned 
to Company I, Second Cavalry, and he soon 
joined the company at Fort Russell, Dakota. 
His first duty was escorting from Fort Rus¬ 
sell to Fort Laramie, and during this time he 
had the privilege of escorting General Sheri¬ 
dan, who was out to make a treaty with Red- 
Cloud. In the fall of 1868, his company was 
sent to Fort McPherson. When Mr. Strong 
first joined the company, Cheyenne, Wyom¬ 
ing, had just been located, and being the ter¬ 
minus of the Union Pacific railroad, it was 
exceedingly rough. This element had to be 
held in check by the soldiers and Company I 
was detailed to do the work. In the winter 
that followed, the Sioux broke out and killed 
some settlers on Blue river, Nebraska, and our 
subject was in the detachment sent to quell 
them. Some severe fighting was had and two 
soldiers were killed. Having put down this 
outbreak, his company was sent in the spring 
of 1869 to protect settlers in the vicinity of 
Columbus, Nebraska, and the next winter was 
spent in Omaha. In the spring of 1870, we see 
them on escort duty again at Medicine Bow. 
The Indians were desperately opposed to the 
railroad going through the country and it be¬ 
came necessary to guard laborers and section 
men. Following this, the entire company was 
detailed as scouts and this work was sometimes 


quite exciting. The next winter the company 
spent at Fort Sanders, and in 1873 this com¬ 
pany was escort to the expedition that laid out 
the National Park. The expedition came by 
rail to Fort Bridger, then by wagon to Camp 
Brown, and thence to the park by pack ani¬ 
mals. This was a trip never to be forgotten 
and to have been one of the party to lay out 
that famous park is an event worthy of com¬ 
ment. Many and varied were the experiences 
undergone and in the fall, the work having 
been done, the company was sent to Fort San¬ 
ders for the winter. In the spring of 1874, 
they were sent to Fort Laramie and were de¬ 
tailed to send the miners out of the Black Hills. 
After this he returned to Fort Russell, then 
went to Fort Steele, and in 1876 his company 
was with General Crook on his Indian expedi¬ 
tion. The military life of Mr. Strong con¬ 
tinued until 1880, when he was honorably dis¬ 
charged at Fort Keogh, the day being October 
5. Mr. Strong decided to go at once to farm¬ 
ing and stock raising and settled on Tongue 
river. He at once opened the ranch which he 
still owns there and for many years he gave 
his attention to handling and raising stock. 
He was successful, and some years since de¬ 
cided to retire from the arduousness of the 
ranch ancl so erected a fine residence in Miles 
City, where he is at the present time. Mr. 
Strong still owns his stock and other property, 
being also interested in the Jim Crow Sheep 
Company. 

At Fort Laramie, in 1876, Mr. Strong 
married Mrs. Elizabeth Felhower, a widow 
lady, who was Miss Whyat in maiden life. 
She was bom in Nashville, Tennessee, and had 
one son, George W. Dearing, by a former 
marriage. Under the firm name of Strong & 
Dearing our subject and his wife’s son are do¬ 
ing a fine ranching and stock business. This 
firm has been in active operations since 1887. 
They have a fine irrigated ranch that produces 
annually three hundred tons of alfalfa hay, 
which is all consumed by their own stock. 







BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


58i 


Their brand, an arrangement of two SS, is 
one of the very oldest in the county, since it 
dates back to 1882. 

On April 6, 1906, Mrs. Strong was taken 
from her family and home by death. She was 
an estimable woman and had many warm 
friends. 

Mr. Strong has one daughter, Ella May* 
who is at home with her father. Fraternally, 
our subject is affiliated with the Knights Temp¬ 
lar, and in political matters he always mani¬ 
fests a warm interest. Mr. Strong is a man of 
substantial character, has justly earned the 
title of builder of this county and country, 
having been associated with all the early set¬ 
tlers in the good work of improving and open¬ 
ing the country. He stands well at this time 
and is esteemed by all and is one of the lead¬ 
ing men of Custer county. 


JACOB T. LANDE, born near Bugur, 
Norway, July 29, i860, now resides on an ex¬ 
cellent #anch, four miles south of Absarokee, 
Carbon county. His father, Torbjorn, was a 
native of the same place. When a young man 
he went to sea, in which profession he con¬ 
tinued until he was an old man, when he re¬ 
tired to his home. The mother, Bertha (Ja¬ 
cobs) Lande, is still living in the old home, j 
She was born in Norway. 

On completing his education in Norway 
our subject went to sea, and this he followed 
until he was twenty-two years of age. He then 
located in Polk county, Iowa, working for 
wages, and in 1887 came to the state of Wash- 1 
ington, working at Tekoa and other places, j 
He came to the Gallatin valley in 1888, and 
here he leased a ranch. He came to his pres¬ 
ent location in April, 1893, ar >d took tip a 
homestead. It is all under irrigation and he 
has excellent buildings. Since coming here j 
he has engaged mainly in the cattle business. I 

In 1894 our subject was married to Abbie 


Handley, born near Columbus, Montana. Her 
father, Alexander, was an early pioneer of the 
territory, and an Indian fighter of renown. 
She has four children, Henry D., George A., 
Andrew L. and Thomas. 

- +—+ - 

MRS. MARY S. McCUNE resides three 
miles down the Yellowstone from Sphinx, 
Montana, where she does a general ranch busi¬ 
ness. She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, July 
4, 1842, the daughter of Michael and Mary 
(Mulic) Stucer, natives of Germany and emi¬ 
grants to America in the early part of the nine¬ 
teenth century. Early in life her father fol¬ 
lowed moulding and his later life was spent 
in farming. When sixteen years of age, Mrs. 
McCune married George Pfohl, a native of 
France. He emigrated to America when four¬ 
teen years of age. In 1865 Mr. and Mrs. 
Pfohl came to Montana and settled in Vir¬ 
ginia City. Shortly afterward they moved to 
Bivins Gulch where they remained for fifteen 
years, Mr. Pfohl working in the placer mines. 
In 1877, they moved to the Yellowstone and 
rented a ranch. The next year they secured 
the place where Mrs. McCune now resides. 
To this couple thirteen children were bom, 
ten of whom are alive and whose names are 
given as follows: George, born September i, 
1859; William, July 6, 1865; Andrew, August 
25, 1866; Carrie, June 11, 1868; Edward, Au¬ 
gust 25, 1876; Sarah A., May 27, 1880; 
Charles, July 21, 1877; John, May 30, 1881; 
Thomas, August 21, 1878; Frederick, June 11, 
1884. On December 26, 1889, Mr. Pfohl was 
called hence by death. He and his wife were 
members of the Catholic church. 

Mrs. Pfohl married Robert McCune, who 
was born in New York in 1851 of Scotch par¬ 
ents. Mrs. McCune well remembers when 
Chief Joseph came through the country and 
their place w'as right in his line of march. A 
large force had gathered to repulse him but 













582 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


whqn within fifteen or twenty miles he 
changed his course and did not disturb them. 

Mrs. McCune has seen much of the early 
life in Montana and has endured many hard¬ 
ships. Those early days of placer mining are 
days never to be repeated in the history of this 
state and although somewhat like the early 
days of mining in different sections of the west, 
still they form a distinctive chapter and epoch 
in this history, and for many years Mrs. Mc¬ 
Cune was intimately associated with this me¬ 
thod of life and raised a large family which 
means that she had a great labor and endured 
much suffering and showed a brave and cour¬ 
ageous spirit. She is now one of the honored 
citizens of Park county, esteemed by all. 


WARREN E. BROOKS is well known 
in Rosebud as one of the substantial business 
men of the place, being proprietor of the Yel¬ 
lowstone livery stables, which are doing a 
good business, being well equipped with ex¬ 
cellent rigs and first-class stock. Mr. Brooks is 
well known as a man who never leaves any¬ 
thing undone that would be for the comfort 
or safety of his patrons and the result is he 
enjoys a first-class trade. 

Fayette county, Iowa, is a native place 
of Mr. Brooks and April 17, 1869, his natal 
day. His father, Hiram Brooks, was born in 
Canada and removed to Iowa in early days 
where he followed farming. He also was a 
carpenter and mechanic and worked at these 
occupations with his farming. In 1873 came 
west and finally located four miles south from 
where Colfax, Washington, now stands. He 
was formerly in Dayton, that state. It was 
1875 when he located his farm and from that 
time on he has resided in Washington, being 
now in the city of Spokane. As the country 
was new then he was soon employed in build¬ 
ing and has followed this business all over 
the Palouse country. He assisted to erect the 


first flour mill in Palouse City and has been 
more or less identified with the building of 
the main edifices of his section. He married 
Miss Mary Jaques, a native of Iowa, who 
died in Washington in 1886. Our subject re¬ 
ceived his educational training from the com¬ 
mon schools of eastern Washington and was 
employed, with his father and on the farm. 
In the fall of 1892 he fitted with a four horse 
team and started to explore Alberta. He drove 
through to Red Deer river and wintered there 
but as he did not like the country in the sum¬ 
mer he journeyed down into Montana and fin¬ 
ally located near Rosebud where he engaged 
in horse raising. Later he retired from this 
business and went to handling sheep. In the 
summer of 1898, he assisted to take seven 
thousand sheep to Nebraska for South worth 
& Swift. Also he spent some time in the em¬ 
ployment of cowboy and finally in 1905, h e 
opened a livery stable in Rosebud in partner¬ 
ship with H. Tilleson and since then he has 
been identified with this work. On June 5, 
1906, Mr. Brooks was appointed deputy sher¬ 
iff of Rosebud county and he is discharging 
the duties of this office in connection with his 
business. 


PETER NEILSON, deceased.- The sub- ' 
ject of this memoir was born in Denmark, 
January 22, 1839. 

In Sealand, Denmark, he was reared and 
educated and at the age of twenty-nine he came 
to the United States, soon after locating in 
Utah, where he was engaged in mining at 
Bingham and Alla. He was also proprietor of 
a mine, the Highland, at Bingham. He came 
to the Yellowstone valley and secured a home¬ 
stead in 1880, where he remained until his 
death, in 1897. 

In 1882 Mr. Neilson was united in mar¬ 
riage to Mrs. Christina Anderson, born in Den¬ 
mark. She came to Utah in 1879, where she 








BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


583 


was married. The father of Mrs. Neilson was 
Jesse Sorenson, also a native of Denmark, a 
farmer. He died in Denmark in 1900. The 
mother of Mrs. Neilson was named Carrie. 
The first husband of Mrs. Neilson was Hans 
Anderson, and to them was born Hans Ander¬ 
son. The children of Mr. and Mr. Neilson are 
Olaf Neilson, Lorence, Louis and Dora. 


CONAWAY B. MENDENHALL, one 
of the leading ranchmen and stock raisers of 
the Yellowstone valley, resides one and one- 
half miles west of Absarokee, Carbon county. 
He was born in Marshall county, Iowa, May 

25, 1865. 

The father, Cyrus B., was born in Ohio 
in 1830. He was one of the pioneers of that 
state and he settled in Rhodes, Marshall 
county, in the 50’s. Until 1864 he continued 
to reside in Iowa, and he then drove to Vir¬ 
ginia City, Montana, later going to Utah and 
Colorado, returning to Montana June 26, 1882. 
He is now a resident of Springdale, near 
Hunter’s Springs, hale and hearty in his old 
age. The mother, Emma Dean, was a native 
of Ohio. She died at Laramie, Wyoming in 
1879. 

Our subject is the third of nine children, 
six of whom are still living and in the west. 
In order of birth their names are: Ida E. 
(Benbow) of Columbus. Her husband is the 
I. C. Benbow, who invented and successfully 
sailed one of the flying machines at the St. 
Louis fair; Hattie (Blevin) of North Park, 
Colorado; our subject; James R., of Absarokee; 
Charles Springdale, and Bessie (Jerrett), of 
Big Timber. Her husband is R. S. Jerrett, as¬ 
sessor of Sweet Grass county. Alfred was killed 
by a horse on his ranch near here, December 

26, 1896, aged 26. Two sisters died in infancy. 
Our subject was educated in log school- 

houses in Colorado and Montana. His parents 
drove to Montana when subject was sixteen 


years of age. In 1872 he went to Ogdfen, 
Utah, and lived in Brigham City, where he 
passed a year, going to Virginia Dale. Until 
1882 he lived in Colorado, and in the spring 
of 1883 he left the family home at Spring- 
dale and returned to Colorado, “punching cat¬ 
tle” for the outfit to which his father sold when 
leaving there. In the summer of 1892 he came 
to Montana with his brother, anticipating the 
opening of the Crow reservation. When th'is 
event occurred he made a ride of 36 hours to 
stake his claim, and at 4 o’clock, a. m. he se¬ 
cured his present place. One year later he 
discovered that he was on an allotment which 
he was compelled to buy. At this time he had 
a cash capital of six dollars which he had 
made the night before playing the violin for a 
dance. From this small capital he has worked 
up to a point where he can now sell for 
$10,000. 

December 25, 1900, our subject was united 
in marriage to Mabel Thayer, a native of 
Michigan, coming west with her parents in 
1895. Her father is dead, but her mother still 
lives. She has two children: Alta Fra, born 
December 17, 1901, and Doris Mary, born 
January 15, 1905. Politically Mr. Mendenhall 
is independent. 


AUGUST W. T. ANDERSON, one of 
Park county’s energetic young men, is at the 
head of a mercantile establishment at Fridley. 
He was born in Sweden on April 6, 1869, the 
son of Swan J. and Christina C. Anderson, 
both natives of Sweden also. The father fol¬ 
lowed farming and railroading in his native 
country and came to America in 1870, settling 
in Cokato, Minnesota, where he still follows 
farming. His father, the grandfather of our 
subject, was Andreas Swenson, a native of 
Sweden. Mr. Anderson has two brothers and 
one sister, Minnie C., now Mrs. Montane of 
Seattle, born in 1863, Charles E., born in 












584 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


1866, and Gust F., born in 1871. August 
was educated in Minneapolis and started out 
for himself at the age of fifteen, being em¬ 
ployed by the Minneapolis Tribune, deliver¬ 
ing papers. Five years later he began teaching 
school in Wright county and followed it for 
three years. In 1896, he moved to Livingston 
and three months after arriving accepted the 
position of school teacher at Fridley. In the 
fall of 1898 in company with Hefferlin Bros, 
of Livingston, he opened a general merchan¬ 
dise store in Fridley and is still conducting 
the same. In all of his business relations, Mr. 
Anderson has been very successful and is con¬ 
sidered one of the leading men in this portion 
of the country. 

On September 6, 1899, Mr. Anderson mar¬ 
ried Matilda E. Settergren, who was born at 
Litchfield, Minnesota, January 16, 1874. Her 
parents were Carl J. and Hannah M. (Heleen) 
Settergren. The father was born in Sweden 
and came to America in 1864, together with 
his family. He was a tanner by trade and fol¬ 
lowed this business botlf in Minnesota and Wis¬ 
consin. His widow is still living at Litchfield, 
Minnesota. Mrs. Anderson had ten brothers 
and sisters, seven of whom are still living. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Anderson three children 
have been born, Theodore M., on November 
19, 1900; Helen E., February 13, 1905, and 
Hazel M., May 11, 1906. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are members 
of the Episcopal church, while in fraternal mat¬ 
ters he is affiliated with the Masons, Modern 
Woodmen and A. O. U. W. 'Mrs. Anderson 
belongs to the Degree of Honor of the Work¬ 
men. Mr. Anderson is a good active Repub¬ 
lican and is postmaster of Fridley. 


J. W. COOK, proprietor of a popular liv¬ 
ery stable in Billings, Yellowstone county, was 
born in Boone county, Indiana, January 25, 
1857. His father, John Cook, was a native of 


Virginia, coming to Indiana with his parents 
when a small lad. In 1863 he moved to Dal¬ 
las county, Iowa, where he remained until his 
death in 1905. He was during life a farmer. 
The mother of our subject, Elizabeth (Thom¬ 
as) Cook, was also a native of Virginia, com¬ 
ing to Indiana with her parents the same time 
her future husband arrived, the party coming 
together with wagons. 

At the age of six years our subject went to 
Iowa with his parents where he was reared, 
and educated in an old log schoolhouse, where 
he sat on a slab. On attaining his majority 
he worked on a farm. For a short period he 
owned an Iowa farm, but this he disposed of 
and purchased a livery barn in Adel, Iowa. 
This enterprise he conducted eight years, and 
sold out in 1903, coming to Billings. Here 
he purchased a house and four lots on Twenty- 
eighth street, where he now lives. Subsequently 
he erected a livery barn, which is now one of 
the best in Billings. 

September 29, 1880, he was united in mar¬ 
riage to Mary White, born, in Wisconsin. 
When a child she was taken to Stearns county, 
Minnesota, where she was reared and educated. 
Her parents were Robert and Mary White. 
Mr. and Mrs. Cook have three children, Letha, 
wife of Jo R. North, of Billings; J. B. Cook, 
in partnership with his father, and Christel. 


ISAAC W. BREWER resides fourteen 
mjles north from Livingston and follows gen¬ 
eral farming and stock raising. He was bom 
in New Albany, Indiana, on November 8, 1847, 
being the son of Stephen and Sarah J. (Sto- 
ball) Brewer. When the lad was four years 
of age, the parents removed to Springfield, 
Illinois. The father was born and reared in 
Indiana and followed farming until, his death 
at the age of forty, our subject being then but 
four years of,age. The mother was born in 
Indiana, and after her husband’s death mar- 







BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


585 


ried Eaton Lawrence and removed to Kan¬ 
sas. Mr. Brewer has one brother and one sis¬ 
ter and both live in Illinois. Until thirteen 
years of age he remained at home, received 
his education from common schools, and then 
began the duties of life for himself. In Sep¬ 
tember, 1864, he enlisted in the Tenth Illinois 
Cavalry and served until peace was declared. 
After this he followed various occupations 
until 1869, when he went to Colorado. Here 
he remained, being occupied variously until 
1877, the year of his advent to Montana. His 
first settlement was at Bozeman, Montana, 
where he spent ten years. Then he removed 
to the Yellowstone and remained there until 
1890, in which year he homesteaded his present 
place. Since that time he has given his atten¬ 
tion to improving the place and to general 
stock raising. 

On February 3, 1881, Mr. Brewer married 
Mattie J. Freeman, the daughter of William 
R. and Susana (Syneph) Freeman. 

Mr. and Mrs. Brewer are members of the 
Universalist church. In politics he is a Demo¬ 
crat and takes a lively interest in everything 
that is for the benefit of the country. 


ALEXANDER MENTCH, a native of 
the Keystone State, born July 4. 1856. now re¬ 
sides on a fine ranch which he has greatly im¬ 
proved, one and one-half miles south of Ab- 
sarokee, Montana, in the beautiful Yellow¬ 
stone valley. His father, Alexander, a native 
of Pennsylvania, was of Irish ancestry, and a j 
farmer and school teacher. He died in Penn¬ 
sylvania, aged 82 years. The mother, Mary C. 
(Howard) Mentch, was a native of Germany, ! 
when eight years of age. She died when our 1 
subject was an infant. 

At the age of thirteen our subject went to 
Cowley county, Kansas, where he secured a 
fair business education. He was compelled to j 
make his own living even at this early age. j 


The country was new and unsurveyed, and at 
first he worked for wages. When twenty years 
old he returned to Pennsylvania, going to 
Johnstown, where he was married, and went 
on to a farm. He went to the Black Hills in 
1897, remaining one year. He then located 
a ranch in Fall River county, South Dakota, 
and in the spring of 1899 was deputy sheriff 
for one year, and subsequently constable and 
justice of the peace. In 1899 arrived in Co¬ 
lumbus, and the same year came to his pres¬ 
ent location. 

In 1882 he was married to Carrie E. Shep¬ 
herd, born in Pennsylvania. Her father, Jos¬ 
eph, was a native of Somerset, Pennsylvania : 
her mother, Catherine (Decker) Shepherd, was 
born in the same state. She is the mother of 
eleven children: William E. and Wallace E., 
twins; Elsie D., John, Frederick, Joseph A., 
Minnie P., Nellie M., Flossie B., Carrie H. 
and Lyle L. 


HARRY ELLIS, born in Colchester 
county, Nova Scotia, July 30, 1855, at present 
lives on a handsome and eligible ranch one 
mile from Absarokee, Carbon county, up the 
! Rosebud river. His father, James Edward, a 
native of the same place,’ was a farmer and re¬ 
presented his county in the Canadian Parlia¬ 
ment three terms, being a member of the Tory 
party. For five generations the paternal an¬ 
cestors of our subject saw the light of day for- 
the first time on the same homestead. Origin- 
! ally they came from Montrose, in the High- 
: lands of Scotland, and were among the earliest 
J settlers of Nova Scotia. They erected Fort 
Ellis on the Shubenacadic river, and partici- 
j pated with distinction in the various Indian 
wars. The mother of our subject, Sarah M. 
(Withrow) Ellis, was born in the same county, 
and her maternal ancestors were of the Wars- 
drope family of Highland Scotch origin, com¬ 
ing at an early day to Nova Scotia. 











5 86 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


In the public schools of Nova Scotia our 
subject received a good education, and at the 
age of sixteen he went to the plains, near 
Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he became a cow¬ 
boy, subsequently going to California and en¬ 
gaging in mining. He then continued to fol¬ 
low prospecting and mining all over the west, 
being one of four who were the first white men 
to prospect in San Juan and Gunnison counties, 
Colorado. He came to Rimini, Montana, in 
1888, and engaged in mining, subsequently 
prospecting three years. Having been at Ju¬ 
dith Basin, he came to Whitehall, Montana, 
where he worked for W. J. Clark on the Gold¬ 
en Sunlight group of mines. To his present 
location he came in 1896, and purchased a 
squatter’s right. On the Rosebud he now has 
160 acres of excellent land under irrigation, 
and has been successful in growing all varie¬ 
ties of fine fruit. 

In 1894 our subject married Mattie Frazee, 
a native of Iowa. When quite young she 
moved to Missouri with her parents, but on 
attaining womanhood she returned to Iowa. 
On the death of her parents she came west. 
Her father was Edward Frazee; her mother 
Elizabeth Craig. She has two children, Vera 
May, a school girl, and Harry Vernon. Our 
subject has six brothers: George, a veteran of 
the Civil War; David, a sheep man in Aus¬ 
tralia; Edward, superintendent of a powder 
factory at Peanut, California; Isaac Newton, 
in charge of a factory at Los Angeles; Dr. 
James W., in Australia, and John D., a Cali¬ 
fornia farmer. He has two sisters, Sarah M., 
and Amanda. Both live in Canada. 


PETER BONEFIELD, the owner of a 
large and valuable ranch about one mile up 
the river from Capitol, is an excellent illustra¬ 
tion of one who came to the new country, took 
hold with his hands, and despite all the con¬ 
trary circumstances, held on and kept up the 


struggle until success, liberal and sure, came 
to him as the result of his faithfulness in the 
lines in which he wrought. Few men have the 
material in them to make excellent pioneers, 
and still a fewer proportion of that worthy 
class have in addition to the fearlessness and 
stability necessary to open the country, the 
faculty of gaining financially so that they be¬ 
come leaders in the country where they strove 
to open it to settlement. Mr. Bonefield has ac¬ 
complished both of these undertakings and is 
today one of the substantial citizens of Custer 
county with an abundance which he has ac¬ 
cumulated from the farm and the stock busi¬ 
ness, which he has prosecuted with vigor and 
steadfastness since the days when he first cast 
his lot in Montana. 

In Schleswig, Germany, May 11, 1849, 
Peter Bonefield was bom, being the son of 
Peter and Christina (Markosen) Bonefield, 
also natives of that place and who followed 
farming there until their death. Our subject 
received a good education from the public 
schools and then came to this country, land¬ 
ing in Ohio in 1869. He worked for wages 
there one year and in 1870 went to Michigan 
and in the fall of that year visited Chicago. 
A short time after coming to that metropolis 
he journeyed on to St. Louis where he spent 
the winter and spring. The next spring he 
took boat up the Missouri to Sioux City and 
worked there that summer. Then he went to 
South Dakota and took a homestead in Union 
county, remaining there until 1885. In that 
year he came to Custer dounty, driving over¬ 
land and bringing a small band of stock with 
him. It was a two months’ trip and he finally 
selected the place where he now lives, taking 
it by squatter’s right and later by homestead. 
In the winter of 1886 seventy-five per cent 
of the stock through Montana was killed by 
the cold, but as our subject had provided for 
his and kept them in touch all winter, he lost 
almost none aL all. This was rare good for¬ 
tune, resulting from the foresight and un- 








587 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


tiring - care of Mr. Bonefield and his start in 
cattle assisted him very much as stock was 
scarce after that memorable winter. He soon 
added more land by purchase and has contin¬ 
ued so to do until he has now a fine, large 
ranch well cultivated and improved besides 
owning large bands of cattle and horses. 

In 1873 occurred the marriage of Mr. 
Bonefield and Miss Julia Larson, the daughter 
of Lars Larson, a native of Norway. Mrs. 
Bonefield was born in Norway, also, and came 
with her parents to this country when five years 
old. They settled first in Wisconsin and later 
removed to South Dakota. The children born 
to this marriage are named as follows: Chris- 
tena, the wife of John Feegan, dwelling near; 
Louise, deceased; Betsy, the wife of George 
Davis; Peter, at home; George, at home; the 
above being all born in South Dakota, while 
the balance are native Montanans; Edward, 
Clara, Lisa, Tina, and Lars. 

When Mr. Bonefield came here he had to 
haul all his supplies from Dickson, one hun¬ 
dred and fifty miles distant. This entailed 
much hard labor and not until the railroad 
reached Belle Fourche, did this hardship cease. 
In those days many and hard were the strug¬ 
gles, but all were overcome and now in the 
satisfaction of having won the day, and of 
having a fine competence for the golden days 
of life that come on, Mr. Bonefield may rest 
secure in the love of his own and the es¬ 
teem of his friends enjoy that which his labor 
has provided. 


LEWIS C. PIPER, an extensive wool 
grower and leading citizen of the Yellowstone 
valley, residing six miles south of Absarokee, 
Carbon county, at the mouth of Butcher Creek, 
on East Rosebud, is a native of the Pine Tree 
State, having been bom at Belfast, August 30, 
1867. His father, Charles A., a native of the 
same place, was a farmer, butcher and stock 


dealer, selling to the Boston markets. He was 
a prominent and well-to-do man, and a pa¬ 
triotic citizen. He was fond of horses, and man¬ 
ifested enthusiastic interest in fairs and other 
expositions. The mother, Endora L. (Pitcher) 
Piper, is a native of Maine, and is still living 
in Belfast. 

Until he was twenty years of age our sub¬ 
ject, reared in Maine, attended the public 
schools and secured an excellent business edu¬ 
cation. Leaving the old New England home, 
he headed for Billings, Montana, and at first 
went to work on the Musselshell river. Thence 
he went to White Sulphur Springs, remaining 
ten years, and during three years of this period 
he conducted the Springs Dairy. Disposing 
of the dairy property, he engaged in the cattle 
industry, coming to Carbon county in 1897. 
Here he purchased cattle and settled on a ranch 
where he now lives. He owns 640 acres of 
land, mainly under irrigation, and it is as good 
an improved farm as there is in Carbon county, 
in 1900 he purchased sheep and sold cattle. 
At present he is extensively engaged in the 
sheep business. 

In 1902 our subject was married to Cora 
Reynolds, a native of Washington county, 
Maine, where she was reared and educated. 
In 1889, she came to White Sulphur Springs. 
Her father, Josiah E., was a native of Denns- 
ville, Maine; her mother, Margaretta (Ander¬ 
son) Reynolds, was born on the Atlantic ocean, 
while her people were en route from Scotland 
to America. Mrs. Piper has been married be¬ 
fore, and has one boy, Wallace Harriman. 


WALTER M. HOPPE resides at Cinna¬ 
bar, Montana, and has the important distinc¬ 
tion of being the first white child *born in 
what is now the state of Montana so far as is 
known. His parents, Hugo J. and Mary (Gee) 
Hoppe, located in Virginia City in very early 











588 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


days and there on August 6, 1864, Walter M. 
was born. The United States government of¬ 
fered him an education at West Point Acad¬ 
emy free as a mark of distinction, owing to his 
birth. This he refused and received his edu¬ 
cation at Bozeman and at the age of eighteen 
started out in life for himself: In 1883, he 
moved with his father and brother to the upper 
Yellowstone and since that time he has been 
a resident of this section. He conducted a 
hotel at Gardiner for four years and one at 
Cinnabar for six years. He also handled large 
freighting outfits into the Park, to Cook City 
and up Bear Gulch to Jardine. At the present 
time he owns practically all of the town site 
at Cinnabar and is doing ranching in addition 
to his other affairs. 

On May 4, 1896, Mr. Hoppe married Ella 
E. Fitzgerald, whose parents are mentioned in 
another portion of this work. To this union 
three children were bom, Walter Paul, Febru¬ 
ary 1, 1898; Pearl M., November 19, 1902, 
and Mildred F. October 19, 1905. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hoppe are both members of 
the Episcopalian church and in politics he is 
a stanch Republican. Mr. Hoppe is affiliated 
with the Odd Fellows and is well known in 
this portion of Park county. 


WILLIAM E. LUKINBEAL, a rancher 
and general farmer at the mouth of Canyon 
creek, Yellowstone county, was born in Put¬ 
nam county, Missouri, November 10, 1856. 
His father, Andrew Lukinbeal, a native of 
Ohio, enlisted in Company B, Ninety-third 
Ohio Volunteers, in 1861, and was killed at 
the battle of Missionary Ridge. His father, 
Samuel, located in Montgomery county, Ohio, 
in 1800', and fought in the war of 1812. He 
was one of the first settlers in the country. He 
came from Maryland, and was a farmer and 
blacksmith. His ancestors were of German 
stock. 


The mother of our subject, Sarah E. 
(Houser) Lukinbeal, was born in Dayton, 
Ohio. After the death in the war of her hus¬ 
band she married George Holliday, and with 
him went to Brownsville, Minnesota, where 
she lived nine years, going thence to Ida county, 
Iowa, where she suffered the loss of her second 
husband. She is now living at Waitsburg, 
Washington. Her father was a German and 
her mother Welsh, the name of the latter be¬ 
ing Llewellan. 

When a young man our subject went to 
Minnesota with his parents. He received a 
good education partly in Ohio and later in 
Minnesota, teaching school one term in Iowa. 
He then learned the machinist’s trade. It was 
in 1877 that he came to Montana and settled in 
Prickly Pear valley, remaining two years, after 
which he took up government land in Beaver¬ 
head county, fifteen miles north of Dillon, on 
Birch creek. Three years he remained here and 
lost two children. He then moved back to 
Iowa, going thence to Ohio, where he followed 
his trade for ten years. Before going to Ohio, 
however, he had made a trip to California, 
passing about three years on the Pacific coast. 

Returning to Montana in 1899 he remained 
one year in the Yellowstone valley, then fol¬ 
lowing another trip to the coast, he settled in 
his present location in January, 1903. 

September 27, 1875, he was united in mar¬ 
riage to Catherine L. Thompson, born in New 
York. With her parents she moved to Iowa 
when a mere child, and here she was reared 
and educated. The marriage ceremony took 
place in Iowa, and she accompanied her hus¬ 
band to Montana. The wife’s father was Wil¬ 
liam Thompson, a carpenter by trade, who 
also owned a small farm. He was of English 
ancestry. They have three children, Clara El¬ 
len, Ida I., and William E. 

Mr. Lukinbeal’s son W. E., Jr., and family 
are now living with him. He served in the 
Spanish War at Manila, being in Company 
L, Second Regiment of U. S. V. of Oregon. 


/ 







BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


589 


SAMUEL O CONNELL, the proprietor 
of the Hotel Kenedy in Rosebud, is one of the 
pioneers of Montana and, as will be seen by 
the following epitome of his life, has been an 
active participant in the history making oc¬ 
currences of this state and in many other por¬ 
tions of the west. Born in St. Louis, Mis¬ 
souri, February 5, 1850, the son of Samuel 
and Mary (Manny) O’Connell, natives of Ire¬ 
land, he inherited much of the ready wit and 
brightness of mind so common in this branch 
of the human race. Although he was not spe¬ 
cially favored with opportunity to secure an 
education, still he was proficient in all those 
branches that made him ready for the ordinary 
occupations of business life. The parents came 
from their native land to St. Louis in 1832 
and there remained until death. During his 
boyhood days in the time of the war, Samuel 
was messenger for Brigadier-General Myers, 
and when in 1867 he had started for Fort Ben¬ 
ton, Montana, on a pleasure trip, he found the 
general in Omaha, he was easily persuaded to 
give up his trip and again enter the employ of 
General Myers. He was sent to the western 
terminus of the Union Pacific railroad by the 
general and there was occupied as checking 
clerk for the government. When the road 
reached on from this point on the Platte to 
Cheyenne a regular quartermaster was put in 
charge and Mr. O’Connell returned to Omaha 
to take a position in the chief quartermaster’s 
office, where he remained until 1869. Then 
he entered the employ of A. C. Leighton at the 
army barracks and was part of the time post¬ 
master for the barracks. Also he made a trip 
with Companies C and E of the Second Cav¬ 
alry to North Loup and the Little Blue where 
the soldiers were sent to protect the settlers 
from the raids of the Indians. While at North 
Loup he received a letter from Robert Wilson 
to take a position as trader’s bookkeeper on 
the Yellowstone expedition and in 1873 he 
started from Omaha for this work. The 
steamer Western conveyed them to Fort Lin¬ 


coln and about June 16, they left there with 
the expedition under Stanley and Custer. They 
went to the big bend of the MusselsheH and 
returned overland to Fort Lincoln where the 
steamer Josephine under command of Captain 
Grant Marsh conveyed the sick and wounded 
down the Missouri. Mr. O’Connell was oc¬ 
cupied that winter at Fort Lincoln with Wilson 
& Dicky, fort traders. In the spring of 1874 
he joined the expedition to the Black Hills, 
Seventh Cavalry under Custer, as bookeeper 
for Trader John W. Smith. In the fall he re¬ 
turned to Fort Lincoln and was employed in 
the store. During that winter he received word 
from Leighton to come to Fort Buford,, but 
owing to the severity of the weather he could 
get no farther than Bismarck. Here he was 
promptly elected city clerk and served till July 
T ^7 5 , when he went on to Buford, whence 
he was soon sent to Post Jeauneau on the Milk 
river, eighty miles north of Fort Peck. He 
went as an employe of Leighton and Jordan 
and remained until the May before the Custer 
massacre, when he was transferred by his firm 
to Fort Peck. In the fall he was transferred 
back to Fort Buford and there remained till 
April, 1879, when he secured a permit from 
the government to open a post restaurant. This 
he conducted till the spring of 1882 when he 
came to Miles City and purchased property 
and erected a hotel. This was khown 
as the Park Hotel and was burned in 
the fire of 1883. In 1884, Mr. O’Con¬ 
nell was elected county assessor and the 
next year he removed up the Tongue river and 
located a ranch, where he conducted a road 
house and raised stock. His place was at the 
mouth of Otter creek and was later sold to the 
government for the use of the Cheyenne In¬ 
dians. The next move was to Forsyth and 
three years since he established himself in 
Rosebud, where he is today. 

In 1879 Mr. O’Connell married Miss Mary 
Butler, a native of Ireland and whose father, 
Walter Butler, was one of the pioneers of St. 








59° 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


Paul, Minnesota. Many of the Butler family 
are prominent business men there today. To 
our subject and his wife the following named 
children have been born: Walter, a graduate 
of Gonzaga College, Spokane, Washington, 
and now with the Diamond Match Company 
in Chico, California; Mable, born near the 
mouth of the Yellowstone, a graduate of the 
Mt. Angeles College in Cascade county, this 
state and now a teacher in the primary depart¬ 
ment of the Rosebud schools; Jennie, Joseph, 
Catherine, and Leo, all at home. 

Mr. O’Connell is one of the most genial 
hosts one could find, ever ready with bright 
wit and amusing tale of early days, or anec¬ 
dote of historic interest. He handles a ready 
pen and frequently the readers of the different 
papers are treated to a fine article from him.. 
The editor of the history of this county was 
permitted by Mr. O’Connell to use several of 
his articles and they will be found interesting. 
In public matters Mr. O’Connell has' always 
shown himself a patriotic and worthy citizen 
and his efforts in the different communities 
where he has resided have been- instrumental 
in accomplishing much for advancement and 
improvement. A true westerner, filled with the 
progressive spirit of this grand republic, Mr. 
O’Connell has lived it out in all his acts and 
the result is he has won many hearty friends 
and is highly esteemed by all. 


GEORGE T. YOUNG, deceased. The 
subject of this memoir was born in Fred- 
rickton, New Brunswick, April 2, 1855. His 
father, William Young, a native of Scotland, 
migrated to Canada when young and there 
married Miss Conway. They both died when 
George T. was four years of age and he went 
to live with his mother’s sister. After receiv¬ 
ing a common schooling he began, at thirteen 
years of age, to learn the shoemaker’s trade, 
at which he continued until he mastered it 


thoroughly. When seventeen he went to work 
in the postoffice at Hartland, New Brunswick, 
continuing two years. Then he enlisted in the 
Canadian Mounted Police and went to the 
northwest. Two years later he left the police 
and took a position as finisher with the North 
Star Boot & Shoe Company in Minneapolis, 
Minnesota. After three years of this serv¬ 
ice, he came on to Montana, landing in Rose¬ 
bud in March, 1882, where he opened a res¬ 
taurant. Selling out later, he opened a restaur¬ 
ant in Livingston in the following November. 
Soon after he closed this business and opened 
a coal and wood yard and did a draying busi¬ 
ness. He continued in these occupations until 
appointed city marshal by Mayor Miles in 
1890, which office he held until elected sheriff 
of Park county. So efficiently did he discharge 
the duties of that important office that three 
times he was elected by an appreciative con¬ 
stituency. His death occurred on November 
9, 1900, being killed while making an arrest. 

Mr. Young had married Miss Clara Shaw, 
the daughter of Samuel and Frances (Birm¬ 
ingham) Shaw, natives of New Brunswick, 
where, also, Mrs. Young was born November 
27, 1856, Hartland being the native spot. Mrs 
Young’s father was postmaster of Hartland 
for twenty-eight years and was an influential 
and prominent man, having been in the field 
for parliament in 1870, supporting the conser¬ 
vative ticket. He died on Christmas day, 1887, 
his wife having died when Mrs. Young was 
five years old. To Mr. and Mrs. Young four 
children were born, Arthur Guy, September 
5, 1880; George T., March 5, 1884; Clara M., 
May 23, 1886; and Vera E., on September 21, 
1893. Mr. Young was a member of the Scotch 
Presbyterian church, while his widow is allied 
with the Free Baptists. Politically, he was al¬ 
ways a Republican and active. At the time 
of his death, Mr. Young left his family a com¬ 
fortable home in Livingston and a good ranch 
of two hundred acres six miles above town 

ft 

on the Yellowstone. 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


An extract from the Livingston Enterprise 
of November 17, 1900, speaks of Mr. Young 
as he was known to those of his home place 
and we append a portion of it. “His official 
record is written on the pages of Livingston, 
and Park county. For twelve years, time has 
recorded each deed, each act, and today the 
record stands without a flaw devoid of blem¬ 
ish. In the business world, where man’s word 
and honor are his passports, he had free entree. 
In the sacred circle of the family shone the 
happiest combination of the husband, father, 
and man. Whatever official duty presented it¬ 
self, it was executed promptly, conscientiously, 
fearlessly. Whatever business complication he 
encountered, it was met fairly and honorably. 
Whatever domestic relation required his at- 
tenion, it at once became a mission of love, de¬ 
votion and affection.” So faithful and true a 
man as George T. Young could but leave an 
indelible impress upon the hearts as well as 
the minds of all and sincere tears of keen sor¬ 
row were freely shed on every hand when the 
awful stroke became known. Inexplicable, be¬ 
yond the ken of man, was the fatal occurrence 
that Providence allowed; one of those strange 
and mysterious dispensations in the pilgrim 
way of men which reason can never compass 
and to which only faith can bow in the assur¬ 
ance that “He doeth all things well,” and the 
day will declare it in good time. But although 
departed from the scenes where so well known 
and loved, how powerfully his well spent life 
speaks and how charming are the pictures that 
fond memory will continue to bring to light 
the way till the happy reunion shall be con¬ 
summated on that bright day. 


JOHN NICHOL, a farmer and stockman, 
residing nine miles southwest of Columbus, 
was born in New Glasgow, Quebec, Canada, 
September 19, 1847. His father, Abraham, 
was a native of Canada. His mother was Mar¬ 
garet (Smith) Nichol. 


59i 


At the age of 17 our subject left home 
and went to Ontario, where he followed lum¬ 
bering, two years, and then went to Saginaw 
Michigan, where he passed fifteen years in 
the woods. Thence, in 1879, he went to Lead- 
vi e , Colorado, then in its palmiest days. His 
wife followed in 1890, and they lived there 
m Buena Vista two and one-half years. Thence 
they came to Butte, where he worked for fif¬ 
teen years. Leaving that city in August, 1893, 
he came to his present location, where he 
homesteaded 160 acres. He irrigated this land 
and then waited three years for a crop. It 
was pretty up-hill work, and for several years 
it afforded a bare existence. He came here 
with practically nothing, and now has 100 
acres which produce the various cereals in an 
abundance and in addition owns a fine band of 
cattle. 

At Saginaw Mr. Nichol was married to 
Catherine Agin, born in England. Her parents 
came to ^New York state when she was eight 
months old. Her parents were John W. and 
Catherine (Neeland) Agin. Our subject has 
six children living, and one dead: John, Mai- 
mie (dead), William, Frank, Edward, Grover 
C. and Katie. Politically our subject is a 
Democrat. 


JAMES HYM, a leading and prominent 
ranchman, residing fourteen miles northwest 
of Red Lodge, Montana, was born in Norway, 
June 1, 1867. The father and mother both 
came to Montana four years ago, and now 
live near Fishtail, on Rosebud creek, Carbon 
county. 

Our subject is the third of seven children, 
all of whom live in Montana. Mr. Hyam was 
educated in Tranjon, Norway, and at the age 
of fourteen faced the world on his' own ac¬ 
count. He came to Billings, Montana, and 
began working on a sheep ranch for Smith 
Brothers, on the Musselshell. Two years were 














59 2 


' biographical sketches. 


passed on the range, during which time he 
studied English. On the ranch he passed seven 
years in all, and then sheared sheep for a 
couple of years, when he engaged in the sheep 
business on his own account in Meagher 
county. This he followed until twelve years 
ago, when he drove his sheep to his present 
place, which he purchased from a squatter. 
This gives him 160 acres of good land, besides 
a lease on a section of school land. Until six 
years ago he devoted his attention to sheep 
raising, when he disposed of his band, and en¬ 
gaged in raising cattle, hay and grain. At 
present he has 160 head of cattle, and last 
season raised 250 tons of hay. Twenty-five 
years ago he started with only his hands. He 
feels that he has done well in spite of some 
drawbacks, and has large faith in the future 
of Montana. 

October 12, 1894, our subject was married 
to Jennie Harum, also a native of Norway. 
She came here alone to her brother, who lives 
here.' They have seven children: Louis, Nels, 
Minnie, Edwin, Thelma, James and an infant. 

Politically he is a Republican, and active 
in caucuses, conventions, etc. He is a member 
of the Lutheran church. 


HIRAM B. BICKERDYKE was born 
in Glendale, Ohio, December 3, 1854, and now 
resides on his ranch at Ericson, Custer county. 
He is occupied with farming and stock raising 
and is a pioneer of pioneers of the west, having 
had, perhaps, as extended an experience in the 
various capacities of western life as any man 
found in the state. We would be greatly pleased 
to outline the details of his life, but will be 
forced to content ourselves with an epitome, 
as as they would fill a volume. 

Robert Bickerdyke, the father of our sub¬ 
ject, was born in Yorkshire, England, came to 
America when a young man, it being 1832, 
and settled in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was a pro¬ 


fessor of music and in 1858 removed to Gales¬ 
burg, Illinois, where he lived but one year, his 
death occurring in 1859- He was a l ea( fer and 
director of music and his troupes were heard in 
all the large places of the land. He married 
Mary A. Ball, who was born in Mt. Vernon, 
Ohio, and educated in Oberlin College. The 
marriage occurred in 1848 and in March, 1859* 
Mrs. Bickerdyke was left a widow. Shortly 
after that the terrible Civil War broke out and 
as Cairo, Illinois, was made a permanent camp 
both for supplies and men and as it was not 
fitted in a properly sanitary manner, sickness 
broke out and the suffering was extended and 
terrible. Dr. Beecher, a brother of Henry 
Ward Beecher, was pastor of the Congrega¬ 
tional church in Galesburg and called his flock 
together to find some way to aid the suffering 
and alleviate the sad conditions. Mrs. Bicker¬ 
dyke, then a widow, was a member of the con¬ 
gregation and she took heartily to the plan. 
Being a woman well acquainted with medicine, 
fitted by nature for the position of nurse, and 
possessing remarkable executive ability, she 
naturally was looked to from all sides, and she 
was urged to take entire charge of the relief 
stores and volunteers from Knox and Henry 
counties. In Dr. Beecher’s church a Ladies 
Aid society was formed which later merged 
itself into the Northwestern Sanitary Commis¬ 
sion, everyone joining together regardless of 
sect or belief. The sick were scattered all over, 
having poorly improvised shelter, unfit food 
and the sanitary conditions the poorest. With 
such a problem as this confronting her, Mrs. 
Bickerdyke took hold and soon had a system 
of distribution working well, sanitary mea¬ 
sures were brought into action and chaos gave 
way to well regulated service and men began 
to get well by leaps and bounds. The first 
commission was three car loads of provisions 
and Mrs. Bickerdyke was sent to Cairo in 
charge of them. From this time forward her 
work enlarged until the Northwestern Sani¬ 
tary Commission was recognized with their 












9 



HIRAM B. BICKERDYKE 










BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


talented head, Mrs. Bickerdyke, was an indis¬ 
pensable aid to the government. Her name 
soon became famous all over the United States 
and while Mrs. Livermore, whose pen has pic¬ 
tured these details to the public, was the presi¬ 
dent of the commission, it was left to Mrs. 
Bickerdyke, largely, to formulate and execute 
the plans that followed with such rapid succes¬ 
sion and evident wisdom and judgment that 
the whole nation perceived the ministering an¬ 
gel that was raised up for the occasion. As 
occasion required the government furnished 
steamboats which were turned into hospital 
ships and Mrs. Bickerdyke was put in full 
charge of the Fannie Bullet to care for the 
wounded and sick after the terrible struggles 
at Forts Donelson and Henry and the adjacent 
battles. After this she was found at Shiloh 
and she did not abate her labors in all the 
Mississippi campaign. When Sherman was 
ordered to the sea she was put in charge of a 
steamboat to meet him and succor the sick 
and wounded, but about this time the Ander- 
sonville and Libby prisoners were released and 
she was directed to attend to them, as their 
distresses alarmed the nation and were far 
more than those of Sherman’s men. Mrs. 
Bickerdyke was at nineteen hard fought bat¬ 
tles and her services were of the most valuable 
kind, as she was not only able personally to do 
what was needed but she had the ability to di¬ 
rect a whole corps of skilled and trained nurses 
and helpers. After the war she gave much at¬ 
tention to establishing soldiers’ and sailors’ 
homes and her whole life was given up to char¬ 
itable works. 

Finally, at the home of her son in Bunker 
Hill, Kansas, in November, 1901, the sum¬ 
mons came for Mrs. Bickerdyke to come to 
the better land and peacefully she slept the 
sleep of the Christian. Again and again had 
the G. A. R. celebrated her birthday, and many 
were the loving tributes she received from all 
parts of the nation. On one occasion Mrs. 
Livermore writes to her as follows: 

38 


593 


“Melrose, Mass., July 15, 1897. 

My Dear Old Friend & Comrade:— 

“I see by the papers that the G. A. R. of 
Kansas will celebrate your birthday on the 
19th of July, when you will be eighty years of 
age. I wish I could be with you on that day. 

* * * The noble men of the G. A. R. cannot 
honor you too highly nor express too strongly 
their sense of the great work you did during 
the war. As I look over the long lapse of 
years to the sad days of the war I see that your 
army record, which was a record of service 
to the sick and wounded soldiers in camp hos¬ 
pital and on the battle field, transcends that of 
all other women. What a mother you were 
to them! How you labored for them and spent 
yourself in their behalf! I am glad they are 
grateful to you.” 

The state legislature of Illinois appropri- . 
ated seven thousand dollars for a bronze mon¬ 
ument of Mrs. Bickerdyke and on May 22, 
1906, it was unveiled at Galesburg with appro¬ 
priate ceremonies, some of the most prominent 
men of the nation rendering service in the pro¬ 
gram. 

As our subject’s father died when he was 
young and as his mother was so busy in these 
extended duties he did not see much of 
her during his childhood days, still he 
was well cared for and educated. In 
1868 he came to the plains of Kan¬ 
sas and engaged in hunting and acted as 
guide for both private and military parties. 

He became very expert and rendered the gov¬ 
ernment most excellent service from Old Mex¬ 
ico to Canada and could the story of his deeds 
be told it would rival that of the famous 
guides whose names are household words in 
this country. He has traversed all the country 
of the west, knows it as he knows his ranch 
and his skill and cunning as a scout have sel¬ 
dom been excelled in the history of Indian 
fighting. Finally, Mr. Bickerdyke determined 
to settle down and although he first came to 
Montana to hunt, he liked the country so well 












594 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


he settled where we now find him and since 
then he has contented himself to raise cattle 
and do general farming. He is well known in 
Custer county and his life is as a loyal and 
substantial citizen. 


MERRITT E. CONNELL, the assistant 
store keeper for the Northern Pacific at Liv¬ 
ingston, was born near Louisville, Kentucky, 
July 7, 1852. His father, Honorable Jesse 
Connell, was born in Kentucky, October 16, , 
1818. When arrived at manhood’s estate he 
took up government contracting and made con¬ 
siderable money. Emigrating west he located 
in Kansas and for three years was a member of 
the legislature in that newly formed state. 

. He was treasurer of Leavenworth county, Kan¬ 
sas, from 1868 to 1872, then was elected Judge 
in Bates county, which position he held until 
1887, his death occurring on February 10. He 
married, March 28, 1844, Nancy Johnson, who 
was born January 1, 1825, and to them were 
born five children, Platt, Annie, Catherine, 
Merritt E. and Jesse. Our subject received a 
common school education and when eighteen, 
went west to Kansas and Colorado looking 
after his father’s cattle interests. Four years 
later, he returned and moved to Missouri. In 
1876, he came to Washington territory, pur¬ 
chased cattle for Ryan and Ryan and drove 
them through Cheyenne. In all he made four 
trips into Washington for this company. In 
the spring of 1880, he came to Montana with 
a cattle company, Cunningham & Ingersoll, 
and took charge of their entire outfit for three 
years. In the spring of 1884, he settled on a 
homestead seven miles east of Flathead and 
took up stock raising for himself. For four¬ 
teen years he continued, then sold out and 
moved to Livingston, it being 1898. The live 
stock commission business occupied him until 
1903, when he entered the employ of the 
Northern Pacific. 


On November 20, 1878, Mr. Connell mar¬ 
ried Kate Thompson, who was born in Kansas 
City, Missouri, on August 15,1859, the daugh¬ 
ter of William A. and Frances (Moore) 
Thompson, both natives of Kentucky. Mrs. 
Connell finished her education in the Liberty 
Academy for young ladies and then took up 
school teaching at the age of seventeen, follow¬ 
ing it until she married. John W. Thompson 
is a prominent real estate dealer in Missouri. 
Her oldest sister, Mrs. F. Moore, lives in 
Montana. The following named children have 
been born to Mr. and Mrs. Connell, Jessie W., 
October 29, 1879; Merritt C., August 13, 
1881; Mrs. Kate A. Whyette, September 26, 
1883; Lannie W. and Lora M., twins, born 
July 14, 1885, the last married to Mr. Powell; 
Delbert L., born December 26, 1889. 

Politically, Mr. Connell is a Democrat and 
he and his wife belong to the Royal High¬ 
landers, in which order she has held office for 
three years. 

When following the trail fromWalla Walla 
to Cheyenne at a point about seventy-five miles 
east from where Boise, Idaho, now stands, Mr. 
Connell with thirty men, one hundred and 
fifty head of horses and six thousand cattle 
was held up bytheNez Perce tribe and for nine 
days the fight raged fiercely. It was the pur¬ 
pose of the Indians to get possession of the 
stock but Mr. Connell succeeded in driving 
them into a large basin among the hills and 
there held them until the Indians were re¬ 
pulsed. This was in 1876, the same year of 
Custer’s downfall. Two years later, he had the 
same experience with the Bannacks and again 
succeeded in escaping with his entire band un¬ 
injured. 

On his mother’s side, Mr. Connell traces 
his lineage from John Garr, a German of 
prominence, born November 17, 1657, in Fran¬ 
conia. He was a lineal descendant of the 
Garrs who were honored with a crest by the 
Great Emperor Charles Fifth in 1519. Even 
at that time this family was spoken of as an 












595 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


old, good and prominent family. John Garr 
was a devout Lutheran before his death and 
his eldest son, Andreas Garr, at the head of a 
small band migrated to America and settled 
in Virginia. Mr. Connell has in his possession 
a volume of the Garr genealogy which con¬ 
tains over twelve thousand nine hundred and 
twelve names of descendants of John Garr. 

■-- 

JOHN A. MILLER, a rancher and stock 
raiser of the Yellowstone valley, residing one 
and one-half miles southwest of Billings, was 
born in Barron county, Kentucky May 24, 
1863, the son of John A. and Mary (Harvey) 
Miller, both natives of Kentucky, and both of 
Monroe county. The father was reared on a 
farm and later engaged in the furniture and 
undertaking business, in which he was inter¬ 
ested at the time of his death. His father came 
from Germany and first located in Virginia; 
later moving to Kentucky. He was a promin¬ 
ent and wealthy Kentucky farmer. The mother 
of our subject, reared on a farm, died when 
quite young. Her father was of. Irish descent 
and w.as born in North Carolina. Her mother 
was of German descent, and she and her hus¬ 
band were early settlers of the state of Mary¬ 
land. 

Our subject, John' A. Miller, was educated 
in Kentucky, but at the age of seventeen he 
left home and went to Johnson county, Mis¬ 
souri, where he remained about one year, re¬ 
siding with his uncle, and in 1882 came to 
Butte, Montana, engaged in the employment 
of Foster & Murphy, in the grocery business. 
Until the spring of 1885 he remained in Butte, 
coming then to what is now Yellowstone 
county, where he worked for wages on various 
stock ranches. He finally purchased a ranch 
where he now lives, and where he has resided 
fourteen years. 

In March, 1896, he was united in marriage 
to Sarah Van Houten, a sister of John Van 


Houten. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have three chil¬ 
dren : Lillian, Cecil and Joseph H. Our sub¬ 
ject has one brother, William, and one sister, 
Mrs. Henrietta Hamilton. 

Mr. Miller owns a half section, is president 
of the Surburban Ditch Company and is a 
stockholder in the creamery. 


GEORGE SPROULE, a prominent 
farmer and stockman, residing nine miles 
northwest of Red Lodge, Carbon county, was 
born in Salt Lake City, Utah, November 11, 
1863. His father, Andrew J., was a native of 
Scotland, coming to Utah in the 'late 50’s, 
where he died in 1885, a g e d fifty-four years, 
the mother, whose name was Lovatt, was 
born in England and married in Salt Lake. 
At present she is a resident of Union county, 
Oregon. She is now a Mrs. Stocker. 

In the beautiful Salt Lake Valley our sub¬ 
ject was reared, and there secured a common 
school education. When fourteen years of age 
he left home, faced the world for himself, and 
came to Deer Lodge, Montana, where he 
worked in the construction of the Northern 
Pacific railroad. Following that he drifted 
eastward to the Black Hills, and here he passed 
about three years freighting. From there he 
came to Butte, Montana, parsing six or eight 
months in that locality, and from there radiat¬ 
ing to different points until the spring of 1881, 
when he went to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and 
contracted timber supplies pn the Canadian 
Pacific railroad, drifting west as far as Griffin 
Lake, B. C. In 1884 he abandoned railroad 
work and went to Vancouver, B. C., for a 
trip, returning to Montreal for the same pur¬ 
pose. Following a year passed in the east he 
went to Wyoming, where he worked for a 
year on the C. & N. W. At the termination 
of that period he returned to Butte, and finally, 
in 1893, came to Red Lodge, and squatted on 















596 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


his present location, containing 160 acres, and 
on which he has since resided. On this land 
he has about 120 head of cattle and horses. 

In October, 1886, he was married to Miss 
Olivia Clark, a native of Utah. Her father, 
Cyrus, is still a resident of that state. The 
mother died some years ago. Mr. and Mrs. 
Sproule have four children: George, Ada, 
Geneva and Buelah. Politically our subject is 
an Independent. 


ROBERT ANDREW was born in Banf- 
shire, Scotland, November 15, 1853, the son 
of James and Jane (Fraser) Andrew, both na¬ 
tives of the shire where our subject was born. 
Robert had eight brothers and four sisters, 
Alexander, David, and Frank came to this 
country and the former is now a retired stock- 
man at Great Falls, Montana. The early edu¬ 
cation of Mr. Andrews was rather meager as 
he left home at the age of thirteen, going to 
sea as a cabin boy. He shipped on an emi¬ 
grant vessel plying between Glasgow and New 
Zealand. After one year in this capacity he 
left the vessel at New Zealand and went to 
work on the Elder Lea Sheep Station, con¬ 
tinuing there until 1879. Then he sailed for 
San Francisco and in 1880 we find him freight¬ 
ing and farming in the Missouri valley, near 
where Townsend is now located. Two and 
one-half years later, he moved to White Sul¬ 
phur Springs, on Smith river, in partnership 
with the late Doctor Paibery in sheep raising 
and they continued together until 1887. Then 
he removed to Fish Creek in the Musselshell 
Valley and continued there for fifteen years. 
He first leased the Everett and Blakely ranch, 
known as the Antelope Sheep ranch, and later 
bought it together with four thousand head 
of sheep. In 1890, Mr. Andrew sold this prop¬ 
erty and purchased a ranch twelve miles up 
the river from Livingston. He still owns this 
ranch and also a half interest in four thousand 


acres on Fish Creek. At this latter ranch he 
has a very large bunch of sheep and is quite 
extensively engaged in sheep business. In 
October, 1905, Mr. Andrew removed with his 
family to Livingston and purchased the Kaines 
livery barn and since that time he has given his 
attention personally to the conducting of this 
establishment, it being the largest of its kind 
in the state. Mr. Andrew takes great pleasure 
and pains in providing the finest rigs, the most 
trustworthy horses and careful drivers, and this 
is building for him a reputation among travel¬ 
ing people second to none in this part of the 
state. 

In the fall of 1887, Mr. Andrew married 
Miss Ann McRae, a native of Peliehead, Scot¬ 
land. She came with her parents to Canada 
when young and then came west to Fish Creek 
in 1881, being the first white woman in that 
section and having come in over the first pas¬ 
senger train on the Northern Pacific- to Big 
Timber. Hers was one of the first marriages 
in Musselshell valley. 

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew are both members 
of the Presbyterian church, while politically 
he is a Republican. In fraternal affiliations 
Mr. Andrew is associated with the Knights of 
Pythias and the Brotherhood of American Yeo¬ 
men. He has Won splendid success financially 
in Montana and enjoys a first-class standing 
in Park county as well as elsewhere wherever 
he is known. 

-- 

DANIEL McINTOSH, a ranchman living 
seven miles northwest of Red Lddge, Mon¬ 
tana, was born in Bethel, Pennsylvania, April 
8, 1871. His father, Henry, was a native of 
Scotland, born in 1830. I11 1870 he came to 
the Keystone State, where for some years he 
followed coal mining. He came to Red Lodge 
August 3, 1889. He died January 8, 1901. 
The mother of our subject was Catherine (At¬ 
chison) McI»tosh, born in Scotland. She is 
now a resident of Red Lodge. 













BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


Our subject is the fourth of seven children 
four of whom still live. All of them, with the 
exception of a sister in Wyoming, make their 
home in Montana. Our subject was educated 
in Angus, Boone county, Iowa, where his par¬ 
ents had removed when he was- a child. At 
the age of seventeen he went to work in coal 
mines, and this he followed until the family 
moved to Timber Line, Montana, in 1888. 
There he passed less than a year, going to Red 
Lodge, where he mined until 1895, and then 
he purchased his present ranch of 160 acres, 
or, rather he bought a squatter’s right and 
improvements. Until August 3, 1905, he re¬ 
mained on this property before he was enabled 
to file on it. The land is devoted mainly to 
hay and stock. He is able to support fifty head 
of stock on the land. 

November 26, 1891, he was married to 
Jannette Hay, who, like himself, comes of 
Scotch parentage. She was born in Pennsyl¬ 
vania and reared in Fort Dodge. Iowa. She 
came to Red Lodge to visit a sister. Politically 
our subject is a Democrat, but not a politician 
in the modern acceptance of the word. 


C. W. HENDERSON. The wonderful 
feats accomplished by the old time cowboys 
will never be fully told, and so astounding 
are many of them that their recitation brings 
incredulity to the hearer, yet, to those who 
have been through those wonderful days when 
men followed the trail from Old Mexico to 
Canada are aware of the reality of these things. 
What stupendous things could the stampede 
breakers do, and did do time and again! How 
the skill of man would handle and corrall the 
wild herds and take them to the desired points! 
What wonderful experiences with wild beasts, 
wild herds, and wily Indians, where the sur¬ 
vival of the fittest was the law that made civil¬ 
ized man triumph! Reared in this from the 
time that he could steady himself in the saddle 


597 


and brought next to every kind of vicious and 
wild brute that roams on the plains, Mr. Hen¬ 
derson has acquired a wiliness and adroitness 
in handling such creatures that has given him 
a reputation far and near as one of the best 
riders that ever graced the great state of Mon¬ 
tana. His ability to conquer and tame wild 
horses and handle them successfully is a skill 
and achievement that few men acquire in this 
life. Perhaps the fact that he first saw the light 
on the broad heaving Atlantic while the scur¬ 
rying ship tossed with the hand of the rolling 
billow’s might left an inspiration in his life 
that has carried him all through these days 
and years of restless activity safe and sound 
and still the master of every animal that has 
felt the touch of his hand. At any rate, Mr. 
Henderson is a type of the regular old- 
fashioned cowboy, fast passing away, and ex¬ 
emplifies the cunning, skill, and achievements 
of that most unique class in American history 
in no ordinary light. And, too, he may well 
take a pardonable pride in what he has accom¬ 
plished and today he is one of the stanch citi¬ 
zens of the county. His ranch is situated eigh¬ 
teen miles south from Birney and he devotes 
himself to general farming. His birth oc¬ 
curred when his parents were en route from 
the old country to the'United States, the date 
being March 17, 1857. Patrick Henderson, a 
native of Mayo, Ireland, was his father and he 
was distinctly a military man, having served 
in the English army, being a veteran of the 
Rebellion, and meeting his death in the regu¬ 
lar army, Seventh Cavalry, in a skirmish with 
the Sioux Indians in the Black Hills. He mar¬ 
ried Emily Byrons, born in Queens county, 
Ireland. She was the companion of her hus¬ 
band until her death in Fort v Arbuckle, Color¬ 
ado. Our subject spent his early boyhood at 
Fort Arbuckle in the Indian territory, and there 
commenced to ride as soon as he could hang 
on to the saddle, being about seven. He soon 
went to Texas with Jack Burnett’s outfit, then 
back to Colorado, and for four successive years 












59S 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


thereafter he was regularly over the trail. Two 
years were spent riding to old Mexico, New 
Mexico and Arizona being, when seventeen, 
in the bloody fight with the Indians, and then 
he turned north till he finally landed in Cus¬ 
ter county. In 1885 he decided to remain in 
Montana and soon thereafter he was with the 
S. H. outfit breaking horses. In 1877 he was 
foreman of their horse outfit and after some 
years at that he traveled to various sections 
of the country. Finally in 1901 he located 
the ranch where he is now living and took up 
life as an agriculturist. 

In 1894, Mr. Henderson married Miss 
Fannie Ebaugh, a native of Illinois and the 
daughter of William Ebaugh, a famous me¬ 
chanic and blacksmith in the state of Ohio. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Henderson one child has 
been born, William Patrick, and also they have 
one daughter, Clara Thompson, Mrs: Hender¬ 
son’s daughter by a former marriage. 


1 

CHARLES MAHR, a prosperous rancher 
of the Yellowstone valley, and a pioneer of that 
territory, resides at Billings, four and one- 
half miles southwest of the town. He was 
born in New York City, November 7, 1850. 
His father, Conrad Mahr, a native of Ger¬ 
many, came to New York in 1831, where he 
worked for William Gould & Son forty-five 
years, and where he still lives. His mother, 
Mary (Ficke) Mahr, was also born in Ger¬ 
many, where she married and accompanied her 
husband to the United States. 

Our subject was educated in the excellent 
public schools of New York, and on leaving 
there May 14, 1870, went to Omaha, Nebraska, 
where he enlisted in Company M, Second U. S. 
Cavalry, under Captain Mix. He served as a 
soldier ten years, including his Civil War serv¬ 
ice. From Omaha he went to Fort Laramie, 
Wyoming, in the spring of 1874, and 
from there to the Black Hills in the 


fall of that year, and in 1875 to Fort 
Waske, Wyoming. From there he came 
to Montana and assisted in building 
Fort Custer. He would have been in the Cus¬ 
ter massacre on the Little Big Horn, had he 
not been ordered back to Fort Waske, as that 
point had been left unprotected. He assisted 
in burying the dead after the battle with Sit¬ 
ting Bull on the Little Big Horn. He also as¬ 
sisted in the erection of the Custer monument. 
He was honorably discharged from the army 
at Fort Custer in 1880. He then opened a 
restaurant at Custer, btft was subsequently 
burned out and lost all his property. 

In January, 1888, he came to his present 
location in Yellowstone county, where he has 
a fine irrigated ranch of 125 acres. 

About thirty years ago he was united in 
marriage to Miss Maggie Black, a native of 
Colorado, in which state she was reared and 
educated. Thence she removed to Red Canyon, 
in Wyoming. She was with her husband five 
years during the terms of his enlistment. Her 
father, Martin Black, was one of the pioneers 
in Colorado, going at an early day to Utah. 
He was killed at the Mountain Meadow 
massacre. 

Mr. and Mrs. Mahr are the parents of 
eight children, Ben, Charles, Harry, Conrad, 
George, Amelia, Emma and Mary. 

Recently Mr. Mahr purchased a ranch 
about four miles from Bridger, in Carbon 
county, of this state, and he expects to move 
there later. 


GEORGE H. PHELPS has spent a half 
century in the west, most of the time in what 
is now the state of Montana and is therefore 
to be classed as one of the earliest pioneers 
of this country. While he has followed various 
occupations in different places, still so much of 
his time has-been devoted to one calling that 
he can most emphatically be termed a miner. 








599 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


Every phase of this calling is familiar to Mr. 
Phelps and he has been successful more than 
the ordinary man, so that now he has the priv¬ 
ilege of looking back upon a career in which 
has been crowded much hardship and arduous 
labor while at the present he can spend the 
golden years of his life in comfort and com¬ 
petence. George H. Phelps was born at Jerusa¬ 
lem, New York, on September 26, 1834, and 
now lives at Jardine, Montana. His father, 
John Phelps, was born in Connecticut, came to 
New York state and settled in 1812, served 
in the war of 1812 and died in New York 
state in 1855. He married Harriet Mahurtur, 
who was of Penhsylvania Dutch stock. Our 
subject’s paternal grandfather was a native of 
England. George H. was educated in Bran¬ 
ford, Yates county. New York, and in 1856 
the year after his father’s death, being then 
twenty-two years of age, he started west to 
Wisconsin. While on a trip up the lakes the 
boat touched at Detroit and gave him an op¬ 
portunity to vote for James Buchanan, being 
allowed under provisions of the Marine Act. 
In the spring of i860, he went to Colorado 
and three years later went to Montana, landing 
at Bannack, April 15, 1863. Since that time, 
a period of forty-three years, Mr. Phelps has 
been a continuous resident of Montana. He 
joined the stampede to Alder Gulch and was 
there in the palmy days of those famous dig¬ 
gings. In March, 1864, he joined the Jim Stuart 
expedition, which consisted of seventy-four men 
and while on the trip they camped at the place 
where Livingston now stands. The company 
dwindled away until there were only fifteen 
left, and these men prospected stream after 
stream but while they found colors they sel¬ 
dom found gold in sufficient quantities to pay 
washing. They finally circled around and 
struck the Yellowstone and followed it until 
they came to the camp at Emigrant Gulch. Mr. 
Phelps continued prospecting and trading un¬ 
til the fall of 1876, when he struck a lead on 
Bear Gulch, where Jardine is now. He has 


located and sold several good claims, the last 
being the Revenue Mine and Millsight, for 
which he received sufficient fo make him inde¬ 
pendent the balance of his days. So many 
prospectors have struggled and labored since 
the days of forty-nine without success suffi¬ 
cient to grant them a competence for their 
declining days that it is very pleasant to notice 
in the career of our subject that, after years 
of hardship, he is provided with sufficient 
revenue from his labors to enable him to en¬ 
joy life properly. Since 1876, Mr. Phelps has 
been almost continuously in Jardine or the 
places adjacent thereto. He was at Cook City 
when the noted chief Joseph went through 
and is familiar with all of the early history of 
the territory and state. 

Politically he is a Republican, takes an act¬ 
ive and keen interest in all matters pertaining 
to the welfare of the state and is a man who 
has many friends. 


OLE H. ARTHUN, a leading sheep- 
raiser of the Yellowstone valley, now resid¬ 
ing nine miles south of Absarokee, on Butcher 
creek, was born in Norway, in October, 1881. 
His father, Helmert, also a native of the- same 
country, is a farmer still living in Norway. 
The mother of our subject, Margaret (Hare) 
Arthun, was born in Norway where she is at 
present with her husband. 

Until he was sixteen years of age our sub¬ 
ject remained in Norway and was there reared 
and educated in the public schools in his vicin¬ 
ity. In 1897 he came to the United States 
and pushed on to Montana, locating near 
Butcher creek, Carbon county, where he found 
employment, and saved money. With this he 
purchased sheep, and he now has a fine band of 
1,500. On White Bird Creek he secured a 
homestead in 1905, but at present he makes 
his home with Jacob Eik, on Butcher creek. 

In May, 1905, our subject was united in 










BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


600 


marriage to Martha Eik, born in Norway, and 
coming to the United States with her parents 
when she was two years of age. Her father, 
Jacob Eik, Norway born, is a prosperous 
ranchman in Carbon county. 


GEORGE W. CLEVELAND resides 
about eight miles southeast from Ekalaka, on 
Springbrook farm, where' he is engaged in 
general farming. His birth occurred in Dav¬ 
enport, Iowa, on August 3, 1862. Jefferson 
Cleveland, his father, was born in Michigan 
and followed farming and railroad contract¬ 
ing until his death. He married Miss Annie 
Joyce, a native Kentuckyian and still living 
in Ekalaka. In the public schools of Sioux 
City, Iowa, our subject received his education 
and in 1877, days when the hills were infested 
still with Indians, our subject made his way to 
the Black Hills. He followed various employ¬ 
ments there, doing some freighting, until 1882, 
when he came on to Montana. His parents 
had accompanied him-to the Hills, but he came 
alone on his first trip to Montana. He spent 
two years in traveling through the northwest, 
British Columbia, Alberta and various other 
parts, and finally in 1884 he came back to Mon¬ 
tana fully convinced that this is one of the best 
places to locate that he had found. For five 
years he was employed with the Deerhorn 
Sheep Company and was most of the time in 
the Sun river country. Then he returned to 
the Black Hills and later went on down to 
Nebraska. From that state he returned to 
Montana, settling on his present ranch. Since 
then he has been engaged in freighting, stock 
raising and farming and he has had good suc¬ 
cess in his labors. He has a good ranch and 
the improvements represent his hard labor and 
skill. 

In 1889 occurred the marriage of Mr. 
Cleveland and Miss Mattie Miller, the daugh¬ 
ter of B. H. and Lucy (Paine) Miller, who 


now reside in Hazelton, Iowa. The children 
born to this union are: Inez, Grover, George, 
Chauncey, Warren, Kyle, James, Frank, and 
Wealthy Fern. The first child was born in 
South Dakota, the second in Nebraska, the 
third in South Dakota, and the others all in 
Montana. 

Mr. Cleveland is a distant relative of the 
well known statesman and ex-president of the 
United States, Grover Cleveland. He has 
shown himself a worthy pioneer of Montana 
and is among that class who have always done 
their part to move things to better improve¬ 
ment and advancement. 


ROBERT O. MORRIS, one of the prom¬ 
inent ranchmen and leading citizens of the at¬ 
tractive Yellowstone valley, and well and fav¬ 
orably known throughout the community, re¬ 
siding at Roscoe, Carbon county, was born 
near Bradford, Pennsylvania, March 9, 1850. 
His father, William, was a native of the Em¬ 
pire State, going thence to Pennsylvania when 
a boy. They settled upon a farm on which 
he died. The mother, Eliza (Semans) Mor¬ 
ris, was born in Westfield, Pennsylvania. 

Reared on a farm and educated in the pub¬ 
lic schools of his vicinity, in the Keystone 
State, our subject at the age of twenty-four 
years, entered the oil fields of the state on 
their first discovery. It is to be noted that 
this important “find” occurred on his father’s 
place. He began rigg building, and worked 
up in every branch of the oil industry. In 
1883 he came to Montana, locating twelve 
miles above Livingston, on the Yellowstone. 
In August, 1886, he went on the Rosebud river, 
within four miles of his present home. He 
was the first white settler on the Rosebud, and 
it was still an Indian reservation when he came 
there, remaining so until 1892. He farmed 
and became orte of the most extensive stock- 
men of this vicinity. He began locating oil 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


601 


lands in 1904, and formed a company to drill 
for the same, the Rosebud Oil Company. For 
this company he has located 1,500 acres. Al¬ 
though a corporation they have so far never 
elected officers, and our subject is the principal 
monied man in the enterprise, with which 
there are nine interested. December 1, 1904, 
they began drilling for oil, sinking 1,250 feet! 
when they lost their tools in the well. A new 
well was begun in December, 1905, and this 
is about 550 feet down, and oil has been struck. 
It is not yet in paying quantities, but is im¬ 
proving with depth. 

In 1885 our subject was married to Nancy 
E. George, a native of Missouri, who came to 
Montana at an early day. Her father, John 
P., was a native of Germany; her mother, 
Sarah ('Stewart) George, was born in Ken¬ 
tucky. Our subject’s wife was married be¬ 
fore she became Mrs. Morris. She is highly 
esteemed in the community in which she re¬ 
sides. She is fond of horseback riding, and 
Roscoe postoffice was named after one of her 
favorite saddle horses. 


GEORGE W. WELCOME, deceased. 
George W. Welcome was born June 17, 1853, 
at Prescott, New York, and died September 
JO, 1905, at Livingston, Montana. He was a 
pioneer of Montana and did much work for 
the development of the country and the ad¬ 
vancement of the state. He was well known as 
an aggressive, reliable and capable man. His 
father, Lewis Welcome, was born in Canada 
and-married a Montana lady. George W. Wel¬ 
come at the home place received his education 
until eighteen when he traveled west to Min¬ 
nesota and settled first in St. Paul. Later, he 
moved to Donley and in 1878 opened a general 
merchandise store in that place. Three years 
later he came west, securing several contracts 
on the Northern Pacific. At the same time, 
he operated a restaurant in Billings. Later 


he moved to Livingston, getting there before 
the railroad came in and opened a restaurant 
and a saloon and remained in this business 
until he was burned out in 1889. Then he 
moved to Horr, opening a hotel. In 1900 he 
removed to Jardine and built two stores and a 
saloon, also becoming interested in mining. 
In the same year, 1900, he sold the Keats 
mine to H. Bush, which was one of the first 
properties developed in the district. 

After selling the mine, Mr. Welcome con¬ 
ducted a general merchandise establishment 
until the day of his death. 

The marriage of Mr. Welcome and Mattie 
McKibbon occurred at Morris, Minnesota, in 
1880. She was born at Port Huron, Michigan, 
on December 5, 1858, and was the daughter of 
Joseph and Elizabeth (Easton) McKibbon, 
Her father was born in Toronto, Canada, and 
followed farming. The mother also was a 
native of Toronto. Mrs. Welcome was nine¬ 
teen years of age when she came to Minnesota, 
and when her husband came west she ac¬ 
companied him and was the first woman to 
come by rail to Livingston, in fact being the 
only woman on the train. To this couple were 
born four children, George W., February 14, 
1881; Elizabeth, August 6, 1882; Harry, Sep¬ 
tember 5, 1884, an d Eva, February 17, 1897. 
On February 14, 1906, George W. married 
Florence Oliver, the daughter of Edwin B. 
and Sarah (Tucker) Oliver. In 1902, Eliza¬ 
beth married Ira C. Merritt. 

Mr. Welcome was a member of the Cath¬ 
olic church while his wife is an adherent of 
the Episcopalian. 


FRED AWE, one of the prominent sheep- 
raisers of the Yellowstone valley, now resid¬ 
ing in Billings, Montana, was born in Ger¬ 
many, December 25, 1861. His father, Fred 
W. Awe, also a native of Germany, came to 
the United States in 1864, and settled on a 













602 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


farm in Illinois, where he remained until his I 
death. He was a well-to-do and prominent 
citizen. The mother of our subject was also 
a native of Germany. 

It was in DeKalb county, Illinois, that our 
subject received the rudiments of his educa¬ 
tion in the public schools of his vicinity. At 
the age of twenty-seven years he went to 
Marshall county, Iowa, where he engaged in 
general farming. April 7, 1884, he arrived 
at Billings, and here he engaged in the stock 
business in which he has continued ever since. 
He is at present a well-to-do citizen, although 
at the inception of his career it was uphill 
work. 

In 1883 Mr. Awe was united in marriage 
to Susie Mendenhall, born in Marshall county, 
Iowa, where she was educated and grew to 
womanhood. She came to Montana with her 
husband, and has materially contributed to his 
generous success in life. She is the daughter 
of James Mendenhall, a native of Ohio. He 
was a pioneer of Iowa, going to that state at 
an early day. He came to Montana with the 
Northern Pacific railway and located on the 
Musselshell. Later he removed to Bridger, 
where he remained until his death. Her mo¬ 
ther, Geraldine (Patsons) was a native of 
West Virginia, coming to Montana with her 
husband. Mr. and Mrs. Awe have six chil¬ 
dren: Pertha, wife of Emil Keil, living at 
Billings; William F., with his father; Grace 
M., in high school; Lola J., and Charles J., in 
school, and Fred Melvin. 


CHARLES A. RAMSEY, a prosperous 
rancher and poultry raiser, residing four miles 
west of Billings, was born in Clearmont 
county, Wyoming, May 15, 1876. His father, 
John M. Ramsey, was born in Loveland, Ohio. 
In the pioneer days he came to California, 
and later to Alder Gulch, Montana. He went 
to Fort Custer the year of the Custer massacre, 


remaining there until 1882, when he came to 
the Yellowstone valley. His wife, Addie R. 
(McDonald) Ramsey, was a native of Canada. 

Our subject first entered the famous Yel¬ 
lowstone valley in advance of his family. He 
purchased a ranch where he now lives, four 
miles southwest of Billings, two years ago. 

September 28, 1904, Mr. Ramsey was 
united in marriage to Elanor Sorrel, a native 
of Kansas. Three years ago she came to Mon¬ 
tana. Her father, Jesse Sorrel, was a native 
of Arkansas. They have one child, Charles R. 


HERMAN BAUMAN, one of the well 
known and leading business men of Livings¬ 
ton, is also one of the pioneers of Montana 
and has seen much of early life in this portion 
of the west. Like so many of the substantial 
men who have won success in this land, he is 
a native of Germany, his birth being on Feb¬ 
ruary 25, 1853. His parents, Frederick and 
Belhelmi (Blumelthal) Bauman, were natives 
of the Fatherland, also, and followed farming 
all their lives. Three other sons were bom to 
them, besides Herman, one living in Rose¬ 
bud, Montana, one deceased, and one still liv¬ 
ing in Germany. After his school days were 
over, Herman left the old country and landed 
in New York in 1872. He immediately went 
to work in a bakery and later went to the vil¬ 
lage of Morrisania after which he returned to 
New York and then joined the United States 
army, enlisting in Company I, Fifth Cavalry. 
He was assigned under General Crook and 
the command immediately started for the front. 
While ,en route they had several encounters 
with the savages but their strength, ten com¬ 
panies, availed to repel disaster. His term of 
five years was served and he was honorably 
discharged and went to work in a brewery 
at Cheyenne, whence a year later he journeyed 
to San FrancisCo and there took up his trade 
of baking. In the spring of 1881 he went to 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


the Black Hills, Dakota, and the following 
spring to Miles City, Montana, whence the 
same year he removed to Billings. The follow¬ 
ing winter he cooked in a railroad camp and 
after some time in various camps along the 
line he arrived at Livingston in 1883, since 
which time, with the exception of one winter 
in Portland, Oregon, he has remained here. 
For almost twenty-five years has Mr. Bauman 
been occupied in Livingston and this long resi¬ 
dence, together with a career of industry and 
business success, entitles him to be classed with 
the leading business men of the county. In 1885 
Mr. Bauman opened a bakery for himself and 
has conducted the business since, always meet¬ 
ing with that success that sagacity and thrift 
merit and now he is the possessor of some very 
valuable property in the business center of Liv¬ 
ingston and is one of the well-to-do men of the 
county. 

In 1877 Mr. Bauman married Anna 
Brrtsh, a native of Germany and the daughter 
of Johanah and Marie Brrtsh. Mrs. Bauman 
is a member of the German Lutheran church, 
but her husband is not affiliated with any 
denomination. Politically Mr. Bauman is in¬ 
dependent and votes for the man and not the 
party. Mr. Bauman is a man who believes 
and puts into practice the principle of taking 
the enjoyment of life while he is passing along 
and he has fitted himself a home that is really 
ideal. Although right in Livingston, when 
one sits on his doorstep it is easy to imagine 
yourself in the midst of a fine country estate, 
so thoroughly has the proprietor brought out 
this feature by the wealth of shade and orna¬ 
mental trees, lawns, running water and so 
forth. One of the attractive points of the place 
is a splendid fishpond supplied from cold 
spring’s on the grounds and the multitude of 
various kinds and sizes of trout are charming 
to the eye, and owing to the coldness of the 
water are delightful to the palate at all times 
of the year. 


603 


LEVI PRUETT is one of the well known 
old timers and has wrought steadily for all 
these years in the interests of this portion of 
Montana, where he is living, being now lo¬ 
cated three and one-half miles east from Joliet, 
on the rural free delivery route. He owns a 
fine, quarter section of excellent land, all under 
the ditch and gives his attention to farming 
and stock raising, and has gathered around 
him considerable property in addition to what 
is mentioned. He was born in Indiana, in 
August, 1843, the son of Samuel and Fran¬ 
ces (Cox) Pruett, natives of Virginia and 
immigrants to Kentucky, where they were mar¬ 
ried. Later they went to Indiana, thence jour¬ 
neyed to Daviess county, Missouri, and finally 
to Mercer county, in that state, where the father 
died in the spring of 1864, his wife having 
preceded him six years. The early education 
of our subject, which was rather limited owing 
to the fact that he was most of his younger 
days on the frontier, was secured in the prim- » 
itive schools of the day and thus fitted he be¬ 
gan the battle of life. When nineteen years 
of age he enlisted in the army and fought 
principally to repel the invasions of the bush¬ 
whackers, especially^ those led by the James 
and Youngers. Also he was engaged against 
General Price, and from Jefferson City to 
Fort Scott, he was engaged in the running 
fight which occupied forty-seven days and 
nights with the exception of one-half day and 
one night. This was a terribly trying ordeal, 
and while the numbers engaged were not so 
large a sin the great battles of the war, still 
the hardships and trying tests for those wno 
were in it were as hard as could be met. Just 
before. Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, Mr. 
Pruett was mustered out and again took up 
the calling of a farmer. In 1873, be trans¬ 
ferred his residence to Texas and farmed there 
for three years, returning to Missouri in 187O. 

On April 11, 1882, he started overland from 
Montana, and arrived at Bozeman on June 26 













604 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


following. He remained there until 1886, 
farming, and then went to Judith Basin, 
which was his home until 1889, being occupied 
in farming and stock raising in this latter place. 
After that we find Mr. Pruett freighting in 
Billings and in 1898 he came to Clarke’s Fork 
and remained one year, then coming to Rock 
creek and securing the land where he now re¬ 
sides. 

The marriage of Mr. Pruett and Miss Ca¬ 
therine Blakley occurred in Daviess county, 
Missouri. Mrs. Pruett is the daughter of 
John W. and Susan A. (Dowas) Blakley. 
The former came from Kentucky from his na¬ 
tive state, Virginia, then went to Missouri and 
died in Daviess county, that state in 1878. The 
latter was born in Kentucky and came thence 
with her husband to Missouri and died there 
in 1883. 

. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Pruett 
are named as follows: Sallie, the wife of P. R. 
Miller, who is a liveryman in Fromberg, Car¬ 
bon county; Suasa A., the wife of O. E. Rob¬ 
erts, their wedding having occurred at Bill¬ 
ings and their present residence being Gabo, 
Carbon county; Penelope, living at Havre, 
Montana; Jennie, the wife of E. Hill, a lum¬ 
berman at Newport, Washington, their wed¬ 
ding having occurred at Fromberg; Katie, liv¬ 
ing at Joliet; Reeves and Harry, living with 
their parents. 

Mr. Pruett is a Republican and evinces a 
lively interest in politics. Mrs. Pruett is affil¬ 
iated with the Christian church. 


FRANK McKINNEY, one of the success¬ 
ful stockmen of Rosebud county, dwells eigh¬ 
teen miles southwest from Birney where he has 
a nice ranch of two hundred and eighty acres, 
about half of which is under a good irrigating 
ditch. He devotes his time to both general 
farming and stock raising and has placed him¬ 
self among those who have been rewarded 


with good and continued success in all his labors. 
Mr. McKinney is a man of extended experience 
in the various portions of the west, especially 
on the stock ranges extending from Kansas 
to the Canadian line. Commencing when a 
lad of seventeen years to ride the range and 
handle stock, he has uninterruptedly continued 
more of less in this occupation since and has 
held every position from the ordinary cowboy 
to the foremanship of some of the largest out¬ 
fits in the entire west. In every relation he 
has succeeded in winning the approbation of 
those who depended upon him and his success 
lies in his untiring care of everything that is 
placed in his hands and in the excellent wis¬ 
dom with which he has managed all his busi¬ 
ness. 

In Champaign county, Illinois, our subject 
first saw the light and his father, John Quincy 
McKinney, also a native of Illinois, was num¬ 
bered with the agriculturists of that favored 
region. He was a veteran of the Civil War 
and in 1884 took his family to western Neb¬ 
raska where he engaged in the stock business 
until 1892, in which year he moved farther 
west, settling in the Willamette valley, Ore¬ 
gon, where he resides at the present time, en¬ 
gaged in farming. He married Miss Jennie 
Stephenson, a native of Missouri. Our sub¬ 
ject was reared and educated in Illinois, pur¬ 
suing his studies in the common schools. He 
was seventeen when he came to Neb¬ 
raska and he at once engaged in range work. 
He was with the O. W. outfit in 1889 and rode 
all through Wyoming for them. When this 
company came to Hanging Woman creek, 
Montana, Mr. McKinney came with them and 
continued until 1893 when he became foreman 
for the entire outfit. In this capacity he re¬ 
mained until 1900, when he purchased the 
ranch where he now resides and commenced 
raising cattle for himself. Mr. McKinney 
could relate many thrilling Experiences in the 
range work and has passed through much 
hardship and labor in these ardous callings 





BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


605 


but has ever shown himself master of the situ¬ 
ation and is today one of the substantial men 
of the county. 


BETUEL MYREBO, born in the south¬ 
ern portion of Norway, July 10, 1880, now 
lives on a fine ranch, and productive, four 
miles out from Linley, on Butcher Creek. His 
father, Maurits, a native of the same place as 
our subject, is a farmer, and is still living in 
Norway. The mother, Guri, is also a native of 
the same country, where she resides at present. 

Reared and educated in the Fatherland, 
having attended studiously the public echools in 
his vicinity, at the age of seventeen came to 
the United States, and soon after made his 
way to Columbus, Montana, where he found 
employment on various ranches in the neigh¬ 
borhood. In 1903 he purchased the farm 
where he now lives and is engaged profitably 
in the stock business. Our subject has four 
brothers: Peter, a rancher in Carbon county; 
Martin, proprietor of a saloon in Linley; Gus¬ 
tave, and Laurits, in Norway. He has two 
sisters, both in Norway: Bertha C. and Gena. 


WILLARD B. PADDEN resides some 
nine miles southwest from Camp Crook, his 
ranch being well in the southeastern portion 
of the state of Montana, which commonwealth 
has been his scene of labor for some years past. 
A succinct and detailed account of his life is 
fittingly to find place in the history that deals 
exclusively with the state and valley where he 
has lived and accomplished a good work. 

In Iowa, on August 1, 1868, William B. 
Padden was born, his parents being Thomas 
J. and Sophia A. (Folsom) Padden, natives 
of Ohio and Indiana, respectively, and pioneers 
in different portions of the west. The widowed 
mother still resides in Montana, but the father 


has gone to the realities of the world beyond, 
his demise occurring on February 27, 1895. 
When a boy, Thomas J. Padden went with 
his parents from Ohio to Canada and thence 
they removed to Iowa, where he was occupied 
- in farming. He came west to Montana in 
1883. He came to South Dakota by rail, 
thence across that territory to the Black Hills 
by team and finally to the ranch in Montana 
where our subject is now residing. He fol¬ 
lowed stock business and farming until his 
death, as mentioned above. The mother came 
from her native state to Iowa with her parents 
and was a companion of her husband in all 
his journeys. Our subject was educated in the 
various places where the family lived during 
his boyhood days and in 1885 he came on to 
Montana with a band of cattle. He located 
where we find him at the. present time and 
since those days he has continued steadily oc¬ 
cupied in ranching and stock raising. He has 
a nice large ranch all under irrigation and well 
improved. It is one of the valuable and choice 
estates of the county and is kept in excellent 
shape by the careful and thrifty proprietor. 
His is one of the places that pays annually 
good dividends and he is one of the men who 
have built Custer county as it is at this day. 
Mr. Padden’s stock consists of horses and cat¬ 
tle, he having never paid attention to raising 
sheep. 

June 6, 1895, Mr. Padden married Miss 
Mary A. Brown, a native of South Dakota. ■ 
Her father, Albert P. Brown, was born in 
New York state, came west to Iowa, located 
in Yankton, Dakota, later, and after a stay, 
also, in Rapid City, South Dakota, he came 
on to Montana and took up stock raising. 

At the present time he is residing in Mis¬ 
souri. He married Hannah Hobson, who was 
born on the Atlantic. Her parents had lived 
in this country and were taking a trip to the 
old country for a visit, and the birth occurred 
on the way over. They were natives of Eng¬ 
land. To our subject and his wife the follow- 















6 o6 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


ing named children have been born: Easton, 
Henry, Thomas, and Verna. All were born in 
Montana. Mr. Padden is a member of the 
K. P. and also affiliates with the Modern 
Brotherhood of America. He always mani¬ 
fests an interest in school matters, politics and 
any measure for the general building up or 
improvement of the country, while in his labors 
and association he is always characterized with 
uprightness and has many warm friends 
throughout the country. 


GEORGE R. DOW is one of Montana’s 
hustling pioneers and has been a pathfinder in 
many localities of the west. He is now resid¬ 
ing on the Yellowstone river ten miles up 
from Livingston, where he is engaged in farm¬ 
ing and gardening. His birth occurred in New 
Braintree, Massachusetts, October 31, 1831, 
and he received a common school education 
in his native place and there remained until 
the year he removed to Minnesota and took 
a pre-emption within three miles from where 
the city of Rochester now stands. Later he 
returned to his home in the east and in 1856 
came west to Iowa and in the spring of 1865, 
he started across the plains with the Page & 
Salisbury freighting outfit. They made their 
way to southwestern Colorado and wintered 
near the New Mexico line and on July 7, 1866, 
left that country for Montana, arriving at 
Bozeman on December 3, 1866. The trip was 
an especially hard one as the Indians were out 
on the warpath all over and theirs was the 
last private conveyance over the road for a 
long time after they arrived. From the Chey¬ 
enne river to Fort Smith they were beset on 
every hand and their fiercest encounter was 
on the Powder river where they lost three men. 
Wintering at Bozeman, he took a ranch in the 
spring and in the fall opened the first butcher 
shop in Bozeman. He sold out in the spring 
of 1869 and purchased a ranch in the west 


Gallatin valley, and in the fall homesteaded 
the land where the state agricultural college 
now stands. This he sold in the fall of 1870 
and went with the stampede to Cedar creek 
in Missoula county. In the spring of 1871 he 
followed another stampede to where Cook City 
now stands, and from there he went to the 
Snake and with eight others constructed three 
rafts to make their way down that stream. 
They went over to the Jackson Hole country 
and from there to Salt Lake and thence Mr. 
Dow went to Little Cottonwood and struck 
the first pick in what is now the Duke of Well¬ 
ington mine, then prospected further and lo¬ 
cated the Lexington mine. In 1872 he returned 
to Montana and has devoted most of his time 
since then to ranching, while also he has pros¬ 
pected now and then a good deal. 

In political matters Mr. Dow is independ¬ 
ent, but he is a supporter of the present ad¬ 
ministration and voted the last general elec¬ 
tion the Republican ticket straight. 


M. B. RADEMAKER, deceased. January 
6, 1859, the subject of this memoir was bom 
in Peru, Indiana. His father, Theodore, was 
a native of Germany, and a tailor by trade. 
In early days he came to the United States 
and settled in Indiana, coming from Cincin¬ 
nati, Ohio. The mother, Marie, was also a na¬ 
tive of Germany. 

The public schools of Germany afforded 
our subject the elements of a good education. 
In 1882 he came to Billings, Montana, and 
was with the Northern Pacific railroad as a 
blacksmith. Later he was a waiter in a hotel, 
finally engaging in business with the proprie¬ 
tor of the Mercantile House. His health fail¬ 
ing, he sold out, dying June 20, 1902. 

December 10, 1884, he was married to 
Mary Miller, born at Jefferson Island, Mon¬ 
tana, October 20, 1867. She came with her 
parents to Bozeman in 1878, where she re- 








BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


607 


ceived a good education. In 1883 she removed 
to Billings, and was among the earliest set¬ 
tlers of that city. Her father, Soren R. Miller, 
was a native of Denmark, coming to Ogden, 
Utah, in 1861. Here he resided three years, 
coming to Madison county, Montana, in 1864. 
Soon after he moved to Jefferson Island where 
he secured a ranch. From there he moved to 
Bozeman, and thence to Billings. Her mother, 
Anna M. (Martin) Miller, also a native of 
Denmark, accompanied her husband to Mon¬ 
tana. She died June 1, 1901. Mrs. Rademaker 
has one brother living, James M. Miller. Mar¬ 
tin Miller, another'brother, died June 9, 1905, 
having been struck by lightning. She has 
two sisters, Anna Montana, wife of Charles 
O’Neil, deceased; Trudence L., wife of James 
O. Terril. Mr. and Mrs. Rademaker have two 
children: Dora Pearl, a graduate of the Bill¬ 
ings High School, and now a student at the 
Carlton College, Northfield, Minnesota; Grace 
Amelia, a graduate of the Billings High 
School. At present Mrs. Rademaker is pro¬ 
prietress of the Rademaker Hotel, one of the 
finest hotels in the state. 


NATHANIEL J. HUMPHREYS is one 
of the sturdy ones who came west years since 
and cast his lot with the territory now em¬ 
braced in Rosebud county. Things are very 
different in these days, now that the march of 
civilization and her establishment here by 
these same early pioneers who dared to open 
the country, has chased back the wilderness 
scenes and transformed everything to conform 
to the well inhabited portions of the globe. 
It was in 1884, twenty-two years ago, that 
Mr. Humphreys first set foot in Montana, 
stopping first in Custer county. He came from 
a wealthy and very old American family, but 
the ravages of war had left its sad trail across 
their estates and he chose to start single 
handed and without resources, except the same 


courage and spirit that led his forefathers to 
step from the shores of England to the wilder¬ 
ness of Virginia as early as 1640 and fell the 
forest to make fields to support their families. 
It won its meed in those days and is now es¬ 
teemed by all who read of the grand accom¬ 
plishments of the devoted patriots and colon¬ 
ists who flung fear to the winds and set their 
faces to build a nation. This courage and 
spirit, we say, won for them and it has won the 
some for our subject, a descendant of those 
early worthies. He wrought for wages and 
rode the plains with all its hardships for years 
but finally in 1893, he engaged in the cattle 
business and has followed it successfully since 
that time. He is one of the well-to-do cattle 
owners of the valley and nine miles south from 
Birney his home place is one of the choicest 
irrigated farms in the Tongue river valley. 

On December 29, 1897, Mr. Humphreys 
married Mis s Sarah F. Taliaferro, a native of 
Mississippi. Her father, Charles Adams Talia¬ 
ferro, was also a native of Mississippi and 
comes from a strong, old family. His ancesters 
came to Virginia in 1640 and the family holds 
its records back to the days of William the 
Conqueror and some of them were followers 
of that noted character. Charles A. Taliaferro 
married Miss Elizabeth M. Rice, a native of 
Mississippi, whose parents and grandparents 
were early settlers of that state. 

Nathaniel J. Humphreys was born in Fort 
Gibson, Mississippi, August 6, 1865, the son 
of Daniel B. and Katherine Watson Shelby 
(Jeffers) Humphreys, natives of Mississippi. 
Daniel Humphreys was a first lieutenant in 
the Confederate army. His paternal ancestors 
came from Wales in early colonial days and 
his grandfather, Ralph Humphreys, was a col¬ 
onel in the Revolution. The son of Ralph 
Humphreys, Benjamin G., was a colonel in the 
confederate army under Lee. Our subject’s 
mother was a direct descendant of Evan 
Shelby, of Revolution fame. Thus it is seen 
that both Mr. Humphreys and his wife come 















6 o8 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


from long lines of ancestors who have achieved 
worthy deeds both in military and other lines 
for their nation and for the establishment of 
the country of the free. They were nearly all 
associated with the southern portion of the 
colonies and both are found to possess many 
of those pleasant traits found in their perfec¬ 
tion in the genial and broad minded south¬ 
erner, whose hospitality and kindness were 
the meed sought by admiring friends and dis¬ 
pensed with like reciprocation so customary 
in the sunny land of the south. 


SOREN R. MILLER, a prominent and 
prosperous farmer of the beautiful Yellow¬ 
stone Valley, is at present living nine miles 
northeast of the city of Billings. He is a pio¬ 
neer of this western country and as such is 
well known and esteemed. He is a native of 
Denmark, born August 13, 1833. His parents 
were Rasmus and Martha C. (Peterson) Mil¬ 
ler, both natives of Denmark. The father 
Rasmus Miller, came to Utah in i860, and 
seven years later removed to Montana. Here 
he remained about two years, and then 
returned to the state of Missouri, where 
he died. 

Until he had arrived at the age of twenty- 
seven years our subject remained in Denmark, 
but in i860 he came to the United States, lo¬ 
cating first at Ogden, Utah, where he worked 
for wages at the trade of wagon making, in 
which he was quite proficient. To Jefferson 
county, Montana, he came in 1864, one of the 
earliest of pioneers, and settled on Jefferson 
Island. He thus became the original settler 
in this vicinity. Fifteen miles distance was his 
nearest neighbor. At this period he was en¬ 
gaged principally in the live-stock business. 
It was in 1878 that he came to Bozeman, and 
here he continued to.live until 1883, when he 
came to his present location. 

' His marriage occurred in i860, and the 


union has been blessed by four children, Anna 
Montana, Mary, James and Prudence Larce. 


WILLIAM W. PALMER, a well-known 
and popular Yellowstone Valley farmer and 
ranchman, residing four miles west of Billings, 
was born in Pottawattamie county, Iowa, 
April 7, 1862, the son of Daniel and Sophie 
(Morris) Palmer, the former born in Illinois, 
the latter near Iowa City, Iowa. The father 
was an agriculturist, moving to Iowa in 1852, 
where he still resides on a farm near Oakland. 
His father, Benjamin, was a native of Ken¬ 
tucky and a veteran of the Blackhawk war. 
Following this struggle with the hostile In¬ 
dians he removed to Illinois. When his son 
was fourteen years of age he went on to Coun¬ 
cil Bluffs, Iowa, in 1852, remaining in that 
vicinity until his death in 1880. The Palmer 
family came from England. The mother of 
our subject remained in Iowa all her life, re¬ 
moving to the vicinity of Oakland in 1854, and 
dying in 1881. 

William W. Palmer was reared and edu¬ 
cated in the vicinity of Oakland, taking a 
short college course at Des Moines. In Feb¬ 
ruary, 1883, he went to Denver, Colorado, 
where he was engaged in truck farming for 
three years. He’ came to Billings by team, 
working for wages one season. For ten years 
he resided near Park^City on a farm. He dis¬ 
posed of this property November 18, 1897, go¬ 
ing to Absarokee, Montana, where he lived 
two years, then selling out and coming to his 
present location, December, 1899. 

In 1889 he was united in marriage to Anna 
Wimsett, a native of Kent, England. She 
came to Michigan with her parents in 1870, 
where she lived ten years, thence going to 
Beaverhead county in 1883, and in 1885 to 
Yellowstone county. Her father, Stephen E. 
Wimsett, was a native of England; her mother, 
Sarah E. (Cushing) Wimsett, having been 








SOREN R. MILLER 


MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM W. PALMER 


JAMES AND ROBERT STEELE 


MICHAEL FLANAGAN 






biographical sketches. 


609 


born in Kent, England. She died December 
9 , 1905. 

Eleven children have been born to Mr and 
Mrs. Palmer, viz: Alice L, born December 14, 
1890; Stephen W., February 1, 1892; Susie 
Etta, May 28, 1893; Sarah Ruth, September 
16, 1894; Cordelia, February 25, 1895; 

Reuben, December 26, 1897, and died July 2/ 
1898; Edna Belle, April 30, 1899; Sophie 
Eliza, March 20, 1901; Daniel W., November 
12, 1902; Leonard S., August 28, 1904; Anna 
May, May 14, 1906. 


JAMES STEELE was born in Peter¬ 
borough county, Ontario, on September 15, 
1854. His. father, John Steele, was born in 
Edinburgh, Scotland, came to Canada when a 
lad of thirteen years of age, and spent the re¬ 
maining part of his life in Canada, save one 
year in which he made a trip to Montana. He 
was called from the scenes of this life to the 
world beyond in the year 1889. He had mar¬ 
ried Miss Mary Ann Toyne Elmhirst, a native 
of Ontario, and descended from English an¬ 
cestry. In his native place our subject was 
reared and there, too, received his educational 
training. When about thirty-three years old, 
he came on west to Missouri. For two and 
one-half years his lot was cast in that common¬ 
wealth and then he determined to see more of 
the west. The leading genius pointed toward 
Montana, and in due time the young man was 
in the country now embraced in Yellowstone 
county. For thirteen years he was employed 
by Mr. Edward Cardwell and then he had suf¬ 
ficient means to warrant his starting in for 
himself and so he selected his present home 
place, a good farm lying about four miles west 
from Billings, purchased it and began the good 
work of improvement and establishing for 
himself a home. His labors have been wisely 
bestowed and the result is that he has won a 
good success and has made for himself an ex¬ 
cellent standing among his fellows. 

39 


On February 29, 1879, Mr. Steele mar¬ 
ried Miss Margaret Cardwell, daughter of Ben 
Cardwell, of Ontario, Canada, and their home 
has been blessed by the advent of the fol¬ 
lowing named children: Ben C., Maggie, 
M. Walker, .James E., Carrie B., and Mary S.| 
who is deceased. 

Mr. Steele has shown a lively interest in 
all matters that tend to build up the commu¬ 
nity and advance educational interests and es¬ 
tablish the best for the good of all. He has 
firm faith in the prosperous county and the 
resources of eastern Montana, which are so 
rapidly becoming to be known far and near. 

On December 7, 1902, Mr. Steele was 
called to mourn the death of his wife. On 
June 12, 1906, he contracted a second mar¬ 
riage, Mrs. Titus, of Jefferson Island, this 
state, who was formerly Miss Morgan, becom¬ 
ing his wife. Mr. Steele is affiliated with the 
Bankers’ Life and the W. O. W. 


ROBERT STEELE, who resides some five 
and one-half miles northwest from Billings, 
where he owns a fine estate of one hundred 
and sixty acres of well irrigated and produc¬ 
tive land, has made Yellowstone county his 
home for all the years since 1892 and during 
this period has manifested an industry and 
substantiality that commend him as one of the 
good citizens of this prosperous county and 
.that have brought their reward of success that 
is pleasant alike to all. His birth occurred in 
Ontario, Canada, on February 2, 1864, his par¬ 
ents being John and Mary Ann Toyne (Elm- 
hirst) Steele, natives, respectively, of Edin¬ 
burgh, Scotland, and Canada. The father mi¬ 
grated from his native heath to Canada when 
a young man and in later years came west as 
far as Montana, but he returned to Canada 
after a year in this country and in Canada he 
remained until the time of his death. 

Robert was educated in his native place 















6 io 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


and as soon as he had arrived at man’s estate, 
began working out and was thus occupied un¬ 
til he came to Montana in 1892. After satis¬ 
fying himself that this valley was a favored 
region, he purchased a quarter section and to 
the development and subjugation of this land 
he has given his attention since, with good re¬ 
turns, and is now one of the prosperous men 
of the county. 

On December 23, 1885, Mr. Steele mar¬ 
ried Miss Mary McDonald and they have be¬ 
come the parents of four children, whose names 
are as follows: Mary Erith, Annie Robinar, 
Edna Ruth, and Robert James. Mrs. Steele 
was born in the same neighborhood as her 
husband and there she received her education. 
Her parents, James and Mary A. (McCon¬ 
nell) McDonald, were born in Canada and 
there they reside at this time, the father being 
aged sixty-seven. 

Mr. Steele is a member of the W. O. W. 
and the Yeomen. In political matters he 
shows a good interest, but is not bound by 
party ties, being a man who prefers to vote for 
the candidate rather than any stipulation that 
the leaders of party might choose. He takes 
an interest that becomes the true American in 
educational matters and is always ready to aid 
any. movement for the betterment of the 
country and the advancement of the interests 
of the county. 


MICHAEL FLANAGAN, oneofthepros- 
sperous ranchers and general farmers of the 
Yellowstone Valley, residing at present two 
miles west of Billings, is a native of La Salle, 
Illinois, born November 4, 1850. His father, 
John, came from Ireland to the United States 
in 1848, and settled in Illinois. Ten years sub¬ 
sequently he removed to Clinton county, Iowa, 
remaining upon a farm until his death, which 
occurred in Green county. The mother of our 
subject, Catherine (Green) Flanagan, was 


born in Ireland, coming first to Canada, and 
thence to Illinois where she was married. 

Our subject accompanied his parents to 
Iowa where he was educated. In 1882 he came 
to Montana with the Northern Pacific railway, 
and had charge of a crew on the construction 
work. This employment he followed seven 
years, being stationed at Miles City, Billings, 
Park City and Laurel. He was also in the em¬ 
ployment of the Great Northern Railway Com¬ 
pany, stationed on Milk river. In 1883 he 
purchased a right and filed on a timber claim, 
two miles west of Billings. It was in 1879 
that he relinquished railroad work, giving his 
attention to his farm. This property he dis¬ 
posed of in 1905 for $100 an acre, and pur¬ 
chased another ranch in the immediate vicinity. 

In 1873 our subject was married to Mary 
Gilligan, a native of Virginia, reared in Iowa, 
where she met and married her husband. Her 
father, Daniel Gilligan, was an Iowa farmer 
and did railroading. Her mother was Alice 
(Haley) Gilligan. 

The children are: Elizabeth, wife of John 
McCann, in the grocery business in Seattle; 
Mrs. Mary Monahan, at Livingston, Mon¬ 
tana; Mrs. Rose Fisher, whose husband is an 
engineer at White Hall, Montana; Mrs. Julia 
Johnstone, her husband being an electrician at 
Butte, and Mrs. Maggie Shiverly, of Sheridan, 
Wyoming; Frank, Mack, Alice, Kate, Helen, 
Wilbur and Joseph, the latter all at home. 


S. L. RIFE, who resides at Bridger, Car¬ 
bon county, is a man who has achieved success 
in business matters because he has shown con¬ 
stantly that faithfulness to the enterprise in 
hand begets the success we all seek after. 
He is engaged in the livery business and his 
rigs and animals are found in various parts 
of the country, as he has an extended business 
and caters to the comfort and safety of his 
patrons, which makes his place a popular one 







BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


611 


in this line of business, S. L. Rife was born 
m LaSalle county, Illinois, March 26, 1865, 
his parents being Ephraim and Seville (Coch¬ 
rane) Rife. The former was born in Penn- 
sylvama, in 1834, was reared on a farm, then 
came to Illinois in pioneer days and there fol¬ 
lowed farming until he journeyed on to Neb¬ 
raska where he purchased railroad land. After 
devoting himself to its cultivation for some 
time he turned his attention to merchandising 
which latter business he followed until his 
death in Red Cloud, Nebraska, in 1897. The 
mother of our subject was a native of Holland 
and came with her parents to Illinois when a 
small girl. 

The immediate subject of this article was 
reared in Illinois and Nebraska, receiving his 
education in the public schools. When fifteen 
the trip to Nebraska came and there he con¬ 
tinued farming until 1891, in which year he 
engaged in the livery business in Ainsworth, 
Nebraska. Later he came to Montana and one 
summer was spent in Yellowstone county, 
after which he came on to Carbon county and 
took up draying at Gabo. Having spent two 
years in that line of business, he then opened 
a livery barn at Bridger, where he resides at 
the present time. Mr. Rife also has a barn at 
Belfrey, while at Fromberg he has two acres 
of ground and improved wilh a nice house and 
barn. Mr. Rife is known far and near as a 
genial and accommodating man and he con¬ 
ducts a prosperous business. 

At Red Lodge, in 1903, occurred the mar¬ 
riage of Mr. Rife and Mrs. Annie Brown, a 
widow and the daughter of Hugh and Mar- 
garette (Scott) Cowan, natives of Pennsyl¬ 
vania and Ohio, respectively. Mr. Cowan came 
to Carbon county with his family in 1896, and 
there followed farming until his death in 1897. 
His widow is now residing in Billings. By 
her former marriage, Mrs. Rife has two chil¬ 
dren, Margarette and Lincoln Brown, the 
former born in 1895, and the latter, now de¬ 
ceased, born in 1898. Mr. and Mrs. Rife are 


the parents of one child, Edith, born in 1904. 

Mr. Rife is a Republican in politics and is 
always alive to the interests of his party as 
well as the welfare of the country. He has 
labored faithfully and has received a becom¬ 
ing reward in a prosperous business and num¬ 
bers his friends far and near. 


GRANT DUNNING is one of Montana’s 
stockmen who has achieved success in the la¬ 
bors of his hands, and who now resides at 
Otter, Custer county. He is a native of Iowa, 
and first saw the light in Adams county, Sep¬ 
tember 16, 1866. His father, Mance Dunning, 
was born in Pennsylvania, in April, 1834, came 
to Iowa in early days and did farming there 
until 1878, when he fitted out teams and with 
a good bunch of cattle started west to the 
Black Hills, accompanied with his family. In 
due time they arrived in the' Hills, our subject 
having assisted, although but a lad in driving 
the stock and teams to their destination. Mr. 
Dunning senior then sought out a place for 
location and soon was ensconced in good quar¬ 
ters and began the stock business on a larger 
scale than he had been able to do in Iowa. He 
continued this business until his death, August 
14, 1882. His widow, Hulda (West) Dun¬ 
ning, who was born on November 13, 1835, 
died in the Black Hills, February 24, 1891. 
Our subject received the major portiofi of his 
education in Iowa, and when he arrived in the 
Hills was occupied most of that time in hand¬ 
ling stock, at first for his father, and then for 
other outfits that'ranged in those quarters. It 
was as early as 1884 that he made his way on 
out to Montana and at once engaged with one 
of the leading cattle companies then doing busi¬ 
ness here. For several years he continued this 
line and then began raising stock for himself. 

It was 1894 that he got started in business 
and began to handle both cattle and horses. 
From a small start he has continued in the 












6 l2 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


business till he has a nice lot of stock a good 
ranch and owns an excellent range on Otter 
Creek. 

In 1896, Mr. Dunning married Miss Annie 
Netterstrum, a native of Sweden and who came 
alone to Nebraska. Her father, Oscar Net¬ 
terstrum, remained in his native country, 
Sweden, till his death. To Mr. and Mrs. Dun¬ 
ning two children have been born, Forest N., 
on October 1, 1897, and Leslie Grant, on 
October 1, 1899. 


GUS OLSON, born in Sweden, February 
10, 1857, now resides on a fine farm four miles 
west of Tony, Carbon county, on Butcher 
Creek. His parents were natives of the same 
place. The father, Benjamin, was a farmer, 
and he came to the United States in 1873, 
and worked for wages throughout several 
states. Finally he came to Montana, dying in 
Columbus in 1896. The mother, Catherine 
(Person) Olson, died in Sweden. 

In Sweden our subject was reared and edu¬ 
cated in the public schools in his vicinity. He 
accompanied his father to the United States in 
1873, and in the state of Pennsylvania he found 
work for wages. From there he went to Iowa, 
and found employment in the coal fields of that 
state, and also of Missouri. In 1897 he came 
to Carbon county, and here he worked in the 
coal fields. Subsequently he secured a home¬ 
stead on Butcher Creek, and at present rents 
another farm in the same locality. 

In 1878 he was married to Armenta Lacy, 
a native of Indiana. She went to Iowa with 
her parents when a young girl, and on attain¬ 
ing womanhood, she was married in the Hawk- 
eye State. Her father was Thomas A. Lacy 
a native of Ohio, and her mother was a native 
of Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Olson have 
three children: Mary Elizabeth, wife of John 
Plummer, living in Portland, Maine; Guy A. 
and Addie. Our subject has a brother, Ben 
Olson, on the Rosebud river, Carbon county. 


GEORGE W. ASH, deceased. The sub¬ 
ject of this memoir was born near Hannibal, 
Missouri, May 12, 1836, the son of George 
and Naomi (Arterbury) Ash. George Ash, 
the father, accompanied by his wife, removed 
from Indiana to Missouri at an early day. 

In the public schools of Missouri our sub¬ 
ject received an excellent education, although 
he was reared on a farm. His people were 
wealthy farmers. Having arrived at man’s 
estate he continued agricultural pursuits, and 
in 1878 removed to Georgetown, Colorado, 
where he passed two years casting about for a 
suitable location. His wife and three children 
accompanied him, the oldest, Eva, teaching 
school in Georgetown while they remained 
there. In 1881 our subject and his family, 
with a team, came to Billings, or rather the 
present site of that city, and soon afterward he 
went into the butcher business, following it 
about a year when he disposed of the same, 
and ran cattle on the range. This business he 
also disposed of and engaged in the sheep in¬ 
dustry until his death, in November, 1897. 

In 1858 he was united in marriage to Miss 
Priscilla Turner, born near Hannibal, Mis¬ 
souri. Here she was reared, educated and here 
she was married. Since the demise of her be¬ 
loved husband she has, in company with her 
son, continued in the sheep business. She is 
the daughter of Charles. and Susan (Lear) 
Turner, her father having been a native of 
Virginia; her mother of Kentucky, the latter 
having come to Missouri in early days with her 
parents. Charles Turner was a Missouri pio¬ 
neer. He was a Baptist minister, and at one 
period cut timber where the town of Hannibal 
now stands. These were strenous times, and 
he was compelled to go by flat boat as far south 
as New Orleans for supplies. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Ash were born two chil¬ 
dren, James Ash, a stockman, now living with 
his mother in Billings, and Mrs. Eva Garvin. 

Mrs. Ash, the widow of our subject, is a 
member of the Baptist church. Mrs. Eva 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


613 


Garvin was born in Monroe county, Missouri 
coming to Colorado with her parents, where as 
has been stated, she taught school. She came 
to Billings in 1881, or rather the site of the 
city. At' that period Custer county extended 
west as far as Livingston. Although there 
were few schools in the county, Miss Ash 
taught the first one in this vicinity in a small 
log hut about two miles south of the present 
site of the city. In .Billings she organized the 
initial school by taking up a subscription. She 
also taught this school, the first in Billings 
proper, continuing the same two school years. 
In 1883 she was married to Samuel Garvin. 
They have one child, Priscilla Ash Garvin. 

-♦♦ ♦»- 

JACOB SOLBERG, one of the industrious 
ranchers of the Yellowstone Valley, residing 
twenty miles west of Red Lodge, near the 
mouth of Volney Creek, was born in Norway, 
July 20, 1868. His father, Jacob Solberg, 
born in the same country, was a farmer and 
died in Norway about twenty years since. 
The mother, Eldria K. (Ylerem) Solberg, 
was born in Norway. 

In the common schools of Norway our sub¬ 
ject was educated, but at the age of twenty-five 
years he emigrated to the United States, and 
after his arrival came to Montana where he 
located at Big Timber, and began working on 
a ranch. It was in 1894 that he came to Car¬ 
bon county, and here he purchased a ranch on 
Butcher Crefek. Five years later he disposed 
of this, and returned to his old home in Nor¬ 
way, remaining one year. . On his second ar¬ 
rival in the Silver State he bought a farm on 
Red Lodge creek, but this he sold in 1903 and 
purchased the property on which he at present 
resides. It is a very handsome farm. 

In 1899 he was married to Inglebarg T. 
Esresem, a native of Norway, and in which 
country the ceremony was solemnized. They 


have four children: Jacob, Isabella, Tarval and 
Emma. 


EDWARD McGEHEE, a westerner and 
southerner in the full sense of the words, is 
now one of the well known and highly es¬ 
teemed men of Rosebud county and has paid 
strict attention to farming and stock raising 
since the day he first cast his lot in this country. 

Born in Noxubee county, Mississippi, Sep¬ 
tember 20, 1845, he was taken the next year by 
his parents, Francis M. and Nancy (Perkins) 
McGehee, to Texas where the father settled 
near Austin and remained until his death. He 
was a planter and a slave owner descended 
from a long line of American ancestors, the 
first of whom came to the New World in the 
earliest colonial days, settling on Broad river 
in the Oglethorpe colony, now Georgia. Mem¬ 
bers of the family participated in the various 
colonial wars and they have always been a 
strong American family. Francis McGehee 
had two brothers, John and William;, who par¬ 
ticipated in the Mexican War. 

Our subject was but a year old when the 
family went to Texas and in that state he was 
reared and educated. As soon as he was of 
sufficient age he began work on the range and 
soon had bands of cattle and horses of his own. 
In 1869 he took a herd of cattle over the trail 
to Kansas, disposed of the same and returned 
to Texas. In 1880, Mr. McGehee rode horse¬ 
back from his home in the south to Miles City 
and viewed the country with the thought of 
making Montana his future home. He re¬ 
turned to Texas after satisfying himself that 
this was a favorable place, for the stock busi¬ 
ness and in 1884, he brought a herd over the 
trail to southeastern Montana, landing finally 
in Custer county. He came with the inten¬ 
tion of remaining in this state and two years 
later he selected his present place five miles 

















614 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


southeast from Bimey on Hanging Woman 
creek and began to permanently establish him¬ 
self in the business. He has continued steadily 
in his chosen work since and has met with good 
success. Mr. McGehee is well and favorably 
known all over the country,and has hosts of 
friends. He is a generous, hospitable and 
genial man and wins the esteem of all who be¬ 
come acquainted with him. During his career 
he has never seen fit to enter matrimonial re¬ 
lations, and is today numbered with the order 
of jolly bachelors. 


HON. ARTHUR W. MILES. Among 
the builders of industrial, commercial and gen¬ 
eral business in the state of Montana, the name 
of Arthur W. Miles is to be placed foremost 
and among the leaders, as his labors, so distin¬ 
guished for method, wisdom, thorough exe¬ 
cution and careful watching of detail, have 
proved their sagacity and worth by the success 
they have won, even in a state of pushing com¬ 
petition and progressiveness. He entered pub¬ 
lic life as an instructor in the public schools 
of Westminster, Massachusetts, and after one 
year resigned to accept the position of pay¬ 
master’s clerk in the regular army, being as¬ 
signed to the command of Major G. W. Baird, 
whose headquarters were at Santa Fe, New 
Mexico, and a year later he was promoted and 
transferred to Fort Keogh, Montana, arriv¬ 
ing in October, 1880. Two years were spent 
here and then he requested his resignation to 
be accepted as he decided to try the business 
world in preference to army life.. Immediately 
embarking in the hardware business at Coul- 
son, Montana, then a flourishing camp, he 
removed thence to Billings and erected the first 
store in that now thriving city. In 1882 he 
entered into partnership with A. L. Babcock, 
the style of the firm being Babcock & Miles, 
and the next year he opened a store in Liv¬ 
ingston and later a branch store at Gardiner. 


In 1886 they opened branch stores at Big Tim¬ 
ber and Red Lodge and later one at Castle. It 
was 1889 when Mr. Miles erected the three 
story Miles block on Main street, Livingston, 
one of the finest modern blocks in the eastern 
portion, of the state. Two years later the firm 
dissolved, Mr. Babcock retaining the stores at 
Billings and Red Lodge and Mr. Miles those 
at Livingston and Big Timber, while the hard¬ 
ware business at Castle and Two Dot, under 
the management of P. H. Tooley was sold to 
G. R. Wilson & Company, who continue the 
business. 

Mr. Miles has been president of the Liv¬ 
ingston Milling Co.; in 1900 he purchased the 
extensive lumber interests of the Gordon Bros. 
Lumber Co., of Livingston, the same year pur¬ 
chased the livery business of G. W. Wakefield, 
engaged extensively also, that year in the man¬ 
ufacture of brick, added a large harness and 
saddlery shop to his farming implement and 
hardware business in Livingston, all of which 
important enterprises he personally supervised 
and put upon their feet in running shape. He 
is president of the Wylie Permanent Camping 
Co., of Yellowstone National Park, is presi¬ 
dent of the Thompson Mercantile Co., one of 
the oldest establishments in the city and which 
changed hands in the fall of 1905, is president 
of the Livingston Fair and Racing Associa¬ 
tion of Park county, and is president of the 
A. W. Miles Mercantile Company of Clyde 
Park, this state. His other interests have been 
actively prosecuted with vigor and ability, so 
that they are all widening and enlarging con¬ 
stantly while the scope of his operations in all 
these varied lines is so extensive that one is 
inclined to say that the executive ability and 
sagacity are well nigh unlimited. In fact, 
one can readily see from the foregoing that in 
any line and in every line where there is a 
chance to promote and develop industries for 
the building up of his home county and the city 
of Livingston, Mr. Miles has been aggressively 
present to push and urge things along with a 






BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


skill and weight that have won him approba¬ 
tion from the hands of all as well as rich finan¬ 
cial returns in the various lines of undertaking. 
Not a year passes but that his tireless mind is 
active to bring forth some enterprise that will 
add to the impetus of advancement. At pres¬ 
ent he is contemplating, in 1908, the erection 
of a building in Livingston which will have a 
larger floor space for commercial purposes 
than any other building in the state, bringing 
the most of his department business under one 
roof. He is owner and builder of the Post- 
office block in Livingston, the finest in the city, 
which, however, will soon have to surrender 
that honor when his new block is completed. 

Politically, Mr. Miles is a Republican and 
has served his party faithfully and well. For 
two terms he was mayor of Livingston and in 
1904 he was chosen by the people to a seat 
in the state senate, where he manifested the 
same solid and stanch ability in legislation that 
he has in the prosecution of private business 
and was instrumental in the passage of various 
beneficial bills. He was chosen president pro 
tern of the senate at the 10th legislature in 
1 907 - 

In addition to all the above, Mr. Miles has 
served as vice-president of the Livingston Na¬ 
tional Bank, director of the Park National 
Bank, president of the Montana Implement 
Dealers’ Association, president of Livingston 
board of trade, eleven years on county school 
board, and in various other capacities, while 
he has carried on an extensive stock ranch on 
Shields river. He owns in addition to what 
has been mentioned much,valuable real estate 
in Montana and other states of the Union while 
his interests in many lines have increased man¬ 
ifold. 

In fraternal relations, Mr. Miles is affiliated 
with the Knights of Pythias, and the Elks, 
Woodmen of the World and is a shriner. 

Reverting to the early life of our subject 
we note his birth occurred in Westminster, 
Massachusetts, June 20, 1859, his parents being 


615 


Daniel C. and Mary Jane (Puffer) Miles, the 
former a brother of General Nelson A. Miles, 
so long commander-in-chief of the army of the 
United States. His paternal grandparents were 
Daniel and Mary (Curtis) Miles, natives of 
Massachusetts, as were also the maternal 
grandparents, James and Lucy Puffer, descen¬ 
dants of colonial stock. After a good training 
in the public schools young Miles was matricu¬ 
lated in the Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham, 
his native state, and graduated in the class of 
1878. Then commenced his public career. On 
December 19, 1885, Senator Miles was united 
in the holy bonds of matrimony with Miss 
Idella M. Draper, a native of Holliston, Massa¬ 
chusetts, and the daughter of W. H. and Sarah 
L. (Perry) Draper, descendants of colonial 
ancestors. To Mr. and Mrs. Miles the fol¬ 
lowing named children have been born; Louise 
Gertrude, Daniel Nelson, Adena Josephine, and 
Perry, the last named being deceased. 


HERMAN KUJATH. Three miles and 
one half north from Bridger is the farm of Mr. 
Kujath and it consists of about one hundred 
and fifty acres, is well watered from the irri¬ 
gating ditch and produces abundant crops of 
hay, that being the principal crop cultivated. 
Mr. Kujath is a native son of Germany, the 
date of his birth being April 7, 1876. His 
father, Carl Kujath, was born in Germany in 
1837 and followed farming and night watch¬ 
ing. His death occurred in his native land in 
1886. He had married Miss Elizabeth Mainty, 
also a native of Germany. She came to Amer¬ 
ica about twenty years ago and died as the re¬ 
sult of an injury received in falling from a load 
of hay. Our subject received the foundation 
of his education in the schools of Germany and 
when ten years of age came to the United 
States and began farming, having settled in 
Minnesota. When twenty-one years old he 
came on west to Washington and did ranching, 














6 i6 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


logging and railroad work. After that he re¬ 
turned to Minnesota for a visit and finally made 
his way to Montana. In this state he engaged 
in sheep herding and later went into the sheep 
industry for himself, having served an appren¬ 
tice of two years in herding. For two years 
he continued in this enterprise and then came 
to Clarke's Fork and purchased the ranch 
where he now resides. Since that time he has 
given his attention to the cultivation and im¬ 
provement of his farm and he has a good 
place. 

In 1903 occurred the marriage of Mr. Ku- 
jath and Lola Steele, the wedding being at Hel¬ 
ena. Mrs. Kujath) is a native of Wisconsin and 
her parents, Henry and Emma (King) Steele, 
now reside in that state. The father was born 
in New York state and the mother in Germany. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Kujath two children have 
been born, Margaret and Elizabeth. 


CHARLES A. BURG is at the present 
time the affable, efficient, and highly esteemed 
postmaster of the town of Livingston and has 
so discharged his duties in this capacity since 
the time of his appointment, July 8, 1897, that 
he has won the respect and admiration, not only 
of the patrons of this important government 
office, but of his superiors in the department, 
as well, being now in his tenth year in these 
labors. Few men in the county of Park are 
better known than Mr. Burg and in as wide a 
circle as his acquaintance occupies so widely is 
he esteemed by friends, too, being a man, gen¬ 
ial, sympathetic and kindly disposed to his fel¬ 
lows, which qualities together with a sterling 
integrity are bound to win friendships. Mr. 
Burg is a typical son of the Fatherland, his 
birth in Germany occurring in 1849. His edu¬ 
cation was well looked after by thoughtful par¬ 
ents and after completing the public school 
course, he finished by a course in the military 
academy at Frankfort-on-the-Main and then, 
it being about 1865, he migrated to the United 


States, St. Anthony, Minnesota, being his ob¬ 
jective point. For the succeeding two years 
he was in the quarter-master service in St. 
Paul, after which he embarked in lumbering 
on the upper Mississippi. This vigorous cal¬ 
ling was keenly enjoyed by him and he fol¬ 
lowed it closely until the spring of 1876. Then 
he began a study of the west with the result 
that in the following August he pitched his 
tent towards the setting sun and soon had jour¬ 
neyed to Montana. Those were days of hostile 
Indians, unoccupied ranges and weary freight¬ 
ing, for Montana in the centennial year was 
far from Montana of this day. The awfulness 
with which the massacre of Custer had swept 
the nation had brought Montana into promin¬ 
ence, but a prominence that was unsavory, save 
to a few brave and undaunted spirits, who 
courted the scenes of rugged activity and the 
dangers of the plains. For two years after this 
Mr. Burg was contracting for the government 
on the Tongue river and in the spring of 1878 
sought other lines of activity. He is practically 
a father of Livingston, as he was here when 
it was called Clark City, a mere trading post. 
He was soon installed manager for the mercan¬ 
tile house of Orschel Brothers, continuing in 
this capacity until the fall of 1887, when he 
engaged in business for himself. Three years 
he continued thus and was then appointed by 
President Harrison as register of the land 
office at Lewiston, this state. Four years he 
occupied this position and then returned to 
Livingston to take up business life, which con¬ 
tinued until the time of his appointment to the 
postoffice, as mentioned above. Since that time 
his services have been greatly appreciated by a 
grateful public and he is known to be a con¬ 
scientious and faithful officer of the depart¬ 
ment. 

The marriage of Mr. Burg and Miss Cyn¬ 
thia F. Weymouth, the' daughter of Judge 
Weymouth of Marshall, Minnesota, was con¬ 
summated on the twenty-first day of June, 1880. 
On April 4, 1901, Mrs. Burg died from pneu- 






BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


6iy 


monia leaving her bereaved husband and four 
children. 

Charles A. Burg married his present wife, 
November 4, 1903. She is a daughter of S. 
M. Fitzgerald of Gardiner, Montana. 


DIVERT HELGELAND, born in Nor¬ 
way, December 6, 1877, now resides ten miles 
south of Absarokee, Carbon county, on Spring 
Creek, where he has a fine and productive ranch 
and is comfortably situated. His father, Sjur, 
is a farmer in Norway, which is the country of 
his nativity, and where he is still living; his 
mother, Wolborg, is also a native of the same 
country. 

It was in 1900 that our subject first came 
to the beautiful Yellowstone Valley, and here 
he located in Carbon county, and has since had 
no reason to regret his choice of a home. At 
present he rents other lands aside from his 
homestead, and is one of the successful farmers 
of the valley. 


FRANK S. WHITNEY, deceased. The 
subject of this memoir was, in life, one of the 
earliest of Montana pioneers and a man of 
prominence, both in the territory and state. He 
was born in Lorain county, Ohio, January 
j 845, the son of Henry C. and Elvira 
Whitney. The father was a native of Mas¬ 
sachusetts ; the mother of the Empire State. 
There were three brothers of the name of 
Whitney who came from England to America 
at an early day. John Whitney was the pater¬ 
nal ancestor of our subject ; Eli Whitney, in¬ 
ventor of the cotton gin, was also a member 
of the same family . The mother of our sub¬ 
ject was of French descent, although the 
family has been in America for many years. 

At the age of nine years our subject was 
taken to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, by his parents, | 


where he attended school until he was eight¬ 
een years of age. He then enlisted in A Com¬ 
pany, Forty-fifth Iowa Infantry, serving five 
months. He made the trip across the plains 
in 1865 with ox teams, going to Virginia City 
(Alder Gulch), Montana, in 1866 and in the 
fall of 1868 he went to Cheyenne, Wyoming, 
where he achieved considerable prominence 
throughout the territory. He was extensively 
engaged in freighting and employed a great 
many teams running to Deadwood, in the 
Black Hills, Dakota. While in Wyoming he 
was elected to the legislature in 1873, which 
was the third session since the admission of 
the state. Finally he established a line of 
freight teams from Fort Pierre to Deadwood, 
South Dakota, which at that period was not 
South Dakota at all, the state not having yet 
been divided. In 1878 he resided at Fort 
Pierre. At this time he owned one of the heav¬ 
iest freight teams on the route. It was in 1882 
that Mr. Whitney came to Coulson, there be¬ 
ing at time no Billings in existence. Finally 
he settled at Junction, Montana, and here he 
established a commission and forwarding 
house, remaining there twelve years. In 1895 
he removed to Billings, where he was called 
from earth March 18, 1896. He was a mem¬ 
ber of the last Territorial Legislature of Mon¬ 
tana, was always a staunch Republican, and 
a prominent leader throughout the territory 
and state. 

May 29, 1870, Mr. Whitney was married 
to Orilla Karns, a native of Des Moines, Iowa. 
When a little girl she removed with her par¬ 
ents to Winterset, Iowa, going thence in 1863 
with her parents to Denver. Here she com¬ 
pleted an excellent education, returning to 
Galesburg, Illinois, where she passed one year 
in school. She went to Cheyenne, Wyoming, 
in 1868, with her mother, her father having 
died in Denver, January 7, 1864, and she was 
there married. She is the daughter of Lewis 
D. and Martha K. (Gaff) Karns, the former 
born in Zanesville, Ohio; the latter at Xenia, 













6 i8 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


same state. Lewis D. Karns was one of the 
pioneers of Iowa, going there in 1849. Two 
children born of this union survive their fa¬ 
ther, Ira Lewis, deputy county clerk, and Or- 
illa Karns. Charles A. died August 12, 1905, 
aged 28, and Elvira M. died in infancy. 


JOHN T. LOGAN is one of the indus¬ 
trious agriculturists of Rosebud county and 
dwells four miles north from Birney. He has 
a good ranch which he secured through the 
homestead right and in addition to doing gen¬ 
eral farming, he is raising horses and cattle. 

In Hancock county, Illinois, on January 
20, 1865, occurred the birth of Mr. Logan and 
there he remained until the family removed 
to Kansas in 1869. I n this latter state he re¬ 
ceived his education from the public schools 
and remained with his parents working- on the 
farm until 1886, when he made his way to 
the west, finally locating in Custer county 
where he secured employment and continued 
thus working for wages until he had saved 
sufficient funds to warrant his starting in busi¬ 
ness for himself. Then he sought out the 
place where he now resides and took it as a 
homestead and settled down to general farm¬ 
ing and stock raising. Each year has seen him 
a little farther ahead than the one past and 
he is now doing well in handling his stock 
and in ranching. 

Mr. Logan’s father, James D. Logan, is 
a member of the old Kentucky family of Lo¬ 
gans, but was born in Indiana. Later he re¬ 
moved to Illinois and, as stated above, in 1869, 
he went on west to Kansas and engaged in 
farming. He was a participant in the Civil 
War, being captain of an Illinois company 
where he served with distinction until the 
struggle ceased. He married Delila Sawyer, 
a native of Ohio, who is now dwelling in Kan¬ 
sas. 

In 1902, our subject married Marie Foster, 


a native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and to 
them has been born one child, Agnes N. 


GUNDER IVERSON HOINES, one of 
the energetic and progressive, ranchmen of one 
of the finest agricultural valleys in the state 
of Montana, now residing twelve miles south 
of Absarokee, on Volney creek, was born in 
Norway, June 22, 1861. His father, Iver Iver¬ 
son Hoines, a native of the same place, when 
a young man followed the sea for a living. 
He married and purchased a farm, on which 
he remained until his death. The mother, 
Helga (Swenson), was born in Norway, where 
she was reared, educated and married. 

In the public schools of Norway he was 
educated,- and at the age of fourteen he went 
to sea, which he followed about ten years. 
He then went to Traill county, North Dakota, 
where he found employment for wages. He 
came to Meagher county, Montana, in 1888, 
and after working for others he sagaciously 
purchased some land of his own. In 1893 he 
came to Volney Creek, where he has since re¬ 
mained. Most of the time he has been engaged 
in the sheep business. 

March 8, 1899, he was married to Sophia 
M. Ekle, a native of Norway, who came to 
Montana about fifteen years ago. Her parents, 
both natives of Norway, were Jacob and Olena 
J. (Nelson) Ekle. She has five children, En- 
golf Hagbart, Hjalmer Olinius, Gonval I., 
Sigur and Sidney Robert. 


JAMES KING,, who resides about six 
miles south from Ashland, in Rosebud county, 
is engaged in raising and handling stock and 
is one of the few men who have spent the ma¬ 
jor portion of their lives in visiting many por¬ 
tions of the west in constant activity and thrill¬ 
ing experiences, to detail which would re- 








BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


619 


quire a volume. It is our privilege to append 
an epitome of his career and it is with pleasure 
we assay the task. In far away Dover, New 
Jersey, on May 25, 1848, Mr. King first saw 
the light, being the son of Patrick and Bridget 
(Munny) King, natives of Ireland. They came 
to New Jersey in their younger days and there 
remained until the death of the father in 1904. 
Our subject was educated in his native state 
and there remained until fourteen, when he 
went to Pennsylvania and there learned the 
art of shoeing horses, becoming expert in the 
work. He also mastered general blacksmithing 
and in 1867 came via the isthmus to California, 
landing in San Francisco. Two years were 
spent in working at his trade and in 1869, we 
find him at White Pine, Nevada, where a min¬ 
ing excitement was calling people. The next 
year he left that camp and visited various' other 
places in Nevada, finally settling at Halleck, 
where he engaged as blacksmith for the S. H. 
ranch. In 1877, he left this occupation and 
joined General Howard’s military force that 
was sent after the Indians, the Nez Perces. 
He participated in all that thrilling cam- 
paign and was at the Big Hole fight, continu¬ 
ing all through the campaign. He was horse- 
shoer and blacksmith. After the Nez Perces 
were quelled, the army was stationed at Fort 
Ellis, but soon was ordered to Utah. Thence 
Mr. King went to San Francisco and worked 
until the spring of 1878 when he came back 
and was all through the Bannack and Piute 
war, doing horseshoeing. After that he went 
to Arizona and later to Wingate, New Mex¬ 
ico, whence he journeyed to San Diego, Cali¬ 
fornia, and finally returned to Halleck, Nevada. 
All this time he was a blacksmith in the United 
States army. Many and varied were the ex¬ 
periences Mr. King passed through in all these 
years of service all over the west and against 
savages, amid dangers and enduring much de¬ 
privation and hardship. In 1884, he deter¬ 
mined to try Montana again and accordingly 
came hither, engaging with the S. H. Ranch 


in Custer county. For several years he was 
with this company and during that time he 
purchased stock for himself and finally took 
a portion of the old S. H. ranch as a home¬ 
stead and settled down to raising stock for 
himself. Since then he has been engaged in 
raising cattle and horses and has prospered in 
his business. 

In I 9 ° 5 » Mr - King married Lily B. Wiltse. 


L. S. BADGETT. Montana is still a 
new state in many things, and especially so 
when one observes her vast undeveloped re¬ 
sources that are evident on almost every hand, 
but how much more was it new a score or so 
of years since when the mammoth wealth that 
is now being made within her borders was but 
little dreamed of. Mining has played a very 
important part in her growth, but stock rais¬ 
ing is, owing to its more steady progress, on 
account of which it is not so patent to every 
one, one of the greatest sources of revenue to 
the state and it is in this line that so many are 
engaged today who came with little to start 
with and were willing to brave the hardships 
and discouragements that faced them on every 
hand. Bearing up under these and forging 
ahead because of sheer energy and determina¬ 
tion, these same men have wrought out a mag¬ 
nificent result in the total and have made the 
state one of the best stock markets in the en¬ 
tire west. Among these steady workers, we are 
constrained to mention the gentleman whose 
name appears above and who has so carefully 
conducted his affairs that he has won the suc¬ 
cess we all hope for, and which, in his case 
is substantial and abiding because well laid 
on a proper foundation and built with wis¬ 
dom. 

L. S. Badgett is a native of Kentucky and 
1866 is the year of hi? birth. His father, 
Hardin Badgett, was a Kentuckian too, and 
when a young man went to Illinois where he 















620 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


followed farming- until his death. He married 
Miss Elizabeth Tatum, who died in Illinois 
also. From the public schools of Kentucky and 
Illinois, Mr. Badgett received a good work¬ 
ing education and then, being eighteen years 
of age, came on west to Wyoming, deter¬ 
mined to find the fortune that waited for his 
efforts. At once he took up the arduous life 
of the cowboy and followed it steadily, riding 
on all portions of the range. He came in due 
time into the territory of Montana, landing 
here first in 1889. Here, too, he continued in 
the cattle business for various companies and 
rode in all directions. Mr. Badgett knows 
the country from actual experience in riding 
in every portion of the southeastern Montana, 
and finally, in 1898, he decided to go into busi¬ 
ness for himself. He secured the ranch where 
he is now living, near Ashland, a fine property, 
and began improving the same, and com¬ 
menced to raise cattle and horses. He has done 
considerable ranching with his stock business 
and is one of the prosperous men of the county 
and has shown commendable wisdom in his 
work which could but bring success which has 
so abundantly crowned his efforts. He is a 
man who forsees and plans accordingly and is 
blessed with the ability to see that every de¬ 
tail of his plans are carried out and every por¬ 
tion of his business is handled with that scru¬ 
tinizing care that wins the way to success in 
every line. 

In 1896, Mr. Badgett married Miss Carry 
Lower, a native of Missouri and an immigrant 
to Montana with her parents when a small 
girl. Her father was occupied in ranching and 
raising stock. To Mr. and Mrs. Badgett five 
children have been born, Ina Elizabeth, George 
W., Ralph Thomas, Wallace E., and L. S., 
Jr. Mr. Badgett has a fine place, is a man 
of intelligence and always manifests an inter¬ 
est in the affairs of the community and state 
that bespeaks the progressive citizen and loyal 
American. 

On the sixth day of March, 1906, Mr. 


and Mrs. Badgett received a terrible shock as 
their beloved son, Ralph Thomas was drowned 
that day in Otter creek. He was a little past 
five and it was a hard blow to learn the fact 
of his death. 


FRED GEISDORFF, a Montanian by 
birth, the place of his nativity being Park 
county, and the date October 13, 1871, at pres¬ 
ent resides on a fine ranch one mile west of 
Lindley, Carbon county. His father, Francis, 
a native of Germany, came to Yellowstone 
valley as early as 1866. At that period the 
Crow Agency was on Mission creek, near Liv¬ 
ingston, Montana, and he was the physician 
at the post for many years. Later he removed 
on to the ranch sixteen miles above Livingston 
on the Yellowstone river, residing there fif¬ 
teen years. Thence he went to Bozeman, where 
he remained until his death. For a long period 
he was the only physician in the country, be¬ 
ing quite often called forty or fifty miles to 
attend those who were ill. 

With his father our subject removed to 
Bozeman while the latter was a child, and 
here he secured a good business education in 
the public schools of that county. In 1892 he 
came to Carbon county, and located the home¬ 
stead where he now resides. 

In 1894 he was married to Mary Bebee, 
daughter of Horace R. Bebee, born in Catta¬ 
raugus county, New York. Her mother, Or- 
phenia (Wilson) Bebee, was born in Lincoln 
county, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Geisdorff have 
six children: Florence, Francis, Frederick, 
Mattie, Hazel and Annie.. 


GEORGE J. ALLEN has dwelt on his 
pleasant farm about eight miles south from 
Livingston for more than a quarter of a cen¬ 
tury. He has shown in this long residence 






BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


that he is a man of stability, energy and wis¬ 
dom and the substantial exidences in lands 
and other property manifest him a first-class 
financier. His place consists of more than 
thirty-five hundred acres, situated in a beauti¬ 
ful valley and improved in excellent shape. He 
handles some stock but pays much attention 
to the production of the fruits of the field. 

George J. Allen was born in Henry county, 
Missouri, January 19, 1844. His father! 

George Allen, was born near Asheville, North 
Carolina, and removed to Boone county, Mis¬ 
souri, in 1834, and the next year he came on ! 
to Henry county, being one of the first set¬ 
tlers there. He located a farm and gave his 
undivided attention to its cultivation and im¬ 
provement until his death. His father, James 
Allen, the grandfather of our subject, was also 
born in North Carolina and came west to Mis¬ 
souri the same time as his son and there re¬ 
mained until his death. George Allen married 
Miss Esther Mitchell, a native of Washing¬ 
ton county, Tennessee. She was married in 
the east and came west to Missouri with her 
husband. Her maternal grandfather, Samuel 
Doak, D. D., was a noted educator and 
founded Washington College in eastern Ten¬ 
nessee, being its first president. Referring 
more particularly to the immediate subject of 
this article, we note that George J. Allen was 
educated in the common schools of Missouri 
and in 1863 came west with mule teams to 
Colorado. The next year he made his way to 
the famous Alder Gulch and there mined 
for a time. In 1865 we find him at Last 
Chance, where Helena now is, and then in 
Dry Gulch where he secured a claim and mined 
for himself. In the fall of 1865, Mr. Allen, 
in company with others, hauled lumber from 
Helena to Fort Benton, constructed boats and 
made their .way down the river to St. Joseph, 
consuming twenty-eight days in the trip. He 
returned to the old homestead of his father’s 
and there settled down until 1880, when he 
came west to Montana again and purchased 


621 


and homesteaded where we find him at the 
present time. While in the east after his min¬ 
ing venture, Mr. Allen married Miss E. J. 
Fisher, who was born in Howard county, Mis¬ 
souri, and came west with her husband in 1880. 
Her father Jacob Fisher, was born in Augusta 
county, Virginia, and came to Missouri in 1838. 
He married Jane Allen, a native of North 
Carolina. To Mr. and Mrs. Allen, eight chil¬ 
dren have been born, two of whom are living, 
Elbert F., an attorney in Livingston, and Car¬ 
rie E., a student. Mr. Allen is a member of the 
Congregational church, while his wife affil¬ 
iates with the Baptist denomination. 


HENRY J. GREENWAY, who is today 
one of the well known and well-to-do sheep 
men of the great state of Montana, having 
won this position by virtue of his own merit 
and energy, is a man who has faced the world 
alone since the days of early childhood, and 
who has learned by dear experience what it 
is to make one’s way alone in the world and 
to meet single handed the obstacles and re¬ 
buffs that are so numerous in the self-made 
man’s path, and which overcome, as he has 
overcome them, so contribute to the general 
strength of the overcomer and establish, broad 
and deep, the very foundation of the success 
so dear to all, and so usually won by the man 
who travels this path. Descended from good 
old English stock, he was born in Birming¬ 
ham, England, on November 23, 1862. His 
father, Henry Greenway, a talented physician, 
came early from Birmingham, England, to 
Brooklyn, New York, and there followed the 
profession he had chosen. Later he went to 
St. Louis, Missouri, and there continued the 
practice of his profession until his death, in 
1904. He had married Miss Elizabeth Homer, 
also a native of England and now living in 
St. Louis. Our subject received some train¬ 
ing from the common schools of Brooklyn 














622 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


and then, being eleven years of age, started 
cut west to try' his fortune in the wild state 
of Kansas. After attending school a few 
months, he started to Indian Territory and 
was engaged in transferring cattle from the 
south to Montana, and until eight years since 
he continued at that business. He was in¬ 
timately acquainted with all the phases of the 
stock business' both in the south and in these 
more northern climes, .and was an expert in 
handling stock. He was used to the rigorous 
life of the cowboy, both on the round 
up and on the drive, and almost the 
entire portion of what is called the range 
country of the United States, has been tra¬ 
versed by him in various capacities. Having 
been a man who was careful of his money the 
time came when Mr. Green way was justified 
in ceasing in the employ of others and start¬ 
ing in business for himself. His ample and ex¬ 
tended experience had abundantly fitted him 
for this important move and the capital he had 
secured was sufficient to enable him to start 
sheep raising in good shape. He has met with 
the success that always crowns wisdom and 
care in this business and he has many bands 
in different portions of the state. He has a 
ranch about six miles southeast from Miles 
City and another on the Powder river, and his 
stock is centered around these branch places. 
The increase and growth of his business has 
placed him among the prosperous men of the 
county and he has constantly many hands in 
his employ. 

It was a hard task to secure much educa¬ 
tion while on the plains, but Mr. Greenway 
had the faculty of making the most of his time 
and when the intervals between drives were his 
he made it his business to secure all the know¬ 
ledge he could gain and the result is that he is 
well informed and a man posted in the ques¬ 
tions and issues of the day. Mr. Greenway 
has never seen fit to take a partner in the life’s 
journey and so is still amid the charms of 


bachelordom and is, withal, a man esteemed by 
all. 


GEORGE R. SIMINGTON. Born in 
Toronto, Canada, September 13, 1858, the 
subject of this sketch is at present one of the 
prosperous and leading ranchers of the Yel¬ 
lowstone country, residing five miles west of 
Red Lodge, Carbon county. His father, Wil¬ 
liam Simington, was a native of Ireland, com¬ 
ing to Canada while still a young man, and 
there engaging in the lumbering business. In 
1873 he removed to Clay county, Iowa, where 
he followed the avocation of a farmer. He 
passed away three years ago in Carbon county. 
The mother of our subject, Margaret (Mc¬ 
Cauley) Simington, was also a native of Ire¬ 
land, where she married and accompanied her 
husband to Canada. She died in Iowa. 

In the public schools of Canada our subject 
was educated, and he removed to Iowa with 
his parents. In 1883 he came to Montana where 
he for a time worked industriously in Custer 
county. In 1884 he came to Billings, and en¬ 
gaged in freighting for H. Clark & Company. 
•His routes were between Lewiston, Fort Ben¬ 
ton, Buffalo, Wyoming, and other points. From 
Billings he went to Castle, again engaging in 
freighting. In 1891 he returned to Iowa, 
where he passed one winter and then came 
back to Red Lodge. Since then he has re¬ 
mained in this vicinity . He owns a fine ranch 
and is surrounded by all the comforts of life. 

In 1888 he was united in marriage to 
Georgie Tunnecliffe, born in Jackson county, 
Michigan, moving to Montana with her par¬ 
ents in 1885. They settled in Billings. Her 
father, John, was a native of Michigan, and 
his people came there from New York at an 
early day. Seven years ago he passed from 
earth in Montana. Mrs. Simington’s mother 
Mary (Thurston) Tunnecliffe, was bom in 






biographical sketches. 


Michigan. Her father came from England and 
was a pioneer in the state. 

Mr. and Mrs. Simington have two chil¬ 
dren, both residing with their parents, Jesse 
and Bertha, a school girl. 


WILLIAM C. HUNTINGTON, a pros¬ 
perous Yellowstone valley rancher, was born 
at North Platte, Nebraska, June 27, 1876. At 
the present writing he is comfortably located 
on a most eligible farm on Blue creek, seven 
and one-half miles from Billings. 

The parents of our subject were Frank 
and Emily (Wright) Huntington, the father 
a native of Massachusetts; the mother of 
Michigan. Frank Huntington removed to Ne- 
biaska at an early day and became one of the 
pioneers of the state, where he grew to man¬ 
hood, where he married, and followed 
the avocation of a. mechanic. He was called 
from earth in 1893. It was while still a child 
that the mother of our subject removed with 
her parents to Nebraska. 

Until the age of seventeen years William 
C. Huntington remained in Nebraska, and it 
was in this state that he received his educa¬ 
tion in the public schools in his neighborhood. 
Thence he removed to Wyoming where he 
found employment as a cowboy, in which avo¬ 
cation he became most proficient. Nine years 
he remained in Wyoming and in 1897 landed 
in Yellowstone Park, now famous as one of 
the most magnificent national preserves in the 
United States. He worked assiduously one 
season,, thence coming to the city of Billings 
and engaged successfully in the business of 
breaking horses. 

July 3, 1899, our subject was united in 
marriage to Miss Ella Daylong, a native of 
Missouri. It was in this state that she grew 
to womanhood and received her education, 
coming in 1898 to Montana. She is the daugh¬ 
ter of James and Vashti (Hobbs) Daylong, 


623 


the father a native of Virginia; the mother of 


DANIEL C. BEDFORD, one of the en¬ 
terprising ranchmen of the Yellowstone val¬ 
ley. now residing ten miles west of Fishtail 
Carbon county, was born in Clinton county’ 
Iowa, May 4, 1861. His father, Alfred, is a 
native of Ontario, Canada, born near Hamil¬ 
ton, m 1839. When eighteen years of age he 
came across the line to the United States, 
where he pursued the avocation of a farmer 
but is now living a retired life in Iowa The 
mother, Elizabeth (Conrad) Bedford, is a na¬ 
tive of Pennsylvania, born in 1841, and mar¬ 
ried in 1859. She is still living. 

In the common schools of Iowa our sub¬ 
ject received a good business education, after 
which he pursued the occupation of a farmer. 
At the age of twenty-five he entered the em¬ 
ployment of the railroad service, the Chicago 
and Northwestern, in which he remained one 
year. He began working on a ranch in the 
spring of 1887, and six years later, in the 
spring of 1893. be ca’me to the Crow reserva¬ 
tion, and for one season traveled through the 
mountains. The fall of that year he purchased 
his present ranch, where he has since remained 
engaged in farming and blacksmithing. Poli¬ 
tically he is a Republican. 


JOHN DAMM. Among others who have 
materially assisted in opening the country now 
embraced in Custer county, w e would mention 
the name of John Damm, who owns a ranch up 
up the Pumpkin creek, some sixteen miles 
southeast from Miles City. His birth occurred 
m Germany, on February 23, 1844, and his 
parents, Peter and Tressi Damm, were natives 
of the same country and there followed farm¬ 
ing until their death. From the public schools 
of his own land Mr. Damm received his edu- 

















624 


biographical sketches. 


cation and there followed farming until the 
time when he desired to try the world for him¬ 
self, when he decided to come to Michigan. 
In that state he was occupied in the copper 
mines until 1886, when he came farther west, 
selecting his present place as a permanent 
home. He at once commenced the work of im¬ 
provement and building a home and since that 
date he has been raising stock and doing gen¬ 
eral farming, still remaining on the place he 
secured on the first trip into the country. Mr. 
Damm is handling cattle, but raises some 
horses. 

On August 6,1881, Mr. Damm married Miss 
Bertha Bohne, the nuptials occuring in Mich¬ 
igan. Mrs. Damm had come from Germany, 
her native place, to America with her brother 
and was also with her husband when he came 
to Montana. To this marriage were born the 
following named children, John, born in Mich¬ 
igan, in 1882; Christina, born in Michigan, in 
1884, and now at home; Mathew, born in 
Michigan, 1886; and Tresa, born in Montana, 
in 1888. On October 18, 1891, Mrs. Damm 
was called from her home and family to try 
the realities of another world. Her departure 
was an event of deep mourning, as she was 
generally beloved. 

Mr. Damm is a man of industry and has 
followed faithfully the work he has marked 
out and is meeting with a reasonable success. 
In politics, he is a Republican, but is not a 
politician. 


HON. WILLIAM F. MEYER is a native 
of Ripon. Wisconsin, the date of his birth 
being March 3, 1857. His father, George W. 
Meyer, was born in the province of Hanover, 
Germany, and in his native land married Miss 
Bertha M. Wigginhorn, a native of West¬ 
phalia, Germany. The paternal grandfather 
of our subject, William E. Meyer, was a cap¬ 
tain in the German army and served under 
the renowned Blucher, with whose command 


he was present and participated in the battle 
of Waterloo. George W. Meyer came to the 
United States in 1848 and took up his resi¬ 
dence in Wisconsin, devoting his energies to 
agricultural pursuits. In 1901 he made a visit 
to the Fatherland and has ever been one of 
the leading citizens of his present home place 
since the early days of his settlement there. 

Our subject is one of eleven children, seven 
of whom are living. He received his educa¬ 
tion in the public schools before matriculating 
in Ripon college, from which he was gradu¬ 
ated in 1882. He immediately came to Bill¬ 
ings, Montana, and soon went thence to Park 
City and opened a lumber yard, also taking a 
homestead. There he resumed the study of 
law, having previously taken a careful course 
of reading in the same, and was admitted to 
the bar in 1884. In 1889 Mr. Meyer removed 
to Red Lodge, and has since been actively 
engaged in the practice of law, being univers¬ 
ally accorded the position of one of Montana’s 
foremost and most successful lawyers. In 
partnership with Messrs. J. W. Chapman and 
and Paul Breteche, Senator Meyer engaged in 
the banking business in 1895. Mr. Breteche 
died in 1898 and since that time the institu¬ 
tion has been known as the Meyer & Chapman 
banking house, they being the sole proprietors. 
In 1898 Mr. Meyer erected the fine building 
where the business of the bank is now con¬ 
ducted, where also he maintains his offices for 
the practice of his profession. The banking 
house of Meyer & Chapman has recently estab¬ 
lished two branch institutions. One of these 
is located at the new and thriving town of Bel¬ 
fry and is a private concern, doing business 
under the style of Bank of Belfry. J. O. 
Higham is the cashier and is associated with 
Messrs. Meyer & Chapman as proprietors of 
the bank. The other bank is located at Park 
City, and is organized under the state laws as 
the Park City State Bank, with a capital of 
$25,000. Both these branch institutions are 
splendidly equipped with elegant fixtures and 










WILLIAM F. MEYER 






J 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


625 


spacious quarters and enjoy a thriving and 
promising business. Mr. Meyer, owing to his 
recognized ability as a financier, has the hand¬ 
ling of much eastern capital for investment 
and loans in the promising sections of the 
state. 

In i8 95 Mr. Meyer was called by the 
people to represent his district in the state 
legislature, and so well did he maintain the 
interests of his constituency that in 1900 he 
was chosen a member of the upper house. 
While in the house in 1895, Senator Meyer 
introduced the bill creating Carbon county, 
and notwithstanding the spirited fight against 
it, he was enabled to secure its passage and the 
, cour ity was organized, giving to Senator 
Meyer the sobriquet of “Father of Carbon 
County.” As a member of the senate in 
1900-1, Senator Meyer introduced and secured 
the enactment of a bill to prevent the slack of 
coal mines being dumped into streams; a bill 
to ifnpose a tax on live stock brought from 
other states into Montana to graze; a bill re¬ 
quiring the stock association to publish a list 
of all strays. Also he secured the passage of 
a bill allowing briefs to be presented to the 
supreme court in typewritten manuscript as 
well as in longhand writing. This, however, 
was later overruled by the court. Mr. Meyer 
was chosen by his party as the leader of the 
minority on the floor of the senate. 

The marriage of W, F. Meyer and Alice 
C. Adams occurred on July 1, 1884, and they 
have been blessed by the advent of one child, 
William F., Jr., born March 26, 1899. Mrs. 
Meyer was born in Ripon, Wisconsin, the 
daughter of Thomas Adams, a native of the 
north of Ireland, who settled in and was one 
of the leading citizens of Fond du Lac county, 
Wisconsin, until his death. 


MARK T. NEWMAN, one of the promi¬ 
nent and prosperous ranchers of the attractive 
40 


and arable Yellowstone valley, resides four¬ 
teen miles south of Billings, up Blue creek. A 
native Montanian is he, having been born at 
Bozeman, April 2, 1877. Our subject is a 
brother of Edwin Martin Newman, a sketch 
of whom appears in another portion of this 
work, and his parents were Orson N. and 
Elizabeth Matilda (Tripp) Newman, the for¬ 
mer a native of New York; the latter of Can¬ 
ada. The attention of the reader is directed 
to the biography of Mr. Ed. Newman, in which 
will be found a description of the eventful life 
led by the father of our subject, Mark T. New¬ 
man. 

When scarcely a year old Mark T. came 
with his parents to Billings. Here he re¬ 
mained on his father’s farm until he had heached 
the age of sixteen years. Until 1879 he fol¬ 
lowed the exciting avocation of a cowboy, and 
then went to Skagway, Alaska, a mild gold 
excitement having at that early day arisen. 
From Skagway our young pioneer won his way 
to Dawson City by the aid of a dog train,the 
earliest method of transportation over that 
bleak country, which has since been spanned 
by railway. For seven months he remained 
in that arctic region, when he returned to the 
Yellowstone valley, locating on the ranch upon 
which he now resides. Since 1899 he has been 
en §T a ged in the cattle business in which he has 
been uniformly successful. 

March 5, 1903, our subject was united in 
marriage to Elizabeth J, Sheehy, born in Chi¬ 
cago, Illinois, and coming to Montana in 1897. 
She is the daughter of John .C. and Kate (Mur¬ 
phy) Sheehy, the former a native of Cork, 
and the latter of Dublin, Ireland. The father 
came to the United States when a small boy. 
Two children have been bom to Mr. and Mrs. 
Newman, Walter Orson and Anna L. Frater¬ 
nally Mr. Newman is a member of the Knights 
of Pythias. Our subject has five brothers, 
William M., A. D., Edwin M., Charles H. and 
Albert A. He has two sisters, Mrs. W. J. 
Scott and Mrs. H. C. McKinsey. 














I 


626 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


ELIAS FREMAN MaGEE, who is a de¬ 
votee to the king of all trades, the blacksmith’s, 
is a well known citizen of Fridley and is en¬ 
titled to be classed with the pioneers of Mon¬ 
tana, for practically all his life has been spent 
in the state and he arrived here before he was 
able to speak. He was born near Salt Lake 
City, Utah, in 1863. His father, Steven Ma- 
Gee, a native of Vermont, came with his par¬ 
ents to Ohio when a small child. As his par¬ 
ents died while he was still young he was 
bound out and had to early learn the hard side 
of life. From Ohio he came west to Illinois 
and in 1852 started west again, this time for 
California. He was with an ox train. While 
en route he met Mary A. Hall, who was travel¬ 
ing west with friends. She was a native of 
with her parents to America. They settled 
near Council Bluffs, Iowa, and died when she 
was still young. Then with friends she be¬ 
gan the journey to California and when at 
Fort Bridger, she and Mr. MaGee were mar¬ 
ried. As Mr. MaGee was a sawmill man and 
there was an opening for that business in Salt 
Lake, he tarried there, and in fact, remained 
there till 1863, the year he brought his family 
to Alder Gulch, Montana. He at once engaged 
in mining and remained in Madison county 
till 1883, when he removed to Park county 
and took up a ranch on the Yellowstone near 
Fridley, and here he remained till his death 
in 1896. The mother still lives, being with 
the subject of our sketch. When the elder 
MaGee was dwelling in. Utah he had a great 
deal of trouble with the Indians and on one 
occasion they broke out the night his first 
child was born. Later they burned his house 
and all his property. When the family started 
for Alder Gulch, Elias F. was but three weeks 
old and the family of five children caught the 
whooping cough and it was a weary journey. 
At Fort Bridger they remained six weeks un¬ 
der the care of the army physician. Owing to 
the fact that they dwelt on the frontier all the 


time our subject had little opportunity to go 
to school and most of his education was gained 
from his mother’s teaching. When sixteen he 
began to learn the blacksmith trade and has 
followed it ever since. He has a shop and 
some other property and is doing a good busi¬ 
ness. 

In February, 1884, Mr. MaGee married 
Miss Catherine Stockwell, the daughter of Ira 
and Mary (Smith) Stockwell, natives of Ohio 
and Pennsylvania, respectively, and early pion¬ 
eers to Alder Gulch, Montana. Mrs. Magee 
was born in Wisconsin and was seven years of 
age when she came with her parents into Mon¬ 
tana. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Ma¬ 
Gee are May, Eva, and Edna. Also, Mr. Ma¬ 
Gee has one stepson, George Aheron. 

The brothers and sisters of our subject are 
Charles W., and Jennie Huston. The elder 
MaGee was a veteran of the Mexican war. 
Mr. MaGee has spent twelve years hunting and 
trapping and has had some very interesting 
experiences. 


SAMUEL E. CLARK, residing on a well 
improved ranch nine miles west of Fishtail, 
Carbon county, up Rosebud creek, was born in 
Marion county, Indiana, September 10, 1861. 
His father Joseph, also a native of Indiana, 
was born September 16, 1821. He followed 
agriculture as an avocation, and with the break¬ 
ing out of the Civil War he enlisted in the fed¬ 
eral army, and served four years patriotically. 
'He participated in a number of desperate bat¬ 
tles, such as Gettysburg, etc., was never 
wounded, and was mustered out of service 
with the rank of sergeant. Subsequently he 
followed farming until his death, January 4, 
1900. The mother of our subject, Eliza Ann 
(Clark) Clark, was born in Indiana, Septem¬ 
ber 15, 1826. She is still living with her chil¬ 
dren in that state. 

It was a common school education received 







BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


627 


by our subject, and at the age of eighteen, 
1879, he was engaged in freighting between 
Nebraska and the Black Hills. In 1882 he 
came to Montana, but subsequently returned 
to the Black Hills, where he remained four 
years. In 1886 he went to the Crow reserva¬ 
tion, Custer county, where he passed fifteen 
years on a cattle ranch. Thence he removed 
to Carbon county, and here he owns 160 acres 
of excellent land, rearing cattle and horses. 

In 1896, in Custer county, Mr. Clark was 
united in marriage to Maggie Lynch, who had 
come from Ireland with her parents directly 
to Montana, when a young girl. Her father, 
Patrick, came to the United States in 1883, 
and engaged in the cattle business in Custer 
county, where he is still living. Her mother, 
Margaret (Callon) Lynch, died May 26, 1905! 
Mr. and Mrs. Clark have four children, Joseph 
F., Lena D., Ira G., and Minnie. Mrs. Clark 
is a member of the Catholic church. Politically 
Mr. Clark is a Republican. 


JOHN D. COPPEDGE, a progressive and 
enterprising ranchman residing one-half mile 
northeast of Fishtail, Carbon county, was born 
at St. James, Phelps county, Missouri, Octo¬ 
ber 10, 1856. His father, George, a native of 
the same place, was born March 1, 1833. He 
was a miller, merchant and farmer, and also 
bought and sold stock. He died in 1870. The 
mother of our subject, Polly Ann (Davis) 
Coppedge, was born in Marie’s county, Mis¬ 
souri, July 2, 1834. She died January 17, 
1867. She was married October 11, 1853, 
in Gascaonade, now Maries county, Missouri. 
The brothers and sisters of our subject are as 
follows : 

Josephine, died in Missouri when one year 
old; Thomas, born in St. James, Phelps county, 
Missouri, died in i860; Eunice Leora Bell 
born May 8, 1864; James W., born in Phelps 
county, Missouri, coming to Montana in 


June, 1884, where he died March 28 
1896. 

Our subject was educated and followed 
farming in Missouri, coming to Butte, Mon¬ 
tana, in 1884. During nine years he had charge 
of the roaster in the Lexington quartz mill. 
Subsequently he was one and one-half years 
on Trail creek operating a coal mine. Coming 
thence to Carbon county he secured a home¬ 
stead and engaged in farming and stock rais¬ 
ing. He owns 160 acres of land and some fine 
cattle and horses. Politically he is a Democrat. 

On April 7, 1907, occured the marriage 
of Mr. Coppedge and Miss Helen M. Patter¬ 
son. She was born in Illinois, came to Kansas 
City, Missouri, when young and there re¬ 
sided until her marriage. 


JAMES WEST, one of the prominent and 
leading ranchmen of the Yellowstone valley, 
resides on an excellent ranch five miles west 
of Fishtail, up Rosebud creek. He was born 
in August, 1859, in Venango county, Penn¬ 
sylvania. His father, Philander, was a native 
of the Empire State, and by profession an 
architect. He died July 2, 1905. The mother, 
Sydney (Smith) West, a native of Pennsyl¬ 
vania, died in 1876. 

The public and high schools of Pennsyl¬ 
vania afforded our subject the foundation of 
an excellent business education, and this was 
supplemented by a course at a Bryant & Strat¬ 
ton Business college; and lectures at Hughes’ 
Medical College, Keokuk, Iowa. In 1879 he 
went to Leadville, Colorado, and to Cheyenne, 
Wyoming, the following year. One year he 
passed on a cattle ranch, and in 1881 went to 
Bismarck, Dakota, where on horseback he rode 
over Custer’s trail to the Little Missouri River, 
and thence to the Stinkingwater. A blizzard 
drove him back to Cook City, and then he be¬ 
gan prospecting and mining in that vicinity. 
Before there was any settlement to speak of he 
















628 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


rode through the country surrounding Cook 
City, Montana. Subsequently he secured a 
contract with the Northern Pacific Railroad 
Company. In 1901 he secured his present 
homestead and is engaged in stock raising. 

June 1, 1904, in Carbon county, Mr. West 
was united in marriage to Lottie M. Field. 
They have one child, Ida Florence Field, born 
in 1905. 

Politically Mr. West is a Republican, and 
for two years served as deputy sheriff in Cook 
City, Montana, and for the same term was 
constable. Subsequently to completing his con¬ 
tract with the Northern Pacific Railroad Com¬ 
pany, Mr. West secured a contract to put in 
a flume at the Custer battle field, on the Little 
Big Horn river. 


HENRY A. BOHNE, one of the stock- 
men of Custer county, dwells about sixteen 
miles southeast from Miles city, where he owns 
a good quarter section of fertile land. His 
birth occurred in Germany, on April 15, 1842, 
and his father, Captain Bohne, was a mason 
by trade, which he followed in his native land 
until his death. Our subject’s mother is also 
deceased. 

Having studied in the common schools of 
his native place, until he had secured a good 
education, our subject then found employment 
in the mines which business he thoroughly 
mastered, and also did mill work. These oc¬ 
cupations continued to demand his attention 
until he was twenty-seven yetars of age, when 
he determined to try the United States. He 
accordingly sailed to the shores of the New 
World and in due'time came on to Michigan 
where he was but a short time in securing a 
position in the Calumet and Hecla copper 
mines. For about seventeen years he was 
steadily engaged in this work and finally he 
decided that it was best to try his fortune in 
the west. Montana was the place thought to 


be the best and accordingly in 1886 he came 
thither. After due exploration he concluded 
to try stock raising and farming and so secured 
a ranch, the place where he now resides and 
at once gave his attention handling stock, prin¬ 
cipally cattle, but a few horses. This has oc¬ 
cupied him since and he is one of the men who 
have made a success of the business of hand¬ 
ling stock, although he is not so deeply inter¬ 
ested as some of those mammoth companies. 
With his work of raising stock, Mr. Bohne 
has. not forgotten the part of the good citizen 
and is a stanch Republican, taking an interest 
in the elections and the questions of the day. 


W. D. WHITE, a prosperous cattleman 
and a Civil War veteran of distinction, resides 
on Blue creek, six miles south of Billings, 
Yellowstone county. He is a native of Wayne 
county, Illinois, where he was born July 26, 
1843. 

He is a soldier and a son of a soldier, his 
father, William White having been a veteran 
of three wars, the Blackhawk, in a company 
commanded by Abe Lincoln, the Mexican and 
the Civil Wars. William, the father of our 
subject, was a native of Kentucky, removing 
to Illinois at an early day where he settled on 
a farm in Wayne county upon which he re¬ 
mained until his death in 1883. In the Mexi¬ 
can war he was in General Taylor’s division, 
in a company commanded by Captain Camp¬ 
bell. During the Civil War he was second ser¬ 
geant of Company H, Fifty-sixth Illinois In¬ 
fantry. Following the close of the war he re¬ 
turned to his Illinois home remaining there 
until death called him thence. 

The mother of our subject, Temperance 
(Owens) White, was a native of Virginia, 
coming to Illinois with her parents when a 
mere girl, and where she was married. She 
died in 1858. 

W. D. White whose name forms the cap- 






biographical sketches. 


629 


tion of this sketch was accorded a poor chance 
to obtain a liberal education. The schools in 
his day and locality were primitive affairs, 
the schoolhouse in which he received the rudi¬ 
mentary elements of his education having- no 
floor and was devoid of any of the modern 
facilities of the present day. In 1862 he en¬ 
listed in G company, Eighteenth Illinois In¬ 
fantry, under Caption Hooper. He served his 
time out in this regiment, re-enlisting in 1865 
in D company, Eighty-seventh Illinois In¬ 
fantry, and was mustered out in December, 
1866. He participated in nearly all the prin¬ 
cipal battles that accentuated that heroic strug¬ 
gle for the preservation of the union, including 
Fort Donalson, Pittsburg Landing, Fort Phil- 
low, Arkansas Pass, Pea Ridge and the seige 
of Vicksburg. In these engagements he was 
connected with the Eighteenth Infantry, but 
he saw harder service when with Eighty- 
seventh; was assigned more duty such as scout¬ 
ing, and participating in two fights. He 
was also a member of the famous Red River 
expedition. Following the close of the war 
he returned to Illinois, where he resided until 
1 ^ 73 > going then to Butler county, Kansas. 
Here he engaged in farming, but in 1877 he 
removed to Pratt county, same state, and in 
1878 went to Butler county, Missouri, there¬ 
after residing in Missouri and Arkansas until 
1883, when he removed to Garfield county, 
Colorado, ranching in that section for ten 
years. He then came overland to his present 
location in the attractive Yellowstone valley, 
being the first to settle on Blue creek. 

In 1867 our subject was united in mar¬ 
riage to Elizabeth J. Borah, born in Wayne 
county, Illinois. She and her husband had been 
reared in the same vicinity and played together 
as children. The wife’s parents were Samuel 
and Malvina (Bradshaw) Borah. To Mr. and 
Mrs. .White have been bom three children, 
Mary M., wife of A. V. Cardwell; Bert B., and 
Maud, wife of Martin Hogan. 


G. W. WOOD has seen much of the world 
and is one of the sturdy men whose efforts 
have opened the wildernesses of the west to 
the ingress of civilization and have done a noble 
part in this work of blazing the trail to the 
lands where wealth and happiness are the por¬ 
tion of millions of American citizens. He was 
born in Wayne county, Michigan, February 
12, 1838, being the son of R. W. and Phoebe 
(Dunn) Wood. The father was born in Ver¬ 
mont and came west with his parents when 
four years of age and settled in the wilderness 
of Michigan. There he grew up, carved for 
himself a farm out of the woods and tilled it 
till 1852, when he removed his family to the 
prairies of Illinois, where afterward, in 1859, 
he passed from the scenes of earth to the world 
beyond. His wife had preceded him by three 
years. She had been born in New York. Our 
subject spent the early part of his life in the 
woods of Michigan and came with his parents 
to Illinois, where he remained until 1866, 
when he outfitted with ox teams and struck 
out across the plains. He arrived in due time 
the same year in Bannack and went to mining. 
One year was thus occupied and he then began 
to follow the various stampedes to the differ¬ 
ent sections of the country, and so wandered 
over vast portions of the west, leaving the 
miner’s trail in many places that had never 
before seen the white man. In 1868 he passed 
through Emigrant Gulch, and ten years later 
came here to locate permanently. Here he has 
remained most of the time since, and is one of 
the well known citizens of Park county. He 
has travelled all over the Rocky mountains, 
north and south, and is well acquainted with 
the different camps, both of early days and of 
later years. Mr. Wood assisted to organize 
the second branch of the Social Democratic 
party, which is now called the Socialist party. 
He has been chairman of the branch since its 
organization and is well posted on the prin¬ 
ciples of this party. Mr. Wood was one of 









'630 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


the first school trustees in his district and still 
holds the office. He has some property in the 
town and also owns some quartz claims that 
have promise of excellent value. Mr. Wood 
is one of those old timers whose experiences 
are very interesting - and entertaining, and he 
is now enjoying life in the regions that were 
wild and uninhabited when he first came to this 
portion of the northwest, while his efforts are 
well along with those who have made the 
progress and improvements that are now in 
evidence. 


EDWIN MARTIN NEWMAN. Among 
the oldest settlers of this beautiful valley is 
the subject of this autobiographical sketch, a 
prosperous and prominent rancher residing 
two miles south of Billings, Yellowstone 
county. He was born in Newaygo county, 
Michigan, March 31, 1858, the son of Orson 
N. and Elizabeth Matilda (Tripp) Newman, 
the former a native of New York and the lat¬ 
ter of Canada. 

An eventful life was that led by the elder 
Newman, Orson. Among the earliest pioneers 
of Michigan, he removed there with his par¬ 
ents when a child. From Michigan, in 1858, 
he removed to Kansas, settling on the Little 
Blue river. Only about one year he tarried 
in this locality, going thence to Denver, Colo., 
and from there going, in 1863, by ox team to 
the mining town of Bannack, Montana. This, 
however, was not his ultimate destination, as 
he soon went to “Alder Gulch,” (Virginia 
City), where he worked two months, thence 
passing down the Madison river, about twenty 
miles from Virginia City, which place was 
afterwards known as the “Elkhorn Ranch.” 
Here he “farmed” and superintended a “road 
house,” as were the various halting places for 
travelers then known in those early pioneer 
days. Until the latter sixties he remained at 
this point, but thence went to Southern Cali¬ 


fornia by ox team. He passed three winters 
in this state and then went to Salem, Oregon, 
for one winter. One winter he spent in the 
Palouse country, Washington, the winter of 
1873-1874, which was an exceedingly hard 
one. The following spring, together with his 
sons, he worked in building the railroad from 
Wallula to Walla Walla (the Hunt road). 
At the time he had left California he had 
exchanged his oxen for horse teams. It was 
in the fall of 1874 that he returned to Vir¬ 
ginia City, but only for a short period, going 
thence to Bozeman, Mont., in which vicinity 
he remained until 1878. On March 18th of 
that year, he arrived on the Yellowstone, near 
Coulson, now a “deserted village,” having 
been supplanted by the thriving city of Bill¬ 
ings, one and one-half miles distant. During 
all this extensive traveling the father of our 
subject was accompanied by his family, com¬ 
prising a wife and eleven children. This was 
the first settlement on the Yellowstone river 
in that immediate vicinity, and at a period 
when there was no Billings. And it was near 
this locality that the family finally located 
permanently. There were eight boys and 
three girls,'including our subject. The latter, 
in company with his father and a brother, 
took a ranch, upon which the father remained , 
until 1896, when the spirit for further travel 
took possession of him, and he went to Cali¬ 
fornia, where he now resides, having traversed 
the greater portion of the United States. He 
never sought office, and although he was once 
elected a county commissioner, he did not 
serve out the full term. He is a man of ex¬ 
cellent education and comes from a family of 
western pioneers. 

The mother of our subject was married in 
Michigan, remaining with her husband in all 
his peregrinations until her death on August 
18, 1886. Edwin Martin Newman also 

accompanied his father in his various travels 
until the location in the Yellowstone valley, 
in consequence of which he was necessarily 






BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


denied the privilege of educational facilities. 
Despite this, however, he has managed to 
acquire a fair education, which is accompanied 
by sound judgment and business sagacity. 
The first two winters on the Yellowstone, in 
company with his brother Charles, he hunted 
and trapped for hides. Money was a scarce 

article in those pioneer days—so was work_ 

and it was only in this way that they were 
able to obtain the means necessary for the sub¬ 
sistence of the family. 

In 1883, August 1st, our subject married 
Flora A. Ailing, born near Kickapoo, Kansas, 
who had come, when a child, with her parents 
to the Yellowstone valley. She is the daughter 
of Edward and Eliza (Dean) Ailing, both 
natives of Ohio. Her father was born near 
Youngstown, and at an early day removed 
with his family to Kansas. In 1879 the family 
came to the Yellowstone valley and settled 
near Park City, later going to Clark’s Fork, 
Carbon county, where he remained until his 
death. To Mr. and Mrs. Newman have been 
born five children, viz: Cora Edith, now 
teaching in Wyoming; Berton E., Flora B., 
Ethel and Roy. Our subject is a member of 
Lodge No. 953, W. O. W. 


CHARLES BOGGIO. Born at Torino, 
Italy, March 7, 1857, Charles Boggio, the 
subject of our article, at present lives on a 
well-conducted and convenient ranch two miles 
north of Linley, Carbon county. His father, 
Alexander, born at the same place, was a 
farmer. He passed away from earth in Italy 
in 1905. The mother of our subject, Cath- 
rina (Bertot) Boggio, was also a native of 
Italy, and born near the birthplace of her 
husband. 

The education of our subject began in Italy. 
To Carbon county he came in 1890, and here 
he secured a fine homestead, upon which he 
and his growing family now reside. 


631 


In 1881 Mr. Boggio. was married to 
Teresa Castagna, born in the same country 
and locality as her husband. Her mother, 
Anna (Martino) Castagna, was an Italian by 
birth. Mr. and Mrs. Boggio have eight chil¬ 
dren—Alex, Frank, Joseph, Peter, John, An¬ 
nie, Alice and Evangeline. • 


JOHN DROSTE is one of the men who 
have labored to develop the country in the 
valley of Pumpkin creek, in Custer county, 
and his labors have met with reasonable suc¬ 
cess, as he is a man of industry and energy. 
He was bom in Germany, on October 7, 1840, 
the son of Christ and Margarette (Beck¬ 
mann) Droste, both natives of Germany and 
now deceased. After receiving a good educa¬ 
tion in the schools of his native country, our 
subject was occupied in mining and mill work 
until the time of his migration to the United 
States in 1869. His objective point was 
Michigan, and there he sought out the mining 
portion, and was soon occupied in the world- 
renowned Calumet and Hecla mines. For a 
decade he was engaged thus, and in 1879 he 
came west, deciding to view the west for him¬ 
self, of which he had heard many good things. 
He soon decided to cast his lot with Montana, 
and selected a pre-emption on Pumpkin creek 
and began the cultivation of his place and also 
engaged in raising cattle and horses. After 
he had pre-empted, he decided to homestead 
his place, and did so, and now owns a quarter 
section of valuable land. The period of Mr. 
Droste’s residence in Montana entitles him to 
be classed as one of the early pioneers, and he 
certainly has seen the wilds developed and the 
prairies changed to farms and stock ranches. 
In it all he has had his share and his place is 
one that has been wrested by his own hands 
from the wilds of nature, as the others are the 
testimony of the arduous labors of the 
pioneers. 

Mr. Droste has never seen fit to desert the 













632 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


ranks of jolly bachelors for the responsibilities 
of matrimonial life. He is in political belief 
a Democrat, and has given a proper time to 
the political questions, although in no sense of 
the word a politician nor an office seeker. He 
is counted one of the substantial men of the 
valley and has many friends. 


WILLIAM B. NUTTING was born in 
Doniphan county, Kansas, September 3, 1861, 
and comes from an old Massachusetts family, 
prominent on the Atlantic coast since the earli¬ 
est days of colonial settlement. Dr. Lucius 
Nutting, the father of William B., was a 
native of Massachusetts. Being educated in 
that state and at Knox college, Illinois, he 
then studied medicine and graduated from 
Rush Medical college in 1849. His attention 
was given to the practice of medicine in vari¬ 
ous portions of the west, including Illinois, 
Kansas, California and Montana, in the last 
three of which he was also engaged in mining 
and agricultural pursuits. He now resides at 
Bozeman, in this state. On April 24, 1849, 
Dr. Nutting married Miss Elizabeth Allison, 
a native of Washington county, Pennsylvania, 
and the daughter of William Allison. Six 
children were born to this marriage, Mrs, 
Julia Cowan of Springfield, Illinois; Wilder, 
manager of a coffee plantation in Mexico; 
Lucius A., William B., Roy H. and Lillie, 
residing in Montana. Mrs. Nutting died at 
Bozeman, Sunday morning, October 6, 1901, 
aged eighty. 

Referring more particularly to our immed¬ 
iate subject, we find he was educated in Kan¬ 
sas, removed to Dodge City when fifteen, and 
a year later went to Leadville, where he mined 
for five years. In 1881 he came to Montana 
and located on the Yellowstone, where he 
farmed for nine years. At the end of that 
period he sold and removed to the vicinity of 


the Wyoming line, where he embarked in stock 
raising, handling the best lines of sheep, horses 
and cattle, including the famous Shorthorns. 
So well was he prospered that the industry 
grew to large proportions and he organized the 
Bennett Creek Sheep Company in 1886, and 
managed the concern for three years. At this 
time he opened a livery stable in Red Lodge 
in connection with a lumber yard, and con¬ 
ducted them successfully till 1893, when he 
sold out these interests and again took the 
personal management of the Bennett Creek 
Company, having purchased the entire stock 
of that company. Four years he remained in 
this capacity and then sold out entirely and 
repaired to Red Lodge, where he opened a 
real estate office, and since that time has done 
an extensive business here. Mr. Nutting is 
interested in the Bridger Lumber Company, 
and in 1902 was instrumental with others in 
promoting and organizing the Red Lodge 
State Bank, he being installed as its first presi¬ 
dent. April first of that year the bank opened 
its doors for business with a capital of $20,000, 
J. N. Tolman being vice president and L. O. 
Caswell cashier. 

Mr. Nutting has always manifested a lively 
interest in public affairs and politics and in 
1900 was chosen county commissioner and be¬ 
came chairman of the board. Fraternally he 
is connected with the Elks and Woodmen of 
the World. The marriage of Mr. Nutting and 
Miss Eva C. Sellers, a native of Kansas, 
occurred April 9, 1888. Samuel Sellers, the 
father of Mrs. Nutting, removed from Kansas 
to Texas, and in 1880 came to Montana, locat¬ 
ing on the Yellowstone, where he engaged in 
stock raising. Mr. and Mrs. Nutting have one 
son, Roy Allison. 


JAMES K. WHITBECK has resided 
steadily in Montana since 1881. the year of his 
arrival, and for nearly one-fourth of a century 









biographical sketches. 


6 33 


he has continued steadily in the related occu¬ 
pations of ranching and stock raising with 
good success, being counted one of the sub¬ 
stantial men of the section today. His place 
is some fifteen miles southeast from Miles 
City, up Pumpkin creek. He was born in 
Pennsylvania, on the 19th of April, 1842 His 
father, Gilbert Whitbeck, was born in’ New 
York state in 1813, and was a molder by trade. 
He followed this business in Scranton,'Penn¬ 
sylvania, for years, and then quit, owing to 
rheumatism he had contracted in his labors. 
After that he did farming until his death in 
1901, being then eighty-eight years of age. 
He had married Miss Charlotte Moss, a native 
of New York state, where, also, their wedding 
occurred. They went thence to Pennsylvania, 
thence returned to New York and there Mrs! 
Whitbeck died. Our subject was educated in 
the common schools where the family resided 
in his younger days, being much of the time 
in Illinois. When the call came for men to 
defend the flag, he responded and enlisted in 
the Fifty-eighth Illinois, under General Grant, 
and fought through the battles of Fort Don- 
elson, Shiloh, Corinth, and then was trans¬ 
ferred to the detachment under General Smith 
which went up the Red river to aid General 
Banks. This detachment consisted of 10,000 
troops, and when they joined Banks they were 
well worn out and poorly clad, so General 
Banks put them in the rear. However, they 
took part in the battle of Pleasant Hill, and 
after that when they were passing through the 
country, General Banks turned his command 
over to General Stoneman, who in turn trans¬ 
ferred it to General Smith, and while this 
,march was being made Smith’s men foraged. 
Later, when Banks assumed control, he caused 
the arrest of General Smith on this charge, and 
Smith’s reply was that he had 10,000 commis¬ 
sary sergeants in his command, and so the 
matter ended. On their march they returned 
to Yellow Bayou and there burned nine sugar 


houses. Being wounded here by a bullet 
through his thigh, our subject was discharged 
and returned home, and to this day he feels 
the effects of the wound while walking. As 
soon as he was able he re-enlisted, this time 
under General Canby, and fought the last bat¬ 
tle at Spanish Fork, and had they waited two 
days, they would have heard of Lee’s surren¬ 
der. After this they started for Montgomery, 
Alabama, intending to join Sherman, who had 
invested Atlanta. In due time they learned 
of the surrender of the Confederate leader and 
they were stationed at Montgomery, where he 
served his time out, then returned to Illinois 
to take up farm work. Later he removed to 
Iowa and there followed tilling the soil until 
he came to Montana in the fall of 1882, set¬ 
tling on his present ranch, where he has con¬ 
tinuously resided since, engaged in raising 
cattle and horses and doing general farming. 

On December 30, 1866, Mr. Whitbeck 
married Miss Cornelia Hayes, a native of New 
York state, and who came with her parents to 
Illinois in early days. To this union have been 
born the following named children: Peter, 
December 8, 1867, at home; Guy, in 1869, 
married and dwelling on his ranch near Miles 
City; Viola, wife of C. W. Kelly, living in 
Miles City; Dewella, wife of W. A. Shreves, 
living in California; Mary, wife of Edward 
Williams, living at Forsythe; Lottie, wife of 
John Hollister, at Junction, Montana; Ed¬ 
ward, married and living at Beebe, this state, 
engaged in the stock business; Gertrude, de¬ 
ceased; George, employed by the Bow & Ar¬ 
row Cattle Company; John and Zonria, both 
at home. 

Mr. Whitbeck is a Republican and always 
shows a keen interest in the campaigns. He 
has met with reasonable success in his labors 
in life, did well the part of a defender of the 
Stars and Stripes, and has shown himself a 
substantial pioneer, willing to put his shoulder 
to the wheel to open the country and develop it. 













634 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


DANIEL G. O’SHEA came from his 
native place, the county of Cork, Ireland, 
where he was born February 6, 1863, to the 
United States, in 1881, landing in New York 
city. His father, Patrick O’Shea, a native of 
the same county, has there passed his entire 
life. Daniel received educational training 
as opportunity offered, which at the best was 
meagre, as he was born to the excellent for¬ 
tune to make his own way in the world, and his 
subsequent successful life proves how well he 
has accomplished that work. 

He soon made his way to Montana and for 
a time was engaged in prospecting and mining 
and in 1887 located permanently in Carbon 
county. Being identified with the Rocky Fork 
Coal Company, he filled successively the vari¬ 
ous positions from the minor stations to that 
of paymaster and bookkeeper, the latter being 
from 1893 to 1899. His excellent services 
earned him a standing with the company so 
that at the last date he was installed as resi¬ 
dent manager of the entire property of the 
large concern, and since that time his talents 
and time have been engaged to forward the 
interests of the company and the results have 
been gratifying in a very high degree. He 
has installed many improvements for his com¬ 
pany, has erected a number of dwellings, owns 
one of the finest brick blocks in the city, and 
many are the enterprises that show Mr. 
O’Shea to be one of the leading business men 
of this section and deeply interested in the 
welfare of his city, county and state. He is 
president of the Rocky Fork Town & Electric 
Company, was one of the chief promoters of 
the Carbon County Bank, and has many other 
important interests. Mr. O’Shea’s residence, 
located on Hauser avenue, is one of the espe¬ 
cially attractive home places of Red Lodge. 

From the day he landed in this country, 
our subject has always had a true respect for 
the dignity of honest labor and because of this 
he has risen from the ranks of those in humbler 
walks, being pushed forward by reason of real 


worth and energy, and today he has that 
specially valuable quality and talent of wise 
discrimination that enables him not only to 
perceive value in character, but to assist his 
fellows to develop and bring it forth. What 
more worthy labor is given to mankind? Thus 
we find Mr. O’Shea genial, kind and a friend 
to all, while his loyalty to his friends and his 
country have given him a very warm place in 
the hearts of the people of Carbon county. 

Mr. O’Shea takes an active and keen inter¬ 
est in public matters and politics, yet he has 
always refused to allow his name placed in 
nomination. Once, however, during his ab¬ 
sence, his party, the Democratic, nominated 
him for the state senatorship. In 1900 he was 
one of the presidential electors for his party. 

In June, 1901, occurred the marriage of 
Mr. O’Shea and Miss Eleanor Cavanagh.* 
Mrs. O’Shea was born in Ireland, the daughter 
of Edward Cavanagh,. who now resides in 
London, England. 


GRANT MILLIGAN, who is well known 
as the proprietor of the Cottage Hotel in Frid¬ 
ley, is one of the hustling young men of the 
county and has made a very good record as an 
energetic business man. He, like most of the 
inhabitants of Montana, is native of an eastern 
state, Iowa being the one, and Mount Pleasant 
the place of his birth. This event occurred on 
January 8, 1868, and his father, Samuel Milli¬ 
gan, a native of Pennsylvania, came to Iowa 
in early days and settled on a farm covered by 
timber. He cleared 240 acres and there re¬ 
mained until his death. He had married Miss 
Elizabeth Williams, a native of Pennsylvania, 
where she was married. She came west with 
her husband and shared the labors and success 
of his life in the Iowa home. Our subject was 
educated in the schools of Iowa, and when 
nineteen years old left home and came to Liv¬ 
ingston, Montana. He soon found employ- 







biographical sketches. 


635 


ment in a livery barn and later he rode the 
ranges. Soon he rose to the position of fore¬ 
man for D. P. Rankin, a large stock owner, 
and for four years he held that position. In 
the spring of 1893 Mr. Milligan went to rais¬ 
ing cattle for himself and two years later he 
bought a ranch on the Rosebud in Carbon 
county. In 1898 he removed from that prop¬ 
erty and returned to Park county, where he 
engaged in contracting for three years. After 
that he took charge of the hotel where we now 
find him and in connection with the hotel Mr. 
Milligan is conducting a livery barn and en¬ 
joys* a good patronage in both lines of occupa¬ 
tion. 

In the spring of 1893 Mr. Milligan mar¬ 
ried Miss Vertie Fisher, and they have become 
the parents of three children, Ethel, Austa and 
Florence. Mrs. Milligan was born in Free¬ 
port, Illinois, and came with her parents when 
a child to Montana. Her father, A 1 Fisher, 
was a pioneer of the state. Her home in Mon¬ 
tana has always been in the vicinity of Living¬ 
ston. Mr. and Mrs. Fisher are well and favor¬ 
ably known and handle a nice business at 
Fridley. 


SWAN YOUNGSTROM, one of the 
leading ranchers of the county of Carbon-, and 
a popular citizen, bom in Omaha, Nebraska, 
November 7, 1871, at present resides on a fine 
ranch three miles southwest of Linley. His 
father, George, was a native of Sweden, immi¬ 
grating to the United States while a young 
man and locating in Omaha. In this city he 
remained until his death. The mother, Carrie 
(Bowers) Youngstrom, was born in Illinois, 
moving with her people to Nebraska when 
quite a small girl. Here she remained until 
her death. 

In the public schools of Nebraska our sub¬ 
ject laid the foundation of a good business 
education, and March 12, 1891, he came to | 


Red Lodge and for a while worked for wages. 
February 3, 1896, he made the location where 
he now resides, a most eligible point, and since 
then he has purchased another valuable ranch. 

March 23, 1904, Mr. Youngstrom was 
united in marriage to Miss Lucy Clear, a nat¬ 
ive of Johnson county, Missouri, who had 
come to Montana in October, 1903. Her 
father, Thomas Clear, was born in Boone 
county, Missouri, and was one of the earliest 
settlers of the state. He came from Kentucky. 
Her mother, Mary (Adams) Clear, was born 
in Johnson county, Missouri, her father being, 
also, one of the pioneers of the state. 

-» -- 

BEN HOGAN. Fifty years ago, January 
22, 1856, the subject of this sketch was born 
in Norway. He at present resides three and 
one-half miles west of Billings in one of the 
most fertile portions of the Yellowstone valley. 
His parents were Hans and Martha (John¬ 
son) Hogan. The father, a native of Nor¬ 
way, came thence to Minnesota.. This was in 
1880. In that state he purchased a small farm 
which he successfully cultivated until his 
death, which occurred in 1902, October 31st. 
He was born in 1817, and was at the time of 
his decease eighty-five years of age. The 
mother of our subject came to the United 
States with her husband and is at present liv¬ 
ing with her son near Billings, hale and 
hearty at the advanced age of eighty-five 
years. 

It was in Norway that Ben Hogan received 
a good common school education, and, on at¬ 
taining his majority he came across the water 
and located at first in Minnesota. Here he 
remained only about one year and then came 
to Montana, where he secured a homestead, on 
which he now lives, and is numbered among 
the earliest settlers in this locality. Even after 
Mr. Hogan had taken his homestead he found 
it necessary to work for wages, which he did • 


















6 3 6 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


industriously and at last achieved the success 
due to merit and hard labor. At present he 
has a fine ranch of One hundred and sixty acres 
of land, all under a practical system of irriga¬ 
tion and nearly all of this property arable land 
susceptible of the highest state of cultivation. 

December 28, 1903, Mr. Hogan was united 
in marriage to Anna Schubert, a native of 
Germany. At the early age of six years she 
had come to the United States with her par¬ 
ents, who at first settled in Nebraska, and here 
she lived ten years, removing to Sheridan, 
Wyoming, when sixteen years of age, when 
she was united in marriage to the subject of 
our sketch. She is the daughter of Henry and 
Amelia Schubert, both natives of Germany. 
Their union has been blessed with two chil¬ 
dren, Amelia and Benjamin Harrison. Mr. 
and Mrs. Hogan are both devout and con¬ 
sistent members of the Lutheran church. 


FRANK STRIDER. The subject of this 
sketch was born in Allegheny county, Penn¬ 
sylvania, April 5, 1853, and now resides on an 
eligible ranch near Linley, Carbon county, 
Montana. His father, Henry, was a native of 
Germany, locating in the Keystone State when 
a young man, and where he remained until his 
death. The mother, Mary Elizabeth (Greav- 
er) Strider, was of German birth, emigrating 
to the United States with her husband. 

In the public schools of Pennsylvania our 
subject received his earlier education. At the 
age of 23 he enlisted in the army to fight the 
Sioux Indians. He went to St. Louis, and 
from there with five hundred others to Fort 
Lincoln, Dakota, where he was assigned to 
the Seventh Cavalry, regular army. These 
troops marched against the Indians under 
Colonel Sturges. In many of the subsequent 
Indian battles he was a participant. He was 
in the fight in which Chief Joseph and his 
warriors were captured. After he was mus¬ 


tered out of the service he passed two years 
in the Big Horn mountains, thence coming to 
Livingston, Montana. This was in 1883. In 
1895 he came to his present location. 


CHAUNCEY R. WEAVER, residing 
five miles southeast from Miles City on a fine 
farm, is one of the prosperous men of this por¬ 
tion of the state and is to be numbered among 
the builders of Montana inasmuch as he has 
wrought here with display of energy and wis¬ 
dom for about one-quarter of a century. Hjs 
farm consists of one quarter section, mostly 
all under the ditch, well improved and supplied 
with all that a modern dairy and stock ranch 
should have, besides four hundred and eighty 
acres of grazing land utilized for his bands of 
cattle and horses. Withal, Mr. Weaver is a 
man of progressiveness and practicality and 
has displayed qualities of worth in his labors 
here and in winning the success that has at¬ 
tended his career. 

Mr. Weaver is a native of Mercer county, 
Illinois, and August 26, 1859, is the date of 
his birth. His father, George Weaver, was 
born in Ohio, on a farm, but soon moved to 
Illinois. He was engaged in the coal mines, 
being foreman. In 1877, the days of danger 
from Sioux Indians, he came west to the Black 
Hills, Dakota, and spent some time prospect¬ 
ing, after which he took contracts of furnish¬ 
ing wood for the mills. In 1881 we see him 
in Miles City, and here he operated a cpal 
mine. Subsequent to this he went to ranching 
and followed that till the time of his death. 
His widow, Alice (Ross) Weaver, is still liv¬ 
ing in Miles City. 

From the schools of his native state 
Chauncey R. received a good working educa¬ 
tion and there remained, engaged on the farm 
and in the coal mines until 1879, when he came 
to the Black Hills and spent some time with 
his father in prospecting and also hunted buf- 







BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


637 


falo one winter between Miles City and the 
Hills. Then he came on to Miles City, and 
here was engaged in mining coal and retailing 
it in Miles City. It was 1882 that he came 
hither and after some time in the coal work 
he was occupied in operating a dairy, which 
with ranching and handling stock has occu¬ 
pied him since. 


In 1888 Mr. Weaver married Miss Emma 
Henning, a native of Minnesota and an immi¬ 
grant to Montana with her parents in 1879. 
Her father, Fred Henning, was bom in Ger¬ 
many, came to the United States when twenty- 
eight, and after some time spent in Minnesota, 
came to Montana, and here followed farming 
until his death in 1894. 

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Weaver 
are named as follows: Ernest, November 9, 
1888; Fred, November 15, 1889; Elmer B., 
April 1, 1891; Hal, January 21, 1893; Ches¬ 
ter, May 27, 1895; Hobart, January 11, 1897; 
Carter, January 25, 1900; Theodore, January 
13, 1902, and Alice, October 5, 1904. The 
first three named are attending school in Miles 
City, and all the children were born in Mon¬ 
tana. Mr. Weaver is a good Republican and 
is a man of excellent standing. 


SANFRID RENLUND, one of the lead¬ 
ing and prominent Finns of Carbon county, 
residing on a fine ranch two miles west of 
Linley, was bom in Finland, December 14, 
1873 . His father, John, was born at Wasa, 
Finland, and was a farmer. Twenty years ago 
he came to the United States, residing for a 
while in California, thence coming to Mon¬ 
tana. He now has a profitable ranch three 
miles from Red Lodge. The mother died 
when our subject was a small child. 

It was in Finland that our subject received 
his education, and at the age of eighteen he 
came to Red Lodge, where he found employ¬ 
ment as a clerk in a store. Subsequently he 


went into the mercantile business on his own 
account. Five years since he secured a home¬ 
stead, upon which he now lives. 

In 1893 he was married to Amanda 
Taka la, her father being a native of Finland. 
She has one child, Ellen. Our subject is a 
member of the Masonic Lodge at Red Lodge 
and has learned to read and write the English 
language fluently. He is a progressive, broad¬ 
minded and liberal citizen. 


JOHN S. STEWART. Ten years ago 
(written in 1906) the subject of this auto¬ 
biographic sketch came to Montana and settled 
in the attractive valley of the Yellowstone, 
three miles west of Billings. Ontario, Canada, 
is the place of his nativity, where he was born 
February 22, 1872. 

His father, James Stewart, was born in 
Northumberland county, Canada, where he 
followed the vocation of a farmer. The pater¬ 
nal grandfather of our subject. Benjamin 
Stewart, was a native of Ireland, coming to 
Canada when quite a young man. John S. 
Stewart’s mother was Margaret (Steele) 
Stewart, a native of Ontario, where she re¬ 
mained until her death. Her father, John 
Steele, was a native of Scotland; her mother, 
Mary A. (Elmhirst) Steele. 

It was in Canada that John S. Stewart 
received his early education, attending the 
common schools and working on his father’s 
farm, where he remained until 1896. Here 
he at first worked for wages for various part¬ 
ies in the vicinity in which he resided, which 
was Billings. It was in 1900 that Mr. Stewart 
purchased the farm where he now lives. It 
consists of one hundred and sixty acres of 
excellent land, all under a good system of 
irrigation. 

In 1899 °ur subject was married to . 
Frances McDonald, a native of Ontario, Can¬ 
ada. She is the daughter of James and Mary 

















6 3 8 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


Ann McDonald, the latter a native of Ontario, 
but of Irish ancestry. James McDonald is 
still living in Ontario. The marriage of Mr. 
and Mrs. Stewart has been blessed by two 
children, Margaret Ellen and James T. Fra¬ 
ternally Mr. Stewart is an active and highly 
esteemed member of the Society of Yeomen. 
As a reward of his energy and industry Mr. 
Stewart has accumulated around him a fine 
property, which is worked by up-to-date meth¬ 
ods and located in a most eligible portion of 
the state. He has sixty-fiye cattle and holds 
stock in the Billings creamery. 


JOHN KIMES is one of the pathfinders 
of the west and his has been an experience rich 
in all those incidents and labors which combine 
in the pioneer’s life in such an unique manner 
on the plains and the ranges of the west. At 
the present time he is residing on his ranch, 
eleven miles southeast from Miles City, and is 
engaged in the stock business in partnership 
with W. E. Harris, handling cattle mostly. 

Our subject was born in McLean county, 
Illinois, in 1855, the son of Amos and Jane 
(Hunter) Kimes, natives of Pennsylvania and 
Indiana, respectively. The father followed 
canal work in his native state and other por¬ 
tions of the east, being foreman of a crew, but 
finally came west to Ohio, thence to Illinois 
and finally decided to settle down to farming. 
This he followed until his death, a short time 
before the war. The mother was married in her 
native state and came to Montana with the son 
of whom we speak in 1880, and here remained 
until her death in 1903. From the common 
schools of his native state our subject received 
his education and followed farming until he 
came west in 1880. His route was over the 
Union Pacific, and for two years, just at what 
portion of his life, we are not told, Mr. Kimes 
was occupied in hunting buffalo on the plains. 
However, he became an expert Nimrod and 
was a man well acquainted with the frontier 


life. He went first to Helena and thence made 
his way by teams to Miles City, landing here 
on April 1st, 1880. He at once became inter¬ 
ested in the cattle business and began to search 
for an opening. He soon purchased a band of 
cattle and located on the Tongue river, being 
one of the very first in that business here. 
From that time to the present he has been 
steadily handling - stock, and is one of the skill¬ 
ful stockmen of the state. Mr. Kimes has 
ridden the range from Texas to the Yellow¬ 
stone and has, for himself and for others, 
handled 20,000 and more cattle. In addition 
to the stock he has, he owns thirty-four acres 
of land, practically in Miles City, which is very 
valuable. 

In February, 1882, Mr. Kimes married 
Miss Brydia E. Fitzgerald, the wedding occur¬ 
ring near Pontiac, Illinois, in which state she 
was born. In 1904 Mr. Kimes was called on 
to mourn the death of his beloved wife, who 
had trodden the pilgrim way with him for 
many years. She was deeply mourned by all 
who knew her, and leaves, besides her hus¬ 
band, the following named children: George 
H., born in Montana in 1885, and a graduate 
of the commercial department of the Northern 
Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso, Indi¬ 
ana; Edith F., bom in Montana in 1888 and 
now attending college at Notre Dame, Indi¬ 
ana; and Chester J., born in Montana in 1896 
and now attending school in Miles City. The 
eldest child bom to Mr. and Mrs. Kimes, 
Nettie E., is deceased. Mr. Kimes has sought 
and is endeavoring to give each child a first- 
class education and he has great reason to take 
pride in the achievements of his children, who 
are very studious and talented. His eldest son, 
George H., is associated with his father in the 
conduct of the stock and the business and is 
bidding fair to be at no distant day one of 
Montana’s leading citizens. 

In political affairs Mr. Kimes is allied with 
the Republican party, and he is a man who 
manifests a deep interest in all things that are 






BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


639 


for the upbuilding of the country. A residence 
of one-fourth of a century, and more fits him 
to speak of the development of the country, as 
he has seen it all since coming here and has 
aided materially in the good work. 

--- ♦♦ ♦> -- 

EDWIN C. RUSSELL, one of the pro¬ 
gressive and leading ranchmen of the far- 
famed Yellowstone valley, born at Harrison- 
ville, Ohio, February 7, 1862, resides on a fine 
farm four miles west of Tony, Montana. His 
father, Francis C. Russell, a native of New 
Hampshire, was born in 1831, and removed 
to Ohio with his parents while a lad. In the 
Buckeye State he was reared and educated, and 
employed his time farming. With the break¬ 
ing out of the Civil War he enlisted in the 
Thirtieth Ohio Infantry, in which he served 
until the fall of Vicksburg, when he was trans¬ 
ferred to the Fifth Ohio Cavalry. He enlisted 
as a private, but held the rank of captain at 
the time he was transferred. Later he attained 
the rank of major, and was transferred to the 
Thirteenth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. He 
served until the declaration of peace. Follow¬ 
ing this he studied law and was admitted to 
practice in partnership with his brother 
(Daniel A.), in Meigs county, Ohio. He re¬ 
mains still in the practice of law in the same 
place, and has achieved great distinction in his 
profession. He was appointed judge of the 
district court, and later was elected a member 
the state legislature two or three terms. Orig- 
ginally his family came to the United States 
from England in the colonial days, settling in 
Massachusetts. They were quite prominent in 
the colonial wars. 

The mother of our subject, Mary (Martin) 
Russell, was born near Charlestown, Virginia, 
going to Ohio with her parents in the early 
days. Her family came from Ireland. 

The education of our subject was received 
at Middleport, Ohio. He came to the Gallatin j 


\ alley, Montana, in 1881, and in February of 
the succeeding year, to the Yellowstone valley, 
where he rode the range. For six years he 
worked for the Story outfit, and then for an¬ 
other year for the Seven R Company. He was 
m charge of the outfit subsequently. He then 
entered the livery business at Red Lodge, and 
after one year was appointed stock inspector 
for the Yellowstone valley. He came to his 
present location in 1893. I n April, 1903, he 
was appointed forest supervisor, holding that 
responsible position ever since. 

In 1889 our subject was married to Mary 
Murray, born in Melrose, Massachusetts. 
When 12 years of age she came to Montana 
with her parents, Michael and Sabina (Mc- 
Keown) Murray. Mr. and Mrs. Russell have 
seven children, Mary, Lewis, Lelia, Charles, 
Francis, Edna and Theodore. Politically Mr. 
Russell is a staunch Republican. 


JAMES M. BURNETT, one of the lead¬ 
ing ranchers of the Yellowstone valley, located 
on a finely improved farm one mile west of 
Linley, Carbon county, was bom in Ontario, 
Canada. His father, John, a native of the' 
same province, is still living, and is a farmer 
in Ontario. His father came from Ireland. 
The mother of our subject, Margaret (Shaw) 
Burnett, was also a native of Ontario, her 
parents coming from Scotland. 

At the age of 17, 1886, our subject came 
to Fort Benton, Montana, where he worked 
his way over on to the Musselshell, and where 
for about ten years he found employment as a 
cowboy. He was with the Willard Live Stock 
Company five years, and worked for another 
company for about five years longer. In 1895 
he came to Carbon county and settled on land 
upon which he now resides. 

In 1892 our subject was united in marriage 
to Louise Gesdorff, born in Bozeman, Mon¬ 
tana. Her father, Francis Gesdorff, was a 














640 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


pioneer of the Silver State. Mr. and Mrs. 
Burnett have one child, Margaret. Our sub¬ 
ject, fraternally, is a member of the Masonic 
order. In politics he is a Republican. 


CHARLES KOCH of the firm of Koch & 
Company, cement contractors, Billings, was 
born in Cuyahoga Falls, Summit county, Ohio, 
November 28, 1871, the son of Henry and 
Margaret (Bauer) Koch, natives of Germanv. 
The father is a patriotic veteran of the Civil 
War, and resides at Sandusky, Ohio. When 
seven years of age the mother came to the 
United States, dying in 1900, at Butte, 
Montana. 

Our subject was reared principally in 
Cleveland, where he attended the public schools 
and made the best use of the advantages at 
hand. Later for about one year he was on a 
farm and subsequently engaged in the butcher 
business. When sixteen years of age our subj ect 
became desirous of obtaining a knowledge of 
some mechanical trade, and consequently he 
worked at odd spells in many of the Cleveland 
factories. This continued for about a year, he 
then returning to the meat business. Subse¬ 
quently in company with a boy of his own age 
he launched into the poultry business on a 
capital of $65. At the end of the first month 
they had accumulated $500 in the bank. Pros¬ 
perity proved too much and at the end of the 
second month they were out of business. In 
1892 Mr. Koch came to Butte, Montana, still 
following the butcher’s trade, after a few 
months’ prospecting in the mines. In 1893 
he came to Billings. After a short period 
of ranching he moved into town and went into 
the cattle business and general contracting and 
excavating. In partnership with Edward 
Schwartz, in 1903, he began to manufacture 
artificial building stone and various kinds of 
concrete and cement work. In 1905 our sub¬ 
ject purchased the interest of his partner, but 


still conducts ihe business under the old name. 
For the past two years he has had the city 
contract for all street crossings. 

Mr. Koch is a single man at the date of this 
writing. Politically he is quite liberal, but 
not active in campaigns. Fraternally he is a 
member of the Royal Highlanders, Sons of 
Herman, Independent Order of Red Men, and 
Mountaineers. He has one brother, Harry, 
in Cleveland, Ohio, and one sister, Mrs. Ella 
Houlihan, of Billings. He is a prosperous and 
well-to-do citizen and is esteemed by all friends 
and acquaintances. 

Mr. Koch employs at this time forty-five 
men and at times this number -is greatly in¬ 
creased. 


WALTER R. WESTBROOK, born 
in Pennsylvania, July 12, 1868, is a gen¬ 
eral merchant and leading citizen of the 
city of Laurel, Yellowstone county, Mon¬ 
tana. His father, Jacob, also a native 
of the Keystone State, came from an 
old American family, and was a farmer. 
His mother, Angie M. (Dutton) Westbrook, 
was also born in Pennsylvania; her parents in 
Vermont. 

Until the age of 16 our subject was reared 
in Pennsylvania, attending the public schools 
and the State Normal at Mansfield. When 16 
years of age he engaged in the mercantile busi¬ 
ness, opening a clothing store, which enterprise 
he conducted four years. Disposing of this 
business he went to Lockport, New York, 
where he engaged in the same line three years, 
and was then eleven years on the road-as a 
commercial traveler, selling clothing for H. H. 
Cooper & Company, of Utica, New York. He 
then opened a retail clothing store at Char¬ 
lotte, conducted the same two years, disposed 
of the enterprise and came to Laurel in Janu¬ 
ary. 1901. He purchased a lot and erected a 
two-story, 30x80 frame building, and engaged 
in his present business. He carries about $15,- 









WILLIAM W. WOLFF 


JOHN L. MARYOTT 

















641 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


000 worth of stock, and has a large warehouse 
36x110. 

July 12, 1 goo, our subject was married to 
Henrietta B. Messersmith, born in Pennsylva¬ 
nia. The ceremony was solemnized at Niag¬ 
ara Falls. Her father, George, is a native of 
Germany, and resides at Laurel. Her mother 
was born in Burlington, Iowa, and is still liv¬ 
ing. Mr. Westbrook has one brother and one 
sister: Elroy D., of Olean, New York, and 
Mrs. Anna Strait, living at Mansfield, 
Pennsylvania. 

Fraternally he is a member of Ivy lodge, 
No. 397, F. & A. M., Elmora Chapter, No. 
42, R. A. M., St. Omers Commandery, No. 19, 
of Elmira, New York, and the M. W. of A., 
of Laurel. Politically he is a Republican. He 
is president of the Laurel Realty Company and 
is interested in stock raising. At present he 
owns 1,000 acres of land under irrigation. He 
recently sold 640 acres to the Laurel Realty 
Company. He is the president and moving 
spirit as well as organizer of the Laurel State 
Bank. 

Mr. Westbrook recently erected a two- 
story brick on Main street, the first floor of 
which is occupied by the bank. The bank is 
in a thriving condition, has a paid-up capital of 
twenty-five thousand dollars and some of the 
stanchest business men for its managers. 


WILLIAM W. WOLFF, who now dwells 
about eight miles south from Brandenburg, in 
the Tongue river valley, being in the eastern 
portion of Rosebud county, was born in De¬ 
troit, Michigan, August 19, 1856. His fa¬ 
ther, Charles Wolff, was born in Germany and 
came to Michigan when a young man. He-had 
been thoroughly educated and was holding a 
government position as superintendent of 
schools when he decided to come to the United 
States. Resigning this, he journeyed to Michi¬ 


gan and there took up farming. In 1886 he 
removed to Michigan City, Indiana, where he 
resided until his death in 1906. His wife,. 
Mary (Heldrick) Wolff, a native of Germany, 
had died two years before his demise. He was 
a man of powerful intellect, well trained by 
liberal education, and was a leader. 

Our subject was educated first in the 
schools of Detroit, and later went to Michigan 
City where he was engaged in farming. In 
1876 Mr. Wolff determined to try the west 
and so made his way to Bismarck, Dakota, 
whence he went to Black Hills, which was a 
mecca of travel at that time, owing to the dis¬ 
covery of gold there a short time previous. He 
saw an opening in the freighting business and 
soon had a good outfit and was transferring 
all kinds of freight from Bismarck to Dead- 
wood and Crook City. It was a very arduous- 
and hazardous business, owing to the many 
things to contend against. In the first place 
the Dakota blizzards were enough to frighten 
an ordinary person from the undertaking, and 
then, too, the savage Sioux Indians were con¬ 
stantly harrassing the whites and killing when¬ 
ever it was in their power. Despite all this, 
however, Mr. Wolff pushed ahead and did a 
fine business. For four years he continued in 
this business and'finally decided that he had 
sufficient capital to embark in the stock busi 
ness, which had been his primary object in 
coming west. He invested and started in bus¬ 
iness near Bismarck and all went well till one 
season a gorge was formed in the Missouri by 
the outgoing ice and so quickly did this dam 
raise the water that in a few minutes the water 
was sweeping over the corralls and the house 
where Mr. Wolff lived. He had two hired 
hands and they barely escaped by catching an 
extra boat that was at hand and getting be¬ 
hind some large cottonwood trees to shield 
themselves from the crushing ice. The water 
raised to twenty-two feet above the ground 
where his house was situated and every hoof 


41 











642 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


of stock was swept away. Not a vestige of 
anything remained but the clothes they had on 
their backs. All the hard earnings of the 
years gone by were thus rudely taken from Mr. 
Wolff, and he was left penniless. He was not 
a man, however, to sit and cry over the past, 
but being energetic and resourceful, he soon 
cast about to find something to put his hand 
to. He gathered up a herd of mules and 
brought them to Montana and sold to good ad¬ 
vantage and soon had a little working capi¬ 
tal on hand again and located the ranch where 
he now resides, this was in 1881. He took 
up sheep raising and later added cattle and is 
today one of the leading stockmen in this por¬ 
tion of the state. He has had the best of suc¬ 
cess, and owns one of the finest properties on 
the Tongue river, it being as well, one of the 
choicest ranches in eastern Montana. Mr. 
Wolff is a man with the knack of turning his 
hand to any craft that is necessary to forward 
the business in hand, and so needing lumber, 
he bought a small sawmill and cut out all 
the timber and lumber he needed to construct 
all his fine buildings and improvements on the 
ranch and he has the satisfaction of seeing 
his own handiwork in all that is about him. 
His place is well improved and is a stimulus 
to all to build up the country. While all the 
buildings are good, we would especially men¬ 
tion the barn Mr. Wolff has constructed, 
which, without doubt, is as fine, if not the 
finest to be found in this portion of the state. 

Mr. Wolff has one child, Grace, who was 
born on the ranch and is now attending school 
in Miles City. Mr. Wolff’s people are all 
wealthy. His brother Charles, who was with 
him in the Black Hills, established one of the 
first supply depots in that country and had a 
. large freighting outfit. He made money rap¬ 
idly and after becoming very wealthy, he re¬ 
turned to Michigan City, Indiana, and there 
resides now. 

A man who has had so much experience in 


the trackless west as Mr". Wolff has had must 
necessarily have had much danger to pass 
through and many hardships to endure. He 
nas faced the savages and had many a fight 
with them. On one occasion we desire to 
mention, he was overseeing a large band of 
beef steers his brother had near Crook City, 
and it was his custom to ride out, about eight 
miles, to the camp of the herders to see how 
things were progressing, once a week. On 
one occasion, he was accompanied by two 
friends and the herders warned them to be 
careful in their return as Indians were skulk¬ 
ing around and were . hostile. Accordingly 
they remained in the camp until sundown 
when they started on their journey back. 
Their path led them down the famous White- 
wood gulch and as they were progressing along' 
this portion they were suddenly fired upon by 
the savages. The first volley killed one of 
their number, all of their horses, wounded 
our subject in the knee and his surviving com¬ 
panion through the hips. Fortunately they 
escaped being pinned down by the falling 
horses and were enabled to crawl to a clump 
of trees. Although the Indians continued to 
fire upon them they did not receive another 
bullet while they were making for cover. Mr. 
Wolff had a rifle and his companion a six- 
shooter. The rifle, however, became filled 
with snow in the fall and could not be used 
at once. The Indians kept up a bombardment 
and as often as one showed himself in the 
least, the six shooter did duty to bring him 
down. Finally our subject got his rifle into 
trim and the work began in earnest. Several 
of the Indians were killed and finally after a 
couple of hours continuous firing, they gave 
up the battle and carried off their dead. There 
were about fifteen Indians, and it is a mira¬ 
cle that the two wounded men were not massa¬ 
cred. Only their skill and pluck saved them. 
Both were excellent marksmen and this saved 
them. Many other times Mr. Wolff has been 









643 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


in close quarters but he has always escaped 
and his fighting qualities have stood him well 
in hand. 


JOHN L. MARYOTT, one of Carbon 
county’s successful and representative citi¬ 
zens, resides three miles north from Red 
Lodge, where he has a beautiful and profit¬ 
able ranch of more than six hundred acres of 
excellent agricultural land, the major portion 
of which is rendered exceptionally valuable 
for the production of grains and hay grasses 
by first-class irrigation. He has the place well 
improved, both with buildings of all kinds 
necessary and other accessories deemed prac¬ 
ticable for a first-classs agricultural establish¬ 
ment and dairying farm, which latter industry 
occupies considerable of his attention. Mr. 
Maryott is also the grower and breeder of 
much fine stock, as thoroughbred Shorthorns, 
and so forth. All his fine property has. been 
gained since coming to Montana in 1886, 
when he homesteaded a portion of his present 
estate. His wise management of resources 
placed by a beneficent endower of all good and 
his care and painstaking efforts to handle the 
, property as it accumulated are responsible for 
the prosperity that has so plentifully been 
dealt to him here. 

The birth of our subject occurred in Sus¬ 
quehanna county, Pennsylvania, December 14, 
1863, he being the fifth of a family of eight 
children born to his parents, Anson A. and 
Abigail (Lyman) Maryott, whose native 
heath was, also, Susquehanna county. The 
original American ancestors of the Maryott 
family settled in New England in colonial 
days and William Maryott, the grandfather of 
our immediate subject, left Connecticut, his 
native state, and became a pioneer in Susque¬ 
hanna county, Pennsylvania, and there 
founded that branch of the Maryott family, 
whence sprang J. L. Maryott. He was a vet¬ 


eran of the War of 1812, a man of excellent 
and sterling character and passed his days on 
the home farm in his chosen pioneer county. 
The parents of our subject never removed 
from their native county and there lived to 
become worthy veterans among the pilgrims 
on life’s way. 

In the public schools of his native county 
John L. received the beginning of his educa¬ 
tion and then he migrated west to Fremont, 
Nebraska, to join his uncle, Thomas W. Ly¬ 
man, who was engaged in the banking busi¬ 
ness. Being a lad but seventeen, he spent four 
years in Fremont, dividing his time between 
school and the duties in his uncle’s bank. It 
was in 1886, as mentioned above, when he set¬ 
tled in what is now Carbon county and since 
then he has given his undivided attention to 
the industries mentioned, with the gratifica¬ 
tion that success has chained her chariot to 
his goings and he is considered one of the lead¬ 
ing men of the county at this time. 

The marriage of Mr. Maryott and MisS 
Nellie Luce occurred on November 15, 1893, 
and to them have been born three sons, Lucius, 
Thomas, and Abram. Mrs. Maryott is also 
a native of Susquehanna county, being the 
daughter of Abram Luce, a stanch and leading 
farmer of that section. His death occurred in 
his native place October, 1901. Mr. Maryott 
is a Republican politically and fraternally is 
affiliated with the Royal Highlanders, Cluny 
Castle, No. 281, at Red Lodge. 


WILLIAM C. BRECK. The birthplace 
of the subject of this sketch is Silver City, and 
the date May 4, 1875. At present he resides 
on a handsome ranch one mile east of Linley, 
Carbon county, Montana. His father, Francis 
Breck, a native of Newport, New Hampshire, 
was born in 1840, going with his father to 
Rochester, New York. In 1869 he went to 
Suisun City, California, where he engaged in 










I 





644 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


the mercantile business. In 1875 he removed 
to Silver City, Idaho, going by stage 200 miles. 
Later he went to Boise City, Idaho, where he 
secured a ranch on Wood river, and resided 
upon it fourteen years. He died in 1894. He 
had held a number of responsible offices and 
was, politically, a Democrat. He had four 
brothers, viz: William, Samuel Martin, Fred 
George and James. During the Civil War 
William was United States consul to China. 
Francis Breck had five sisters: Margaret, 
wife of H. H. Perkins. Her son, J. Breck 
Perkins, is in the house of representatives 
from Rochester, New York; Martha, wife of 
W. F. Cogswell, of Rochester, a very success¬ 
ful attorney; Mary, (died single); Ellen, un¬ 
married, living in New York; Emma, wife of 
H. Richardson. They have a son who has a 
fine position in the geological service. The 
grandfather of our subject, James Breck, was 
born in Boston, and he married Martha Burr, 
a relative of Aaron Burr. 

The mother of our subject, Mary A. (Tom¬ 
linson) Breck, was born in Derby, Connecti¬ 
cut, January 9, 1833. She was educated at 
Oberlin, Ohio, and left the college on account 
of poor health. On her return home she mar¬ 
ried Mr. Smith Riggs. He was wounded dur¬ 
ing the Civil War, from the effects of which 
he died. In 1869 the mother of our subject 
went to California via the Isthmus, where she 
attended Dr. Breck’s school for girls (St. 
Mary’s of the Pacific). Following three years’ 
attendance she married a cousin of Dr. Breck. 
She came to Montana with her two chillren in 
1895, and settled in Carbon county, where she 
has since resided. Her father, James C., was 
a native of Connecticut, and her paternal 
grandfather was Agnus Cortelyou, of the same 
family as Secretary Cortelyou. 

The education of our subject was received 
mainly from his mother, who was a school 
teacher for many years. With her he came to 
Montana. 

December 17, 1900, he was married to B. 


V< DeBonnaine, born in Clarksville, Mis¬ 
souri, moving to St. Louis when a child. She 
is the daughter of Lafayette and Delia R. 
(Allerd), both natives of Missouri. They 
have one child, Naomi F., born May 19, 1902. 


RILEY TYLER. Probably no other man 
in the state of Montana knows the west so 
well as those who followed riding the range 
for considerable periods in the early days. 
And it is with sighs of regret, in a measure, 
that these experienced in that wild, free, furi¬ 
ous life on the frontier, see, year by year, the 
ranges curtailed and the transformation of the 
broad stretches of open country, as by a vision, 
into farms and towns with the screaming 
engines rushing in all directions. Surely the 
metamorphosis is progressing and soon only 
in song and literature will live those wonderful 
days of real cowboy life, a distinctive phase 
of human existence and human enterprise, 
known only to the west of the United States 
of America. The cowboy life is more familiar, 
perhaps to a Montanian than to anyone else, as 
it reached there at such an early date and has 
clung so long. But to have been a participant 
in that unique existence, so gloriously inspir¬ 
ing that danger was scorned, fatigue forgot¬ 
ten, and the most trying hardships passed over 
as immaterials, is as if one had tasted of life 
on another planet. Glorious days when the 
free rein was not hampered by fence from 
Texas to British Columbia! Seventeen years 
of this life was the allotment of the gentleman 
of whom we would now write. Commencing 
in Colorado, and Texas, he has ridden clear to 
the north of Montana and is familiar with the 
country as only such a rider could be. Now, 
Mr. Tyler is dwelling some five miles south¬ 
east from Miles City on a quarter section 
which is largely under the ditch, besides which 
he has three-fourths of a section for grazing 
purposes, and with these holdings he is giving 







BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


645 


his time and attention to raising stock and 
general farming. 

At Holden, Missouri, on October 25, 1859, 
our subject first saw the light, and there he 
was reared, educated and wrought with his 
father on the farm until about 1879, when he 
was led by an adventurous spirit to try the 
scenes of the west. Colorado was the objective 
point, and soon he had selected the life he de¬ 
sired, namely the saddle on the range. Then 
came the long years of riding until 1896, when 
he retired from that arduous calling to settle 
down in life and build a home. Selecting the 
place we have mentioned, he has turned the 
same energy and activity into building a good 
place as he manifested in his labors of the 
years of activity on the various ranges. He is 
succeeding and is counted one of the sub¬ 
stantial men of Custer county, and has done 
much to assist in her progress and upbuilding. 

Riley Tyler came from a good, strong 
American family, who saw much frontier life. 
His father, Jacob Tyler, was born in Tennes¬ 
see, in 1832, arid came with his parents to 
Missouri when a small boy and they settled 
far out in the wilds in those days, when they 
were forty miles from a postoffice. An occa¬ 
sional log cabin, with its occupant or occu¬ 
pants, was to be found once in a while, but 
the country was practically unsettled. When 
the terrible war came on, Jacob Tyler promptly 
enlisted to keep down the ravages of the bush¬ 
whackers and for four years was occupied in 
that most trying and dangerous of all warfare, 
and so well did he distinguish himself that he 
was made captain of the scouts. As soon as 
the bloody strife was over he turned his at¬ 
tention to farming. Later he removed to Kan¬ 
sas and one year after that he died in Kansas. 
He had married Caroline Cox, who had come 
with her parents when a girl up the Missis¬ 
sippi and Missouri to central Missouri, where 
they carved out a home in the wilds. She is 
still living with a son in Nevada, Missouri. 


On August 1, 1896, Mr. Tyler married 
Miss Annie Hennings, born in Minnesota, Sep¬ 
tember 19, 1872. She came with her parents 
thence to Montana in 1879, traveling from 
Bismarck to Miles City by steamer. Her fa¬ 
ther, Fred Hennings, was born in Germany, 
followed merchandising and then went to rais¬ 
ing stock in Montana, which he continued till 
his death in 1893. Mr. an d Mrs. Tyler are 
capable and genial people and have many 
friends. They have three children; Andruss 
J., born July 21, 1899; Nellie M. born June 
23, 1901; and Walter E., May 11, 1905. Mr. 
Tyler is a good stanch Republican and a man 
well informed and progressive. 


CHARLES E. HATCH is one of the 
prosperous residents of Custer county, his home 
place being about two and one-half miles south¬ 
east from Miles City. His birth occurred in 
Ottumwa, Iowa, March- 5, 1872. George 

Hatch, his father, was bom in England and 
came to the United States with his parents 
when a small lad. They settled in Cincinnati, 
Ohio, and there he grew to man’s estate. After 
that he came to Centerville, Iowa, and fol¬ 
lowed farming until later he removed to Ot¬ 
tumwa where he remained until his death, 
in 1892. He married Mary Betterton, 
born in Pennsylvania, August 17, 1827, 
who came with her parents to Iowa when 
a girl. Her death occured in Iowa in 
1894. From the public schools of Ottum¬ 
wa, our subject received his education 
and was with his father until grown to young 
manhood. Then he determined to try the west 
and soon we find him in Montana, searching 
for a good location. He finally decided that 
his present place was suitable for stock raising 
and farming, the related occupations he had 
decided to embark in, and so we see his efforts 
at once began the work of making a home and 














I 


646 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


starting into business. From, that time till the 
present he has continued in this work and is 
doing well in his labors. 

Seeing that he needed a helpmeet, Mr. 
Hatch sought for the right lady and found her 
in the person of Miss Maude Keenan, a native 
of Montana, and a very charming and intelli¬ 
gent lady. Mrs. Hatch takes great pride in her 
native state, and she well may, for Montana 
is the great state of resources and wealth, as 
varied and rich as an empire, and only waiting 
for the diligent hand of wise industry to show 
forth her greatness to a world. Mrs. Hatch’s 
father, Mike Keenan, was born in Pennsyl¬ 
vania, came thence to Kansas, and later settled 
in Montana, and for years was wheelwright at 
Fort Custer for the government. He and his 
wife are now dwelling in California.. Mrs. 
Keenan was in maiden life Miss Mary Hamil¬ 
ton. She was born in Pennsylvania, came to 
Kansas and there married Mr. Keenan. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Hatch have been born 
three children, namely, Harry, in 1902; Mary, 
in 1903, and Charles in 1905. Mr. and Mrs. 
Hatch are attendants at the Methodist church 
and are highly esteemed people. Politically he 
is a Republican and he takes an interest in all 
the questions of the day. 


MAURICE S. WENTWORTH, who is 
now one of the prosperous land owners of Car¬ 
bon county, comes from good old New Eng¬ 
land stock and was reared on the farm in 
Maine. His birth occurred in Waldo county, 
Maine, December 29, 1864 and there he was 
educated and remained until man’s estate. His 
father, John D. Wentworth, was born Novem¬ 
ber 19, 1817, in Conway, New Hampshire and 
moved over to Maine in early life. He fol¬ 
lowed farming and logging and died Decem¬ 
ber 22, 1868. He had married Mehetable Gur¬ 
ney, who was born in Maine, November 7, 
1823. She came from a good New England 


family and died on June 5, 1905, at Worces¬ 
ter, Massachusetts, whither she had moved a 
few years previous to that date. Our subject 
is the youngest of fourteen children, and aside 
from his brother, Manus L., who is in Red 
Lodge, the rest of the family are in the east. 
The common schools furnished the educational 
training of our subject and he followed farm 
work until he was eighteen, when he decided 
to try the boundless west, and as Leadville was 
then attracting attention, he went thither and 
spent four months. As his health was poor 
he returned to Maine expecting to settle there, 
but after a few years on the farm he was 
satisfied to try the west again. This time he 
came to Judith Gap, Meagher county, and 
there ranched for two years. After that he 
came to his present ranch and took a home¬ 
stead. It is easy to say a man is a pioneer, to 
talk about the hardships of those days, but 
but it is altogether another thing to face the 
problem itself. As Mr. Wentworth came to 
the bare quarter, without means, and with a 
family on his hands, he faced a problem that 
meant much toil and self-denial. But his en¬ 
ergy and pluck were equal to the occasion and 
he and his faithful wife took up the burdens 
with a resolution before which everything had 
to give way and they are now masters of the 
situation. Remember that the land has to be 
put in shape before a morsel of food can be 
raised, the crop must be watered, and fenced, 
the family must have shelter and only one pair 
of hands to do it and then, add to that, the 
hard work of getting sustenance while this is 
being done, and one gets some glimpse of the 
situation. Every rod of cultivated soil, every 
post in the fence, every piece in all the build¬ 
ings, and every foot of ditch, had to be ac¬ 
complished by labor, steady and hard. Soon 
prosperity came to perch on Mr. Wentworth’s 
banner, and he soon had means to purchase 
another quarter and he has a large tract under 
the ditch, has diversified crops, good improve¬ 
ments and plenty for the luxuries of life as 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


647 


well as the essentials. His stock is all well-bred 
and excellent, while everything about shows an 
air of thrift and prosperity. 

On June 7, 1883, Mr. Wentworth married 
Miss Minnie E. Sheldon, who was born Feb¬ 
ruary 17, 1866, in the same place as her hus¬ 
band. Her parents, James and Relief M. 
(Sawyer) Sheldon, were bom in Maine. The 
father died there long since but the mother 
resides there now, aged seventy-four. Mrs. 
Wentworth is the youngest of six children and 
has one brother, Charles R., at Skidgate, Queen 
Charlotte Island, British Columbia. To Mr. 
and Mrs. Wentworth the following named 
children have befen born: Elvira, born March 
30, 1884; Guy L., born June 27, 1886, and 
died October 11, 1886; Milo H., born January 
23, 1888, and died August 26, 1901. 

Mr. Wentworth is a Republican but is not 
especially active in political matters. In faith 
the family are identified with Christian Science. 


GEORGE H. CAHOO, at the present 
time in the service of the United States gov¬ 
ernment as wheelwright at Fort Keogh, has 
had much to do in the history making events, 
not only of Montana, but of various other 
places of the northwest, as well. Much of his 
career has been in connection with the military 
and he is intimately acquainted with both reg¬ 
ular service in the Civil War and the Indian 
fighting for twenty years thereafter. 

George H. Cahoo was born in Toledo, 
Ohio, on July 23, 1844, the son of Mike and 
Rose A. (Ferrel) Cahoo, natives of Ireland 
and emigrants to America when children. The 
father came with his father and settled in Ver¬ 
mont, whence, in 1836, he removed to Ohio. 
The mother settled in Paterson, New Jersey, 
when she came with her people to the United 
States. At his old home in Ohio, the father 
died in the fall of i860. In Toledo, our sub¬ 
ject received his early education and from 


school life he went direct to the front to fight 
for his country, enlisted in Company H, Fifty- 
second Ohio Volunteers, on July 30, 1862. He 
participated in all the hardship and service that 
his regiment saw through the entire war and in 
1866, re-enlisted in the Thirty-first Infantry, 
regular, and served in that capacity until 1869. 
Then he enlisted again in the Fifth Infantry, 
regular, and in this relation served ten years 
steadily. In all of this work he was fighting 
Indians, and most of the time was under Gen¬ 
eral Miles. He was in all the leading Indian 
campaigns of this time and became an expert 
Indian fighter. In 1876 he came with his com¬ 
mand to Montana and was a participant in all 
the Indian wars here. Finally, in 1879, he ac- 
cepted his honorable discharge and immedi¬ 
ately went to work for the government in the 
capacity of wheelwright as mentioned above. 
He has been established at Fort Keogh and is 
well known and highly esteemed. 

In 1884, Mr. Cahoo married Mary C. 
Burnett. 


ALEXANDER S. GASS. A cursory 
glance at the career of Mr. Gass will convince 
any one of his energy and progressiveness, as 
his activity is so marked and his success so 
dependent on his own efforts that it is com¬ 
mendable in a high degree. Dwelling now on 
a model farm on Willow creek, five miles 
northwest from Roberts postoffice, he is es¬ 
teemed one of Carbon county’s best citizens 
and certain it is that his example of thrift and 
up-to-date way of conducting everything is 
worthy of emulation. 

In detailing his career we note that his birth 
occured in Mexico, Missouri, May 11, 1863. 
His father, Samuel B., a Kentuckian by birth, 
died in September, 1873, aged fifty-four years. 
He was a tiller of the soil in old Missouri, 
having come thither with his father, the grand¬ 
father of our subject, in 1821 the family comes 









BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


-648 


from Virginia colonial stock. The mother of 
our subject was Mary Pearson in maiden life 
and she sprang from North Carolina stock, 
and died when Alexander S. was six years of 
age. Mr. Gass is the youngest of ten children 
and the only one of the family to live in the 
west. He was thrown on his own resources 
in very young days and his education was se¬ 
cured not only from school, which he had little 
opportunity to attend, but from hard experi¬ 
ence in the work-a-day world, and from his 
persistent reading and study when opportun¬ 
ity presented itself. He followed farm work 
until 1878, then came to Bismarck, Dakota, 
and spent one winter. In the spring of 1879, 
he came to Glendive, Montana, and worked 
on the construction of the Northern Pacific. 
The following winter he cut and hauled wood 
for the government fort and after that followed 
teaming, railroading, and had charge of 
the commissary of the construction department 
of the railroad till 1882. At that date he found 
himself in Livingston and then went to work 
for a horse ranch. Mr. Gass remarks that he 
remembers Billings when it was a handful of 
saloons, a store, and a blacksmith shop and 
was known as Coulson. After a year on the 
ranch he spent a year in the store of H. Clark 
& Co., the principal contractor on the North¬ 
ern Pacific and also for them freighted goods 
to the surrounding country within a radius of 
one hundred and fifty miles. Subsequent to 
this occupation he took up the work of the cow¬ 
boy and followed it incessantly for five years, 
riding over all parts of Carbon, Sweet Grass, 
Park, Yellowstone and Rosebud counties, many 
times. He rode many times over the ranch 
where he now resides when it was a part of the 
Indian reservation. In 1889, Mr. Gass com¬ 
menced work in the Billings freight office and 
two years later went in the same capacity to 
the Miles City office. In 1892, he went to 
braking and in 1894 quit the road. His next 
venture was a dray business in Billings and af¬ 
ter six months of success in that he opened a 


livery barn and conducted it two years. The 
following year he was in partnership with state 
Senator C. O. Gruwell in a livery barn where 
the Stapleton block now stands. In 1898 he 
sold his entire stock and received the appoint¬ 
ment of road supervisor for district number 
two, in which capacity he served with credit 
to himself and benefit to the country for seven 
years. This ended in October, 1905, and the 
previous August he had purchased his present 
ranch which he is taking great pains to make 
a first-class place in every respect. He also 
has a house and two lots in Billings. His farm 
has one hundred acres in crops, a fine orchard 
and a beautiful dwelling. 

On May 7, 1896, Mr. Gass married Miss 
Alice Kelly, a native of Ainsley, Nebraska. 
Her father is dead but her mother lives in the 
home place in Nebraska. Mr. Gass is a charter 
member of the K. P., No. 28, in Billings and 
also belongs to the Royal Highlanders. Politi¬ 
cally, he is a Democrat of the Jeffersonian type. 
Mr. and Mrs. Gass are well read, intelligent 
and up-to-date people, have their home sup¬ 
plied with the best literature and owing to 
their geniality, kindness and uprightness have 
hosts of friends from every quarter. 


GUNDER OSTRUM is to be numbered 
with the industrious and progressive agricul¬ 
turists who are bringing great portions of the 
great state of Montana to blossom as the rose 
and be as productive as the best land in the 
west. His place lies on Red Lodge creek, 
some twelve miles east from Absarokee and 
he has one hundred and sixty acres of deeded 
land and as much more as his homestead. 
He came onto the property without any im¬ 
provements and has shown in the years here 
what can be done toward the improvement and 
subjugation of the wild prairie sod. Our sub¬ 
ject was born in Stavanger, Norway, Feb¬ 
ruary 13, 1872, the son of Ole and Ingobar 






BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


649 


(Hereim) Ostrum, both natives of Norway, 
the former dying when forty-five and the lat¬ 
ter now living on the old home place aged 
sixty-five. Gunder was the second of four chil¬ 
dren and his brother, Jacob, is with him, while 
another brother, Christ, is on Butcher creek. 
From the common schools of his native land 
he gained his education and when sixteen he 
began the duties of life for himself. He took 
a man s part in all work on the farm, the rail¬ 
road, and in the mines, and in 1893 came from 
Norway to Castle, Montana. Here he herded 
sheep for two years, not losing an hour, and 
then purchased a band of sheep, running them 
on to the Musselshell for three years. This 
resulted in a nice little accumulation for him 
in finances and then he returned to Norway to 
make a visit and to claim his bride, who had 
been waiting for him. Eight joyous months 
were thus spent in the trip and then in com¬ 
pany with his young wife he came back to 
Montana, landing at Absarokee, where he 
bought a bunch of cattle, taking them the first 
winter to Fishtail creek. The next spring he 
purchased his present place and here he has 
been since. 

The marriage of Mr. Ostrum and Miss 
Carrie Luming occurred in June, 1901 and her 
parents are still living in Norway. The chil¬ 
dren born to this couple are Oscar, on January 
31, 1903, Ingabor, October 15, 1904, and.the 
baby, yet unnamed, on March 5, 1906. Mr. 
Ostrum is a Republican and is affiliated with 
the Lutheran church. 


WILLIAM B. JOHNSTON, who assisted 
in building Miles City in its inception and later 
as well, and who is one of the pioneers of 
southeastern Montana, resides about four miles 
east from Miles City and owns there one of the 
choice ranches of the county. He took it as 
a homestead, raw and unimproved in any 
shape, and has transformed it to be a beautiful 


and valuable place. As Mr. Johnston is a 
skilled carpenter, he has put his knowledge to 
good account and has erected on the farm ex¬ 
cellent buildings of all kinds and in abundance 
and his dwelling is one of the finest in this 
part of the country. 

At Dunbar, Scotland, in the vicinity of 
Edinburgh, William B. Johnston was born, 
the date being April 6, 1849. His father, 
George Johnston was born in the same place 
and he married Isabel Birrie, also a native born 
Scotch lady. During his life time the father 
was foreman on the well known Lochand es¬ 
tate near Edinburgh. Our subject was educa¬ 
ted and reared in his native place and while 
young fully mastered the carpenter trade. In 
1870, he started out for himself and soon made 
his way to England where he wrought in the 
ship yards for a time. Then he went to Chi¬ 
cago immediately after the great fire and as¬ 
sisted to rebuild that stricken city. In 1874, 
we find him in San Francisco, where he fol-' 
lowed his trade for a short time, after which 
he engaged in mining. At Marysville and 
other points he delved for the golden sands 
for two years, with what success we are not 
told, and then he joined the stampede to Wood 
river, Idaho, in 1880. A short time there satis¬ 
fied him it was not the place and he went on to 
Kinnikinick, Idaho, then to Beaver county, 
Montana, where he spent the winter of 1880-1. 
It was in 1881 that Mr. Johnston came to 
Miles City and he soon was engaged in build¬ 
ing the city and since that time he has contin¬ 
ued here. The next year, 1882, he took the 
homestead we have mentioned and since that 
time he has divided his time between caring 
for and improving his farm and doing building 
in Miles City and elsewhere. In all his labors 
our subject has been prosperous and his prop¬ 
erty at this time is valuable and a good divi¬ 
dend payer. 

In 1892, Mr. Johnston married Mary Holt, 
of Leavenworth. Kansas. 









<350 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


. J. R. WEAVER, one of the well known 
and popular business men of Red Lodge, is also 
one of the pioneers of Montana, as he came 
in with a band of horses in 1881. Those were 
the days of buffalo and Indians and Mr. 
Weaver remarks of those days, “Buffalo hunt¬ 
ing and fighting Indians was the regular 
thing.” Mr. Weaver located with his horses 
on Heart mountain and there he has continued 
to hold headquarters for his stock business 
since. .In 1888 he came to Red Lodge and 
opened a livery and feed stable and since that 
time he ' has continued steadily in the same 
business and his barn is one of the finest in 
the state. In equipment of every kind as well 
as in stock, Mr. Weaver always selects the 
best and the care and pains taken for the com¬ 
fort and safety of his patrons have made him 
justly popular as a man and especially in his 
business relations. His barn is one of the 
landmarks of Red Lodge and there is hardly 
a resident of the county who does not know 
Mr. Weaver. 

The birth of our subject occurred February 
28, i860, on the home farm in Missouri Bot¬ 
tom, Douglas county, Oregon, whither his par¬ 
ents had come in 1850. He is one of a family 
of twelve, ten boys and two girls. The parents, 
Hans and Harriet Weaver, crossed the plains 
from Ohio to Douglas county, Oregon, with 
ox teams in 1850. The father was born in 1812 
and the mother in 1818 and they did a noble 
part in the great work of opening and develop¬ 
ing the west. In 1880, our subject left home 
and came to eastern Oregon, where he lived a 
comboy’s life till the next year, when he jour¬ 
neyed to Montana with a band of horses as 
mentioned before. 

Mr. Weaver was united in marriage to 
Lottie Strobe, at Red Lodge, July 5, 1896, 
and they have become the parents of three boys 
Allen, aged ten, Stanford, aged seven, and 
John, four years old. Republicanism has al¬ 
ways claimed Mr. Weaver and he takes a keen 
interest in matters of state and nation. He is 


a prominent lodge man being affiliated with 
the Masons, the Odd Fellows and the Eagles. 


HON. FRANK HENRY, judge in the 
Sixth Judicial District Court, in the state of 
Montana, has the excellent distinction of hav¬ 
ing served on the bench continuously longer 
than any other judge in the state. Much of 
the time he has been elected without opposi¬ 
tion so thoroughly has he won the confidence 
of the people. All will be pleased to see a re¬ 
view of his life in this history and we append 
the same with pleasure. 

Judge Henry was born in Dayton, Ohio, 
November 15, 1855, being the son of James 
M. and Elizabeth Henry, whose ancestors 
were originally from Virginia. The father was 
a minister in the Christian church in Dayton 
and held one pulpit sixteen years in that city. 
He died at Chillicothe, Missouri, in 1882 and 
his wife had preceded him from the same city 
in 1880. Frank received a common school 
education and was admitted to the bar in Chil¬ 
licothe, in 1877. The next year he was attor¬ 
ney for that city and there practiced his pro¬ 
fession till 1883 when he came west to Mon¬ 
tana, locating at Livingston in October of the 
same year. He was elected attorney of Galla¬ 
tin county, which then included Park county, 
in 1886 and removed to Bozeman in January, 

1887. He resigned the position in August, 

1888, and returned to Livingston. He was ap¬ 
pointed city attorney upon the organization of 
Livingston .and was elected judge, Sixth Judi¬ 
cial District, October 1, 1889, his name appear¬ 
ing on the Republican ticket. The district then 
included Gallatin, Meagher, and Park counties. 
He was re-elected in 1892 and 1896 without 
any opposition. In 1892 the district consisted 
of Meagher and Park counties. In 1896, Car¬ 
bon, Park, and Sweet Grass constituted the dis¬ 
trict. In 1900 Judge Henry defeated W. H. 
Poorman and in 1904 he was again elected 







BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. ’ 651 


without opposition. His present term expires 
in 1908. Since March 1, 1907, the district is 
composed of Park and Sweet Grass counties. 

It is evident to all that such a magnificent 
record as this is positive proof in what estima¬ 
tion Judge Henry is held by the people of the 
Sixth Judicial District. 

In Davis county, Missouri, in 1881, Judge 
Henry was united in marriage to Julia E. Bal¬ 
linger and they have one son, Merrill, who is 
married and dwelling on a farm in the Shields 
river valley, Park county. 


MADISON M. BLACK was born Jan¬ 
uary 1, 1855, in Laurel county, Kentucky, the 
son of Leander M. and Mary A. (McHargue) 
Black. Mrs. Black was bom in Laurel county, 
Kentucky, and died at Bozeman, Montana, No¬ 
vember 3, 1895. She was married to L. M. 
Black at the old Kentucky home, April 13, 
1854. Her father, William McHargue, mar¬ 
ried Sarah McBroom and moved from North 
Carolina to Kentucky in 1805. Mrs. Black’s 
grandfather was born August 5, 1845, an d 
died August 7, 1876, and his father came from 
Ireland to the new world shortly after the May¬ 
flower. He settled first in Pennsylvania and 
went thence to North Carolina. The paternal 
ancestors of our subject came from English 
and Scotch stocl*' and were among the first 
colonists to settle in what is now South Caro¬ 
lina, whence they went west to Kentucky, Mis¬ 
souri, Colorado and Montana. L. M. Black 
secured the contract from the government for 
the supplies of the Army of the Platte during 
the Civil War and in 1859 went to Denver 
leaving his family on the old plantation. They 
heard nothing from him until 1864, when he 
returned. In 1867 L. M. Black came on to 
Montana and did freighting and a mercantile 
business. Also he secured the contracts to 
furnish the Crow Indians with provisions and 
other supplies, treated with the Indians 


through authority from the Secretary of the 
Interior and built the first agency. After that 
he established several trading posts and did a 
very large business and became one of the lead¬ 
ing citizens of Montana. His death occurred 
July 18, 1881. 

Referring more particularly to the immed¬ 
iate subject of this sketch, M. M. Black, we 
note that he received a good education, study¬ 
ing at Paul’s College, Palmyra, Missouri, and 
came to Montana in 1871. He returned to 
Lexington, Kentucky, and finished his educa¬ 
tion at the Kentucky University there. In 1873 
he again came to Montana. He became book¬ 
keeper and assistant cashier of the First Na¬ 
tional Bank of Bozeman, an institution his fa¬ 
ther had established, later published the Boze¬ 
man Times, organized the Bozeman Silver 
Cornet Band and was president of the same 
for ten years. In 1875 Mr- Black was proprie¬ 
tor. of the Northern Pacific hotel in Bozeman 
and in the same year was one of a party that 
trailed down some savage .Sioux Indians who 
murdered James Hughes, in which trip the 
whites suffered much exposure. On August 
31, 1875, occurred the marriage of Mr. Black 
and Miss Rosa G. Fridley, Bishop Tuttle per¬ 
forming the ceremony. Their first born, Nellie 
Agnes, saw the light June 9, 1876 and the last 
day of the following August Mrs. Black and 
the baby returned to St. Joe, Missouri. It is 
memorable that in June of that year the snow 
lay four feet deep on the level.' Mr. Black was 
handling his father’s bull train in 1876 and re¬ 
members that on December 27, the thermo¬ 
meter registered sixty degrees below zero. On 
January 5 following, the Indians ran off a 
large bunch of the freight cattle and Mr. Black 
organized a party of nineteen and got them all 
back, but had a very dangerous experience as 
they closed in and took the stock just as the 
Indians were about to fight General Miles’ 
command of soldiers. So close was the call 
Mr. Black termed it into the jaws of death and 
out again. About this time Mr. Black became 









I 




652 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


associated with Mr. Daniels in business and 
the firm was changed from L. M. Black & Com¬ 
pany to Black & Daniels, Mr. Black having 
taken over much of his father’s business. Mr. 
Black established a post on Pease bottom, op¬ 
posite the mouth of the Big Horn river and 
trafficked with the Indians. He put in a ferry 
and later sent the first steamboat load of robes 
and furs to St. Louis. In 1877 Black & Dan¬ 
iels moved all their stock to Bozeman. The 
following year they sold out to W. H. Ran¬ 
dall. In September, 1880, Mr. Black was nom¬ 
inated by the Democrats for county clerk and 
was elected, and two years later he was re¬ 
elected by the largest majority on the ticket. 
Two years later he was nominated again but 
defeated by James Gourley. On March 26, 
1887 Black & Nevitt bought out the electric 
light company. In 1892 they sold out for forty- 
five thousand dollars. Two years later Mr. 
Black bought out H. Arment, in the book and 
stationery business at Bozeman and the same 
year sold it to W. B. Burkett. Since 1897 
Mr. Black has made his home at Fridley, where 
he is handling his ranch and the townsite. He 
is also devoting considerable time to an in¬ 
vention that is about perfected. 

Mrs. Rosa G. Black died at the old Frid¬ 
ley homestead October 18, 1903. She was born 
in Scott county, Iowa, May 27, 1858, and 
left besides her husband, two daughters, Nellie 
Agnes, now Mrs. Harry C. Clark, of Spokane, 
Washington, and Edith Lillian, now Mrs. Dr. 
Charles E. Collamer, her birth occurring Au¬ 
gust 18, 1878; a daughter was bom to Mrs. 
Collamer December 28, 1906. Mrs. Black’s 
father, Franklin F. Fridley, was born to Jacob 
and Nancy Fridley, in Augusta county, Vir¬ 
ginia, October 22, 1824. The family went to 
Ohio in 1828, to Iowa in 1843, where the 
parents died. In 1849 Mr Fridley went to 
California and did well mining and returned 
the last of 1850 via the isthmus. On April 15, 
1851 Mr. Fridley married Miss America J. 
Mounts, who was born near Albion, Illinois, 


October 25, 1830, and died at Bozeman, Sep¬ 
tember 22, 1892. Mr. Fridley brought his 
family from Iowa to Montana in 1864. He 
located where Fridley is now. His death oc¬ 
curred September 8, 1892, and his wife fol¬ 
lowed him September 22, 1892. They were 
both highly esteemed people. 


HON. ALBERT L. BABCOCK. One of 
the leading merchants and bankers of the 
thriving and progressive city of Billings, which 
his energy, foresight and business capacity, 
have aided in building, Albert L. Babcock pre¬ 
sents in his career of business enterprise and 
public usefulness a fruitful theme for the pen 
of the biographer. He is a native of Albany, 
New York, where he was born December 22, 
1851, the son of William C. and Julia (Law¬ 
rence) Babcock, both natives, also, of the Em¬ 
pire State, and descended from families long 
prominent in its civic and military history. In 
1856 they removed to what was then the “far 
west,” and located at Pontiac, Illinois, and 
near there engaged in successful farming for 
a number of years. The father finally retiring 
from the farm, engaged in business at Pontiac 
and soon after, on February 14, 1876, dying 
there. 

While living and working on the farm near 
this little interior town and attending district 
school during the winter months, Mr. Bah- 
cock was reared and educated, until the age of 
fourteen years, when he began an apprentice¬ 
ship in a country newspaper office and learned 
the printer’s trade which he followed for a 
time. This calling, not being altogether to his 
liking, he finally abandoned it and sought em¬ 
ployment in a country hardware store and tin 
shop, beginning at the bottom and was soon 
promoted to salesman behind the counter. 
When twenty-one years of age he had saved 
a few hundred dollars which he combined with 
the savings of a young friend and with very 
little capital embarked in business in 1873. 





BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


653 


which he continued with success, though quite 
limited, until the spring of 1882, when, be¬ 
lieving the opportunities more favorable in the 
undeveloped west, decided to locate at Billings, 
apd opened a small hardware store and tin 
shop, the business of which grew from year to 
year until 1892 when it was converted into a 
stock company under the name of the A. L. 
Babcock Hardware Co., which has developed 
into one of the largest hardware and agricul¬ 
tural implement houses in the middle west, 
their trade extending for a great distance in 
every direction throughout eastern Montana 
and northern Wyoming. 

In 1895, Mr. Babcock erected the Yellow¬ 
stone Valley flouring mill with a daily capac¬ 
ity of 200 barrels. The flour is sold largely 
throughout Montana and northern Wyoming 
and a considerable quantity is sold in competi¬ 
tion with other hard wheat products to points 
on the west coast. The A. L. Babcock Hard¬ 
ware Company and the Yellowstone Valley 
Mills, now incorporated under the name of the 
Billings Milling Co., in all their departments, 
give employment to a large number of men. 
In 1895 also, in company with others, he. built 
the Billings Opera House and was its manager 
until it was destroyed by fire in 1906. In 1895 
he also organized the Billings Telephone Com¬ 
pany and was its president from its inception 
until disposed of to the Bell Telephone Co. 

Four years prior to the beginning of these 
enterprises, in the year 1891, he founded the 
Yellowstone National Bank and served two 
years at its first vice-president, and in 1893 he 
was elected its president, an office which he 
has held continuously since that time and to 
which institution he gives his principal atten¬ 
tion. In addition to his principal commercial 
enterprises known as the A. L. Babcock Hard¬ 
ware Company, and the Billings Milling Com¬ 
pany, of Billings, of both of which corpora¬ 
tions he is president, he is now conducting a 


general store at Pryor, Montana, and at Brid- 
ger, Montana, he is engaged in the agricul¬ 
tural implement business under the name of 
A. L. Babcock & Co., and is also vice-president 
of the Bridger Coal and Improvement Co. of 
Bridger, Montana. Mr. Babcock is largely 
interested in real estate, being president of the 
Billings Realty Company, which company 
owns large tracts of valuable lands adjoin¬ 
ing Billings. Mrs. Babcock is at present 
erecting the Babcock theatre, store and 
office building on one of the principal 
corners in Billings, occupying a space 150x1:40 
feet. The Babcock theatre will be one of the 
finest in the Northwest. These are the numer¬ 
ous and active enterprises, but all their multi¬ 
tude of interests and details receive close per¬ 
sonal attention from Mr. Babcock, and their 
success demonstrates the versatile character of 
his business capacity and the wide range of his 
mental activities. 

Mr. Babcock is a zealous and ardent Re¬ 
publican, and has been active and prominent 
in the councils of his party. He has been chair¬ 
man of its county central committee during a 
number of campaigns, and has been its choice 
for representative positions from time to time, 
having served as chairman of the board of 
commissioners of Yellowstone county from 
1885 to 1889, and, upon the admission of Mon¬ 
tana as a state in 1889, Mr. Babcock was elec¬ 
ted to the state senate as the first senator from 
Yellowstone county; and served in the lower 
house from 1892 to 1894, and again in the 
senate from 1894 to 1898. He was an influen¬ 
tial member of the committee on arid lands, 
and on other important committees. He has 
served on the military staffs of Governors 
White, Toole and Rickards with the rank of 
colonel. 

Fraternally he is identified with the Ma¬ 
sonic order, including lodge, chapter, com- 
mandery and Mystic Shrine. In this order he 




654 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 


has filled several local chairs in the various 
bodies, and was chosen grand commander of 
Knights Templar of the state of Montana in 
1894. He is also a member of the Knights of 
Pythias, and the Benevolent and Protective 
Order of Elks, serving as the first exalted ruler 
of Billings lodge. 

Col. Babcock was married September 12, 
1877, to Miss Antoinette Packer, of Pontiac, 


Illinois. They have one son, Lewis C., a gradu¬ 
ate of Shattuck Military School of Mennesota, 
and of the University of Chicago, and, al¬ 
though young in the business, he has taken an 
active position in the Yellowstone National 
Bank. He is at present cashier and a member 
of the board of directors of this growing bank¬ 
ing institution. 




PART IX 


CHAPTER 1 


PRESS OF THE YELLOWSTONE VALLEY. 


PARK COUNTY. 

Park county has a newspaper history 
covering a period of twenty-five years. 
During that time there have been es¬ 
tablished within its borders eight weekly, 
two daily and one monthly publications, 
besides several campaign papers, which 
had only short lives. All of the news¬ 
papers have been published in Livingston with 
the exception of Wonderland, at Gardiner. Of 
these, three weeklies survive, the Enterprise 
and Post at Livingston and Wonderland at 
Gardiner. 

It was on December 19, 1882, that the first 
paper published within the boundaries of the 
present Park county, then a part of Gallatin 
county, was taken from the press. This pio¬ 
neer paper was the Livingston Gazette, a six- 
column folio, all home print, under the man¬ 
agement of C. A. Carson, A. G. Carson and 
J. W. Allen. In their salutatory these gentle¬ 
men said: 

The first, number of the Livingston Gazette is be¬ 
fore you. As the initial number indicates, it will be 
run in the interests of Livingston and the upper Yel¬ 
lowstone valley, and will at all times be found defend¬ 
ing those interests and upbuilding the good name of its 
citizens. In politics we are independent, but at all 
times shall have and express an opinion on public af¬ 
fairs and the acts of public servants, whether they be 
of high or low degree. 

Owing allegiance to no man or clique, the columns 
of the Gazette are our property, and will be run in the 


interests of the public. Relying upon your hearty sup¬ 
port, we remain respectfully, 

C. A. Carson, 

A. G. Carson, 

J. W. Allen. 

For some reason or other the Gazette was 
not a success, and after only a few numbers it 
was numbered among the things that had been. 

Its place was taken by the Livingston 
Tribune, which might be said to have been the 
successor of the Gazette. The first number was 
printed February 3, 1883, by C. A. Carson, 
who was one of the founders of the Gazette, 
and M. J. Meehan. The first number of the 
Tribune presented a good appearance and was 
replete with statistics showing that Livingston 
was the center of the earth from a physical, 
mineralogical, esthetical, financial and geo¬ 
graphical point of view. Livingston was at 
that time just beginning to take its place on the 
map. On July 1, 1883, Mr. Carson disposed 
of his interests to W. S. Eberman and R. 
Dickinson, and they in conjunction with Mr. 
Meehan became publishers. We 'find that on 
August 30, 1884, Messrs. Meehan and Eber¬ 
man, the publishers, are disposing of the plant 
to Wright & Hendry, who in June, 1883, had 
launched the Daily Enterprise. The latter firm 
assumed control September 1, united the plants 
and subscription list and discontinued the pub¬ 
lication of the Tribune. The Tribune was Re¬ 
publican in politics. 

The third paper to make its appearance was 






656 


PRESS OF YELLOWSTONE VALLEY. 


a daily, the Livingston Enterprise, which was 
established June 4, 1883, by Geo. H. Wright 
and J. E. Hendry. The first two numbers of 
this paper were little leaflets—two-column fo¬ 
lio—owing to the non-arrival of paper and the 
desire of the publishers to get the paper early 
on the market. The third issue, however, was 
a five-column folio, which form it maintained 
during its life. The Enterprise was an even¬ 
ing paper and its subscription price was $12 per 
year, or ten cents a copy. Wright & Hendry 
at once began the erection of a building for an 
office—the sixth frame building in Livingston. 
On June 25, 1883, the Enterprise was made a 
morning paper, but was changed back to the 
evening edition November 13 of the same year. 

Wright & Hendry bought the National 
Park Pioneer, a weekly publication which had 
been established the preceding June by W. D. 
Knight, on August 26, 1883. Before this 
event they had not published a weekly edition, 
but now they continued the publication of the 
National Park Pioneer, making it the weekly 
edition of the Enterprise, and later changing 
the name to conform with the daily. With 
this purchase the Enterprise and Tribune 
were the only papers left in the city. 

The publication of a daily paper in Mon¬ 
tana at this time was quite a venture, and there 
were very few towns which had assumed the 
importance of being able to support daily 
papers. With the suspension of the Bozeman 
Daily Chronicle in June, 1884, there were only 
five such towns in the territory—Butte, Hel¬ 
ena, Fort Benton, Livingston and Miles City. 

The proprietors of the Enterprise bought 
the Livingston Tribune September 1, 1884, 
leaving the former a clear field. The daily 
Enterprise was an excellent paper, considering 
the small field in which it operated, and did 
much toward the development of Livingston 
and the surrounding country. Hard time9 
came upon the little town after the boom days 
of 1883, and on November 8, 1884, th e last 
number of the daily was published. Wright 


& Hendry announced that the suspension was 
only temporary, and that publication of the 
daily would be resumed in the spring. But 
conditions had not improved to any ap¬ 
preciable extent in the spring, and the 
intentions of the publishers were not 
carried out. They then devoted all their 
attention to the weekly edition, which be¬ 
came one of the leading newspapers of Mon¬ 
tana. The weekly Enterprise was a seven col¬ 
umn folio. 

The firm of Wright & Hendry was dis¬ 
solved October 21, 1885, Mr. Wright continu¬ 
ing the business. Mr. Hendry, who withdrew 
to engage in newspaper work in other parts 
of the territory, was a young man with excep¬ 
tional ability in newspaper work and well liked 
and well known throughout the whole of Mon¬ 
tana. He died some time after his removal 
from Livingston. Under the manage¬ 
ment of Wright & Hendry the Enterprise was, 
nominally, an independent paper, but invari¬ 
ably supported the Democratic nominees. When 
Geo. Wright became sole owner and publisher 
he conducted the paper as a Republican organ, 
and in the campaigns of 1886 and 1888 the 
Enterprise worked for the success of the Re¬ 
publican nominees. On June 1, 1889, the paper 
was enlarged from a seven to an eight column 
folio. 

During the prosperous days of 1889 Mr. 
Wright again undertook to issue a daily edi¬ 
tion, which was begun on September 11 of that 
year. The venture was not a financial success, 
and the daily was discontinued February 8, 
1890. The weekly was enlarged June 4, 1892, 
to a six column quarto, all home print, and it 
has retained that form ever since. During the 
campaign of 1896, when the free silver senti¬ 
ment took possession of the members of all 
parties in Montana, Mr. Wright made the 
Enterprise a supporter of Bryan and Sewall, 
but conducted it in the interests of the Republi¬ 
can county ticket. In the following campaign, 
however, the Enterprise abandoned the regular 




PRESS OF YELLOWSTONE VALLEY. 


Republican party, and lent its support to the 
Silver Republican tickets of both state and 
county. 

On April 29, 1899, Geo. Wright, who had 
presided over the destines of the Enterprise 
for sixteen years, sold out and engaged in 
other work. He was an excellent newspaper 
man and is deserving of a large share of the 
credit for the prosperity of Livingston in the 
early days. He is now in business in Spokane, 
Washington. Mr. B. F. Hoover, who had 
recently come from the east, was the buyer of 
the Enterprise. He announced that the paper 
would be Republican under his management, 
but had been in charge only a few months, 
when he was killed by the accidental discharge 
of* a shot gun, which he was cleaning. This 
accident happened August 24, 1899. C. H. 
Campbell, administrator of the Hoover estate, 
then took up the publication of the Enterprise, 
but on September 16th we find Alex Living¬ 
ston’s name at the head of the editorial col¬ 
umn. One month after this the Enterprise was 
purchased by a syndicate of residents of Liv¬ 
ingston and vicinity—the Enterprise Publish¬ 
ing company. Judge Frank Henry became 
manager of the Enterprise, which, it was an¬ 
nounced, would be a supporter of the Silver 
Republican party. 

Alex Livingston purchased the stock of 
Mr. Henry, July 11, 1900, and became the 
general manager of the Enterprise Publishing 
company, no radical change in policy resulting 
from this change. Mr. Livingston disposed 
of his stock and retired from the management 
early in October, being succeeded by Frank 
Wright, brother of the founder of the paper. 
During the campaign 1900, beginning October 
’8th, the Enterprise was issued three times a 
week. It supported Bryan and Stevenson for 
president and vice-president, and worked for 
the election of the Independent Democratic 
state and county tickets. In the following 
spring the paper renounced the Silver Repub¬ 


lican movement and became a straight Re¬ 
publican paper. 

Frank Wright, who had been manager for 
some time in the employ of the Enterprise Pub¬ 
lishing company, purchased the paper June 28, 
1901, and has since been the owner and pub¬ 
lisher, conducting it as a republican paper. In 
June, 1902, he purchased the plant and good 
will of the Park County Republican, leaving 
the Enterprise and Post the only papers in 
Park county. 

The Enterprise always has been and still 
is one of the leading papers of eastern Mon¬ 
tana. The plant is one of the best to be found 
in the state devoted exclusively to the publica¬ 
tion of a weekly journal. Among the recent 
improvements was the installation of a Mer- 
ganthaler linotype in December, 1906. 

Now let us return to the boom days of 
1883, when all kinds of new business enter¬ 
prises were being started in the town of Liv¬ 
ingston, and tell of the founding of the fourth 
Park county newspaper. This was the Nation¬ 
al Park Pioneer, and came into existence June 
26th. Although there were then two news¬ 
papers in Livingston—the weekly Tribune and 
the Daily Enterprise —W. D. Knight, pub¬ 
lisher of the Yellowstone Journal at Miles 
City, thought there was room for the third 
and backed his judgment in the launching of 
the Pioneer. He remained at its head only a 
short time, selling to Wright & Hendry, of the 
Daily Enterprise, on August 26, 1883. The 
latter firm had, up to this time, published only 
a daily paper, and they now made the National 
Park Pioneer their weekly edition, without 
changing its name. On April 6, 1884, how¬ 
ever, they changed the name to the Livingston 
Enterprise, and on this date the history of the 
National Park Pioneer ends, the subsequent 
history of the Enterprise having been already 
told. 

The Livingston Sentinel was the name of a 
weekly publication that was circulated in the 


42 











658 


PRESS OF YELLOWSTONE VALLEY. 


county seat town during the campaign of 1888. 
It was a campaign paper, printed in Bozeman, 
but bearing a Livingston date line. 

For a few years after Wright & Hendry 
purchased the Tribune the Enterprise was the 
only publication in Livingston and Park 
county. But in 1889 came opposition in the 
form of the Livingston Post, one of the three 
Park county newspapers still in existence. This 
was started April 19, 1889, by J. D. Whelpley, 
who until a short time before had been with 
the Enterprise. It was an eight column folio, 
Republican in politics. In August, 1890, J. 
E. Hull & Co., assumed control of the Post, 
Mr. Hull having been connected with the paper 
as an employe since the publication started. 
Under this management the paper was still re¬ 
publican. In the fall of the same year George 
Alderson bought the Post and became its 
editor, still continuing it as a Republican 
organ. 

June 8, 1898, articles of incorporation of 
the Post Publishing Company, capital stock 
$5,000 were filed. The stock was subscribed 
by three men—George Alderson, $2,450; 
Benjamin F. Myers, $1,300; Maurice Roth, 
$1,250—and the Post became Democratic. 
George Alderson retired from the management 
in August, 1901, and A. M. Alderson became 
editor and proprietor. During the summer of 
1904 the paper was run as a semi-weekly, but 
soon returned to the weekly edition. 

Mr. Anderson leased the plant on January 
1, 1905, to J. E. Mallery that he might accept 
the position of adjutant general of the state 
militia. He returned to the control of the 
paper later and still conducts it. The Post is 
Democratic. It ranks well up among the 
weekly papers of Montana, and has a well 
equipped plant. 

The Livingston Herald was the name of a 
paper which had an existence of a little over 
seven years during the nineties. It was foun¬ 
ded April 22, 1891, by De Hart & Mahoney, 
was an eight, column folio and Democratic in 


politics. On the 5th of August, 1891, the pro¬ 
prietors began the publication of a daily edi¬ 
tion, with the intention of making it a 
permanent institution. Lack of patron¬ 
age proved its downfall, and the daily 
was suspended September 12th of the 
same year. A stock company secured 
the Herald plant in September, 1892, 
and Thos. J. Bouton, late of the Buffalo 
(Wyoming) Echo, was installed as manager. 
He conducted the paper until May 9, 1898, 
when the plant was bought at a mortgage sale 
by Geo. Wright for $605, the amount of the 
mortgage and interest due. The publication 
was then discontinued. 

Montana Agriculturist was the name of a 
monthly farm paper which began life March 
9, 1895, at Livingston. It was an eight page, 
four column paper, made up mostly of plate 
matter, and the subscription price was fifty 
cents a year. Geo. Wright was the publisher, 
and it was issued from the Enterprise office. It 
was discontinued in August, 1895, because the 
postoffice authorities ruled against its admis¬ 
sion to the mails as second class matter. 

The county campaign committee of the 
Silver Republican party issued the Silver Re¬ 
publican from October 15, 1898, until Novem¬ 
ber 5th, of the same year. It was a campaign 
paper and was issued from the office of the 
Livingston Enterprise. 

Another paper that played a part in the 
press history of Park county was the Park 
County Republican, which came into existence 
December 23, 1899. The Republican party 
of Park county at this time was badly split, 
and the Republican was founded as the mouth¬ 
piece of one of the factions. The Enterprise 
at the time was supporting the Silver Republi¬ 
can party; the Post was Democratic; it looked 
like a good opening for a straight 
Republican paper. A. M. Williams was 
the founder of the new paper, which 
was an eight column folio. It continued 
its existence until early in June, 1902. 





PRESS OF YELLOWSTONE VALLEY. 


659 


when the causes which led to its found¬ 
ing were removed, and it was sold to Frank 
Wright of the Enterprise, who discontinued its 
publication. 

The only Park county paper ever estab¬ 
lished outside of the county seat was Wonder¬ 
land, published at Gardiner. It was founded 
in May, 1902, by M. W. Pettigrew, who con¬ 
tinued to preside over its destinies until Oc¬ 
tober, 1903, when Frank D. Geiger took 
charge. Mr. Geiger, who had formerly been 
connected with the Big Timber Pioneer, ran 
it for some time, when it was discontinued. 
As the Wonderland News it was revived in 
June, 1906, by W. F. Gossel, formerly of Chi¬ 
cago. This paper, a five column quarto, is 
still published by Mr. Gossel. 

SWEET GRASS COUNTY. 

i 

Four weekly newspapers have had an ex¬ 
istence in Sweet Grass County at one time or 
another since the first was started in 1890, all 
having been published at Big Timber. These 
were the Big Timber Pioneer, the Sweet Grass 
and Boulder Blade, the Big Timber Express, 
and the Yellowstone Leader. Of these four 
only the first named is now published. 

The Big Timber Pioneer was the first 
paper published within the boundaries of 
the county of Sweet Grass. The first issue, a 
five column folio, was put forth on the 24th 
day of November, 1890, when Big Timber was 
yet a place of slight importance among the 
towns of Montana. M. W. Hatch was the 
editor, and M. W. Hatch & Co. were the pub¬ 
lishers. For the first nine months of its life 
the Pioneer was printed in the office.of the 
Livingston Enterprise. July 11, 1891, the. 
paper was enlarged to a quarto, and late in 
August of the same year Hatch & Co. installed 
a plant and began printing the paper in Big 
Timber. 

J. M. Ramsey purchased a one-half interest 
in the Pioneer on March 15, 1892, and there¬ 


after the publishing firm was Hatch & Ramsey. 
Two months after this change in proprietor¬ 
ship the paper was enlarged to a seven column 
folio. August 9th the announcement was 
made that the Pioneer would support the Re¬ 
publican ticket, it having been previously an 
independent paper. Mr. Ramsey did not long 
remain with the paper, disposing of his inter¬ 
ests to Mr. Hatch September 20, 1892, the 
cause of the sale being “differing views as to 
conducting the paper.” After Mr. Hatch be¬ 
came sole proprietor, the hard times period 
came on, and the Pioneer became anything but 
a paying business. During this period there 
were many changes made in the size and form 
of the paper to meet the exigencies of the pat¬ 
ronage. These changes were as follows : May, 
1893, five column quarto; February 15, 1894, 
seven column folio; April 26, 1894, five col¬ 
umn quarto; September 6, 1894, six column 
folio; November 6, 1894, five column quarto; 
March 28, 1895, six column quarto. 

With the issue of April 16, 1896, the 
Pioneer Publishing Company, incorporated 
under the laws of the state of Montana, assum¬ 
ing charge of the destinies of the Pioneer . 
The personnel of the company was about the 
same as it had been, Mr. Hatch being the prin¬ 
cipal stockholder and editor. During the cam¬ 
paign of that year the paper underwent a 
change of politics, as did so many other papers 
of Montana at that time. It supported Mr. 
Bryan for the presidency and worked for the 
success of the Democrat-Silver Republican 
county ticket. 

Mr. Hatch, who since the founding of the 
paper had been the guiding spirit of the enter¬ 
prise, disposed of his interests in January, 
1897, and retired from newspaper work. He 
died in November, 1899. Messrs. L. C. Olm- 
stead and F. D. Geiger succeeded Mr. Hatch 
as managers of the journal, announcing that 
they would continue the publication without 
material change in policy or form. However, 
soon after taking charge, they reduced the size 






66 o 


PRESS'OF YELLOWSTONE VALLEY. 


to a five column quarto. January 20th Mr. 
Geiger sold his interest to his partner, and Mr. 
Olmstead became editor and manager. He 
made the Pioneer a Republican paper which 
has been the politics of the paper ever since. 

Mr. Olmstead retired from the active man¬ 
agement on February 15, 1900, to accept the 
appointment of postmaster of Big Timber. He 
was succeeded as manager by Mr. J. E. Sheri¬ 
dan, the ownership being vested in the Pioneer 
Printing and Publishing Co. In April articles 
of incorporation for that company were filed, 
the incorporators being J. E. Sheridan, R. H. 
Bemis and L. C. Olmstead; the capital stock 
was $4,000. Mr. Sheridan continued at the 
head of the Pioneer for six years. Under his 
management there were the following changes 
made in the size of the publication: December 
6, 1900, six column folio: September 12, 1901, 
five column folio; December 5, 1901, five col¬ 
umn quarto; March 13, 1902, six column 
quarto; February 9, 1905, five column quarto; 
July 27, 1905, six column quarto. 

Mr. Sheridan died February 22, 1906. 
Thereafter for a short time attorney A. G. 
Hatch conducted the business for the Pioneer 
company. Then, on April 19, 1906, J. T. La 
Fond, proprietor of the Yellowstone Leader, 
became manager of the Pioneer, consolidated 
the two plants and discontinued the publica¬ 
tion of the Leader. Since that time the Pio¬ 
neer has been the only newspaper in Sweet 
Grass county. Mr. LaFond has made many 
improvements in the paper since he assumed 
charge. It is now a six column quarto, all 
home print, and is one of the several first-class 
papers of the Yellowstone valley. 

The second publication to bear a Big Tim¬ 
ber date line was the Sweet Grass and Boulder 
Blade, which made its appearance on June 7, 
1893, under the management of B. T. and E. 
L. Boardman, formerly of the Red Lodge 
Picket. The Blade was an eight column folio. 
Coming into existence as it did just before the 
panic, it was not destined to live long and 


soon passed away. Its untimely demise was 
said to be a matter of deep regret by the peo¬ 
ple of Big Timber. The plant remained in 
Big Timber until the spring of 1895, when it 
was purchased by Shelby Eli Dillard, of the 
- New Idea at Red Lodge, and used in the pub¬ 
lication of that paper. 

The third newspaper to venture into the 
Sweet Grass county field was the Big Timber 
Express, which was started in 1895 an d con¬ 
tinued in existence nearly six years. The first 
issue was taken from the press on October 2nd 
from a plant which had been in use up to that 
time in the publication of the Columbus Ex¬ 
press; in fact, the Big Timber paper was sim¬ 
ply a continuation of that publication. Walter 
Aitken and A. C. Potter, under the firm name 
of Aitkin & Potter, were the publishers, and 
continued to direct its destinies until April, 
1896. On April 13, of that month, Mr. L. C. 
Olmstead purchased the interests of Mr. Pot¬ 
ter, and the publishing firm became Aitkin & 
Olmstead. The junior member of the firm 
soon sold out to his partner and acquired an 
interest in the Pioneer, and Mr. Aitken became 
sole publisher. Up to the campaign of 1898 
the Express had been Republican in politics, 
but a change of faith was announced at that 
time, and thereafter until its death the paper 
was a Democratic organ, of one faction or 
another. 

Mr. Aitken departed from Big Timber in 
June, 1900, having leased the plant at that time 
to Walter Lesser, who conducted the paper 
during the 1900 campaign in the interests of 
the Daly faction of the Democratic party. He 
left in December of that year, and Mr. O. H. 
Segerstrom became the lessee. That gentle¬ 
man conducted the Express until March, 1901, 
when, on account of ill health, he was com¬ 
pelled to relinquish his lease, and publication 
was suspended. The field was entirely too 
small for the three newspapers that were then 
being published in Big Timber, and there were 
not many regrets when one was given up. The 




PRESS OF YELLOWSTONE VALLEY. 


66 j 


subscription list of the Express was turned 
over to the Pioneer, and that publication filled 
out the unexpired subscriptions. The plant of 
the Express was purchased by John R. Stout 
and moved to Glendive. 

The fourth paper to make its appearance 
in Big Timber was the Yellowstone Leader, 
Democratic, which was started by State Sena¬ 
tor William J. Hannah on September 30, 1899. 
There was a story connected with the birth of 
this paper to the effect that Senator Hannah 
while in the legislature of 1899 had received 
$15,000 for his vote for William A. Clark for 
United States senator, and that it was part of 
this money that was used in the establishment 
of the Leader, and that the paper was started 
for the sole purpose of working in the interest 
of Mr. Clark. In fact, the matter of brib¬ 
ery of Mr. Hannah was definitely alleged in 
affidavits presented to the senate of the United 
States when Mr. Clark’s seat in that body was 
contested. Mr. Hannah, who never had the 
reputation of spending much time looking 
through the dictionary to find mild words to 
express his thoughts in his issue of December 
16, 1899, said what he thought of those who 
accused him of selling his vote, as follows: 

The editor of the Leader is in some doubt about 
the journalistic propriety of using these columns for the 
explanation of matters concerning himself. But in 
view of the allegation that he received $15,000 for sup¬ 
porting VV. A. Clark, which was presented to the United 
States senate last week by Hon. Robert Smith, Hon. H. 
C. Stiff, Hon. A. J. Campbell and Hon. Chas. S. Hart¬ 
man, W. J. Hannah, as an individual, is prepared to 
say that these men are four dishonorable liars. 

The Leader was started as a seven column 
folio, but was soon enlarged to a quarto. There 
were many changes in size and form during 
the life of the Leader. The paper was issued 
semi-weekly a short time during the fall of 
1902. 

Articles of incorporation for “The Leader 
Company” were filed March 3. 1903, and this 


company became the publishers of the Leader, 
which, however, brought about no change in 
the management of the paper. The incorpo¬ 
rators were W. J. Hannah, Margaret A. Han¬ 
nah and Edward Roberts; the capital stock was 
$25,000, of which $6,500 was paid in. The 
paper was again issued as a semi-weekly in 
the spring of 1904, but the twice-a-week edi¬ 
tion was discontinued after a very short time. 

The Yellowstone Leader was purchased by 
J. T. LaFond on May 1, 1904, and 

Mr. Hannah retired from the newspaper 
business. Mr. LaFond continued the publi¬ 
cation of the Leader until April, 1906, when 
he became manager of the Pioneer, consoli¬ 
dated the two plants, and discontinued the 
publication of the Leader. 

CARBON COUNTY. 

The Red Lodge Picket was started in 1892 
by E. L. Boardman, who remained in control 
one year and then sold to W. A. Lemas. That 
gentleman conducted the paper until 1898, 
when he sold to W. A. Alderson, who has since 
had control. 

Another paper that came into existence at 
Red Lodge in 1892 was Vociferator, which 
was established by Shelby E. Dillard. The 
Vociferator talked to the people of Carbon 
county only about six months. 

The New Idea was founded at Red Lodge 
in October, 1895, under the editorship and 
management of Dillard & Weber. It remained 
in existence two years. 

The Carbon county Sentinel came into be¬ 
ing in the latter part of the nineties. V. H. 
Beeman and Chas. Howard were interested in 
its publication. 

In the latter part of the year 1899 a stock 
company was formed and the Carbon' County 
Democrat was launched at Red Lodge. J. D. 
Matheson, of Billings, was installed as edi¬ 
tor. 







662 


PRESS OF YELLOWSTONE VALLEY. 


The Carbon County Chronicle made its ap¬ 
pearance at Red Lodge June 25, 1901, with 
Jean P. Kirkpatrick as editor. 

Another Red Lodge paper that came into 
existence was the Carbon County Republican, 
with Johns & Cushman at the helm. 

In November, 1903, F. T. Sheppard estab¬ 
lished at Joliet a paper named the Taxpayer. 
This was purchased the following June by B. 
A. Harlan, who changed the name of the pub¬ 
lication to Joliet Journal. Later Walter 
Worthington became associated with Mr. Har¬ 
lan in the management of the paper. 

The Bridger Tribune enjoyed a brief exis¬ 
tence. It was owned by S. H. Glidden and was 
edited by C. J. Leucke. It suspended publi¬ 
cation in January, 1905. 

YELLOWSTONE COUNTY. 

Yellowstone county has a newspaper hist¬ 
ory covering a period of over twenty-five years. 
During that time there have been established 
a total of twelve weekly or semi-weekly, five 
daily and two monthly publications. Of this 
number two daily, two semi-weekly and one 
monthly are in existence today. These are 
the Daily Gazette, Daily Journal, the Semi¬ 
weekly Gazette, the Times (semi-weekly), and 
the Yellozustone Monthly, all of Billings; the 
Tri-County News (weekly), of Columbus; and 
Laurel Sentinel (weekly), of. Laurel. 

Many were the trials and tribulations of the 
newspaper publishers of Billings in the early 
days, especially during the period following 
the “busting of the boom,” and the later per¬ 
iod of depression following the panic of 1893. 
During prosperous times, however, the news¬ 
paper men reaped the benefits of their labors, 
and were highly successful. Judge J. D. 
Matheson, who has been in the newspaper bus¬ 
iness in one capacity or another ever since 
Yellowstone county was organized, has writ¬ 
ten of these times: 


“The pioneer journalists had not the mod¬ 
ern facilities for printing good papers, and 
their patrons were few and widely scattered, 
but a perusal of the old files of their papers 
shows that they were public spirited and fully 
alive to all matters and schemes which it was 
thought would be of benefit to the city. From 
the earliest period of the city’s history the Bil¬ 
lings papers were widely quoted, and no oppor¬ 
tunity was lost to speak flatteringly of the 
prospects of Billings. Optimism appears to 
have been the key note of the early newspapers, 
and in the bright lexicon of Billings’ youth 
there was no such word as ‘fail.’ ” 

The county’s newspaper history begins 
with the month of January, 1882, and to Abel 
Kelsey Yerkes, afterward known as “the poet 
of Sour Dough Creek,” belongs the credit of 
being the founder of the first newspaper in the 
future Yellowstone county—in fact the first 
in the Yellowstone valley west of Miles 
City. In the Yellowstone Journal (Miles 
City) of January 7, 1882, we find this 

modest announcement of the intention of Mr. 
Yerkes to found the Coulson Post; “On Mon¬ 
day next A. K. Yerkes, formerly of this office, 
will leave with a complete newspaper equip¬ 
ment for Coulson, where he will establish the 
Coulson Post. Mr. Yerkes will, we have rea¬ 
son to believe, prosper in his new departure.” 
The plant was purchased from the proprietor 
of the Yellowstone Journal, the material in 
that office being considered sufficient to supply 
two papers, and Mr. Yerkes freighted the outfit 
to the little town of Coulson. There, late in 
January, he issued the first number of the Post. 
Mr. Matheson has written of the life of the 
paper there as follows: “Coulson was the 
busiest town of the Yellowstone for a few 
months, with several general stores, hotels and 
restaurants, and more than the average of sa¬ 
loons and gaming houses. There was a con¬ 
stant influx of homeseekers, and every ‘pil¬ 
grim’ made it a point to call on the editor and 




PRESS OF YELLOWSTONE VALLEY. 


663 


secure local mention of his arrival, and pur¬ 
chase a liberal number of copies to send to his 
friends ‘back east.’ ” 

When, in the summer of 1882, Billings 
sprang into being, after an ineffectual attempt 
to stay with the old town, most of the resi¬ 
dents moved to the new city, and the Post 
came with them, taking the name “Billings 
Post.” That publication said of the removal: 
“About the end of June last it was evident that 
Billings, and not Coulson, was to be the com¬ 
ing city, and the office was removed to its pres¬ 
ent headquarters.” On the 4th day of July, 
of the same year, just after the change in lo¬ 
cation, Mr. Yerkes sold the Post to J. D. 
Matheson. The later conducted the paper 
until late in April, 1885, when a consolidation 
was effected among the newspaper publishers 
then in Billings, which resulted in the found¬ 
ing of the Gazette, mention of which will be 
made later. The Post was a weekly publication, 
and was Republican in politics. 

The second paper to be established in the 
future county of Yellowstone was the Billings 
Herald, the first number of which was taken 
from the press on June 1, 1882. The founders 
were Alexander Devine, formerly secretary to 
the general traffic manager of the Chicago, 
St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha railway, 
with headqquarters at St. Paul, and E. A. 
Bromley, the firm name of the publishers be¬ 
ing Bromley & Devine. Billings was just 
starting at the time, and the Herald began pub¬ 
lication in the fourth building erected in the 
town. It was an eight column folio, and two 
of the pages were composed of “patent” matter. 
The subscription price was four dollars per 
year, which in this advanced age would be con¬ 
sidered rather a fair price for a weekly publi¬ 
cation, and the publishers met with unbounded 
success in the booming town. Billings had not 
at that time secured a postoffice, and the Her¬ 
ald was entered as second class mail matter in 
the Coulson office. The publication was Demo¬ 


cratic in politics and worked heartily for the 
success of that party. 

On November 23, 1882, the firm of Brom¬ 
ley & Devine was dissolved, Mr. Bromley re¬ 
tiring and Mr. Devine assuming full control. 
The size of the publication was reduced to a 
seven column folio on January 4, 1883, but at 
the same time it became an all home print pa¬ 
per, which practically made the change an en¬ 
largement. Publication of a daily Herald was 
begun April 1, 1883, and Billings boasted its 
first daily paper. Its contemporary, the Bil¬ 
lings Post, said of the establishment of the 
daily edition: “The daily Herald made its 
appearance Monday afternoon. It is a five 
column folio, and its appearance is very cred¬ 
itable. If it is kept up to the standard of the 
first issue, Billings need have no cause to be 
ashamed of its first daily.” Mr. Devine sold 
a half interest in the paper to Walter Matheson 
on May 12, 1883, an d the publishers of the 
daily and weekly became Devine & Matheson. 
After giving the daily a fair trial it was found 
that the advertising public would not render 
the support necessary to make the venture a 
financial success, and it was discontinued Jan¬ 
uary 16, 1884, the weekly edition being con¬ 
tinued. Another change in proprietorship was 
made September 6, 1884, when Mr. Matheson 
sold his interest to Charles S. McFarlin. De- 
vine & McFarlin then conducted the Herald 
until late in April, 1885, when the consolida¬ 
tion took place, and the name “Billings Her¬ 
ald” passed out of existence in everything ex¬ 
cept memory. 

The next venture in the journalistic field of 
Yellowstone county was the daily Rustler, 
which was founded at Billings November 5, 
1884, by J. W. Kinsley. For a short time the 
paper was printed in the Herald office under a 
contract with the publishers of that journal, 
and then a plant of its own was installed. No 
weekly edition of the Rustler was issued. In 
the spring of 1885 J. W. Cobb, who was later 





664 


PRESS OF YELLOWSTONE VALLEY. 


badly burned in a fire and died of his burns, 
became the publisher. He issued only a few 
numbers when the plant was sold to the com¬ 
bination that was formed for the publication 
of the Gazette, and the Daily Rustler passed 
out of existence. 

In the month of April, 1885, there were 
being published in Billings the following 
papers: Billings Post, by J. D. Matheson; Bil¬ 
lings Herald, by Devine & McFarlin; and the 
Daily Rustler, by J. W. Cobb. The idea was 
conceived of uniting all these papers under one 
management and issuing but two papers—a 
daily and a weekly. In accordance with these 
plans the publishers of the Post and Herald 
(Alexander Devine, J. D. Matheson and C. S. 
McFarlin) formed the Gazette Publishing 
Company, bought the plant and good will of 
the Rustler, and made preparations for the first 
issues of the Daily Gazette and the Montana 
Stock Gazette, the latter to be the weekly edi¬ 
tion. The three plants were moved into one 
building May 2nd, and that night the building 
and the combined plants were destroyed by fire, 
which also burned one of the business blocks 
of the city. All was destroyed except the lit¬ 
tle Pearl job press and a few cases of type 
which were mostly in the form of “pi.” The 
company’s loss was $5,500, insured for $2,750. 

The proprietors with true newspaper in¬ 
stinct, got enough material together to pub¬ 
lish a diminutive copy of the Daily Gazette, 
which was issued Sunday morning, May 3rd, 
chronicling the news of the fire and how the 
paper had been almost suffocated at its birth. 
This initial paper was a three column 
folio, printed on a job press The cir¬ 
cumstances under which the Gazette was 
started were certainly discouraging, but the 
proprietors did not lose courage; they imme¬ 
diately ordered a new plant, built a new brick 
building and continued the publication unin¬ 
terrupted. Mr. Matheson was editor of the 
paper, Mr. Devine business manager, while 
Mr. McFarlin was superintendent of the “art 


preservative” department. These gentlemen 
conducted the paper as an independent jour¬ 
nal, taking no part in politics. 

The weekly edition, which was named 
Montana Stock Gazette, made its appearance 
May 23, and was five column, eight page 
paper. Two months after its establishment it 
was enlarged to six columns. Messrs. Devine 
and McFarlin withdrew from the paper Oct- 
tober 1, 1885, and Mr. Matheson, who had 
purchased the stock, became the sole owner. 
He conducted both the daily and weekly edi¬ 
tions until January 20, 1887, when Mr. E. B. 
Camp purchased the stock and assumed 
charge. To edit the paper Mr. Camp employed 
James Davenport Whelpley, who now has a 
national reputation as a Washington corre¬ 
spondent. Mr. Camp decided that the daily 
was too great a luxury, and on Wednesday, 
February 15, 1888, it was suspended. Lack of 
support by the business men was the reason 
assigned for the suspension. At the same time 
the name of the Montana Stock Gazette was 
changed to Billings Weekly Gazette, the first 
number under the new name appeared Febru¬ 
ary 23. 

Mr. Camp sold the paper September 13, 
1888, to E. H. Becker, who conducted it for 
many years as a Republican paper. At the time 
Mr. Becker took charge it was the only paper 
in Billings and Yellowstone county, as it was 
for several years, but still was not enjoying a 
superabundance of prosperity. During the next 
decade the Gazette lived a vacillating life. 
Iii bright times a daily was published; with 
the tightening up of business a drop would be 
made back to a weekly issue, with perhaps the 
hope of “a daily next spring.” The first daily 
under the management of Mr. Becker was be¬ 
gun in September, 1889, but was short lived. 
The weekly edition, which up to this time had 
been a six column quarto, was reduced to a 
five column paper on November 12, 1891, but 
was again enlarged to the former size August 4, 
1892. The daily was again published during 





PRESS OF YELLOWSTONE VALLEY. 


the campaign of 1892, beginning with the issue 
of October 3rd. . Again in 1894 Mr. Becker 
decided to launch a daily issue. The paper was 
started July 1st, but lived only until the latter 
part of August. A little longer life was ac¬ 
corded, the same kind of a venture the next 
year. A Thorne typesetting machine was pur¬ 
chased, full Associated Press dispatches were 
secured, and September 3, 1895, the Daily Ga¬ 
zette once more greeted the citizens of Billings, 
this time as a morning publication. A semi¬ 
weekly took .the place of the weekly edition 
January 21, 1896, and has been issued ever 
since. Business conditions were of such a 
character during the late nineties that the daily 
publication on the scale it was being run by 
Mr. Becker could not be profitably maintained, 
and after the election in November, 1896, the 
Daily Gazette was no more. 

In June, 1898, Mr. E. L. Boardman, who 
since December, 1894, had been editor of the 
paper took a four years’ lease on the plant and 
assumed control of its affairs. A morning 
daily was established September 11, 1900, and 
was published for nearly three years, suspend¬ 
ing April 30, 1903. In the meantime Mr. 
Becker had again taken charge of the office. 
The Daily Gazette again made its appearance 
October 13, 1904, being published every even¬ 
ing. Later it was changed to a morning paper, 
linotypes were added to the office, Associated 
Press dispatches were secured, and the Gazette 
has now taken its place as the leading daily 
paper of eastern Montana. The Gazette was 
purchased early in the year 1907 by Clinton 
Ham, formerly of Chicago, and that gentleman 
now presides over its destinies. 

In chronicling the events in the history of 
the Gazette we have entered into present day 
conditions. To turn to the pioneer days : From 
May, 1885, to April, 1891, the Gazette was the 
only paper in Yellowstone county. On the last 
named date (April 11) the Billings Times, a 
weekly publication devoted to the interests of 
the Democratic party, came into existence un¬ 


665 


der the guiding hand of that veteran news¬ 
paper man, J. D. Matheson. It was a five col-* 
umn quarto and an excellent publication. Mr. 
Matheson continued the publication without 
interruption until February 7, 1899, when he 
sold it to M. C. Morris, formerly of Little Rock 
Arkansas, and that gentleman has conducted 
it ever since. Mr. Morris made the Times a 
semi-weekly publication and early in 1901 es¬ 
tablished a daily, which was published for a 
short time. The publication is now semi¬ 
weekly, and is a six column folio. M. C. Mor¬ 
ris is editor and proprietor and Ralph L. Mor¬ 
ris is business manager. 

An offshoot of the Gazette was the Mon¬ 
tana Wool Journal, a monthly publication de¬ 
voted to the interests of flockmasters, which 
came into existence in August, 1891. It was 
in the form of a pamphlet, sixteen pages, and 
E. H. Becker was the publisher. It continued 
in existence two years, suspending in August, 
1893. Lack of interest by those engaged in 
the wool and mutton business was the reason 
assigned for the suspension. 

For a short time in 1892 Shelby Eli Dillard, 
who before had published the Red Lodge 
Picket, conducted a paper in Billings, labeled 
The Montana Vociferator, the printing be¬ 
ing done from the Times plant. Mr. J. D. 
Matheson, who was the publisher of the Times 
at that date, has given us the following history 
of the lurid Vociferator : 

Shelby Dillard was a humorist of homespun type, 
who discovered the system of simplified spelling before 
Roosevelt, and the Vociferator’s appearance was eagerly 
looked for, for every issue was a roast for some one. 
It continued until near the election of that year. Feel¬ 
ing sore one night over the thought that he was not 
receiving his full share of the good things the Demo¬ 
cratic state central committee was supposed to be dish¬ 
ing out, Shelby sat down and indited the following tele¬ 
gram to the chairman at Butte: “I must have $200 
by tomorrow or hell will begin to pop.” Promptly by 
the first mail came a check for the required amount. 
Shelby was so busy celebrating its receipt that he neg¬ 
lected to issue any more numbers of the Vociferator, 
which was certainly a lurid publication while it lasted. 
The weak spot in the Democratic armor which the com- 






666 


PRESS OF YELLOWSTONE VALLEY. 


mittee was afraid of having revealed was never dis¬ 
covered. 

Until the fall 1892 there had not been a 
paper founded in Yellowstone county outside 
of the county seat town. The first one was 
the Stillwater Bulletin, which was started by 
J. M. Ramsey, formerly of the Big Timber 
Pioneer, at the little town of Stillwater (now 
Columbus), about the 1st of October, 1892. 
It was a six column folio and liberally patro¬ 
nized by the business men of Stillwater. W. 
L. Kearns bought a one-half interest in the 
journal one year after its founding, but sold 
back to his partner in November, 1894. Mr. 
Ramsey then moved the plant to Billings, and 
in company with H. JL. Knight founded the 
Yellowstone Valley Recorder. 

The Recorder made its appearance early in 
December, 1894, the publishing firm being 
Knight & Ramsey. It was a seven column 
quarto, and was independent politically. It 
continued an existence under the same manage¬ 
ment until late in August, 1896, when the pro¬ 
prietors removed the plant to Missoula and 
established the Missoula Daily Democrat. 

The little town of Columbus had its second 
journalistic experience in 1895. In June of 
that year Messrs. Walter Aitken and A. C. 
Potter, who had formerly been employed on 
the Livingston Post, brought a printing outfit 
from Broken Bow, Wyoming, and established 
the Columbus Express, a six column publica¬ 
tion, independent in politics, but irrevocably 
attached to the free silver issue. Not securing 
the desired support, the proprietors in Septem¬ 
ber of the year of founding moved the plant 
to Big Timber, and continued publication un¬ 
der the name of the Big Timber Express. Co¬ 
lumbus was again without a newspaper. 

After E. H. Becker had leased the Billings 
Gazette to E. L. Boardman in 1898, he started 
a new publication, the Billings Republican, 
which first saw the light of day August 5, 
1899. Later H. F. McFarlin became associa¬ 


ted with the fpunder. The Republican was is¬ 
sued for only a short time. 

The Billings News was established in 1900 
by Al. Filson, who continued to preside over 
its destinies until the fall of 1901. It was then 
sold, and in September J. D. Matheson became 
the editor. Soon after publication was discon¬ 
tinued. 

Two papers had already tried to perma¬ 
nently establish themselves in Columbus, but 
it was not until late in the summer of 1901 that 
a successful venture was made. In August a 
stock company was organized for the purpose 
of publishing a weekly paper in the town. 
Part of the plant of the defunct Big Timber 
Express, which had once before been employed 
in printing a paper at Columbus, was secured, 
and before the close of the year the Tri- 
County News came into existence, under the 
management of Mr. Snyder. A. J. Bryant- 
later became the publisher and he is now pub¬ 
lishing the paper, which is a five column 
quarto. 

The little town of Laurel has been the 
home of a newspaper since September, 1906, 
when the Laurel Sentinel came into existence. 
The Laurel Publishing Company is the pub¬ 
lisher, and D. W. Watsbaugh is the manager. 
The Sentinel is a seven column folio. 

The Billings Daily Journal (evening) was 
published for the first time on December 12, 
1906. It was established by the Commercial 
Printing Company (inc.), and is a six column 
quarto. Although young in years, it has taken 
a prominent place in the business life of Bil¬ 
lings. 

The latest venture in Yellowstone county 
journalism is the Yellowstone Monthly, estab¬ 
lished in May, 1907, by E. W. Beedle. 

Among those who performed commend¬ 
able editorial service on Billings newspapers 
in past years, aside from those already men¬ 
tioned, were Messrs. B. S. Scott, J. E. Hendry, 
S. P. Panton, A. H. Hersey and Walter Alder- 
son. 




PRESS OF YELLOWSTONE VALLEY. 


667 


ROSEBUD COUNTY. 

The establishment of newspapers in Rose¬ 
bud county has not been very prolific. The 
first paper started within the boundaries of the 
present county of Rosebud was the Forsyth 
Times, which first saw the light of day on 
September 29, 1894. It was a six column folio, 
independent in politics, and was owned and ed¬ 
ited by F. G. Tyrrell. Mr. Tyrrell retired 
from the management March 9, 1895, when F. 
H. Benjamin became editor. The paper was 
increased in size to a six column quarto. In 
1899 Thomas Alexander took charge and ran 
it a year, when Lyons & Marcy became the 
owners. They ran it one year only and then 
sold to Ira Cole, the present owner. In the 
spring of 1906 Mr. Cole purchased the plant 
of the opposition paper, discontinued its publi¬ 
cation, and has become the sole newspaper pub¬ 
lisher of Rosebud county. 

The Rosebud County News, Forsyth, was 
founded in 1903 by A. H. Buchanan. He ran 
the paper only a short time, when V. Beeman 
assumed charge. The latter conducted the pa¬ 
per nearly a year and then sold to W. Ellery 
Johnson. March 1, 1906, Mr. Johnson sold 
the plant to Ira Cole, publisher of the Forsyth 
Times, and the Rosebud County News went 
out of existence . 

CUSTER COUNTY. 

The first newspaper published in Custer 
county, the first in the Yellowstone valley and 
the first in Montana territory between Bis¬ 
marck, N. D., and the Rocky mountains, was 
the Yellowstone Journal, which was first taken 
from the press at Miles City on the 24th day 
of July, 1879. The material for the publica¬ 
tion of this pioneer paper was freighted in by 
bull teams from the point that was then the 
terminus of the Northern Pacific rail¬ 
road, a distance of 350 miles. The founder 
of the Journal was Major Thompson P. Mc- 


Elrath, an hereditary and practical newspaper 
man, being the son of the McElrath who was 
part owner with Horace Greeley of the New 
York Tribune about the time of the breaking 
out of the civil war, and himself having been 
engaged in the newspaper business in New 
York city. Mr. McElrath was a major of the 
United States regular army and took station 
with the troops at Fort Keogh in the fall of 
1876. In 1879 he deemed the community that 
had congregated at Fort Keogh and Miles City 
worthy of a newspaper, and the result was the 
establishment of the Journal. Concerning the 
starting of this paper the Yellowstone Journal 
in after years said: 

“Old timers maintain that the paper was 
started as the personal organ of Gen. Nelson 
A. Miles, at that time colonel of the Fifth U. S. 
Infantry, stationed at Fort Keogh, and that the 
money that purchased the first equipment was 
furnished by Col. Miles. Of the truth of the 
latter allegation, the writer is uninformed, but 
the files of the paper during the period when 
Col. Miles was here do not warrant the asser¬ 
tion that it was his organ in the usually ac¬ 
cepted sense. While the issues of those days 
make frequent complimentary mention of Col. 
Miles, it must be remembered that at that time 
most of the news was military, and Miles was 
‘doing things’ that warranted newspaper com¬ 
ment. It is quite likely that he favored the 
starting of the Journal, even to the extent of 
giving financial aid, and so far as ability is 
concerned it would have been hard to find a 
more capable man for the literary end of the 
enterprise than Major McElrath, an educated 
gentleman, thoroughly schooled in editorial 
work, but so opposed to diligent methods that 
he was never ready for either publication day 
or pay day.” 

In his salutatory Major McElrath said: 
“Our functions are of a local character—to re¬ 
cord the growth and progress of this new 
country, and to aid in those results whenever 
it lies in our power, to place before eastern 





668 


PRESS OF YELLOWSTONE VALLEY. 


readers the fullest possible information re¬ 
specting the advantages which nature has so 
lavishly bestowed upon this ‘New Northwest.’ 

* * * In a word to be the honest and 

impartial journal of the Yellowstone valley.” 
Politically the Journal was Republican, and in 
size it was a seven column folio. 

Early in January, 1880, there came from 
the Black Hills country, where he had been 
engaged in newspaper work for three years 
previous, W. D. Knight, an expert printer and 
pressman, a natural mechanical genius, local re¬ 
porter, solicitor and general all-round man. To 
him on January 8th was given the publisher’s 
chair of the Yellowstone Journal. He infused 
business methods into the office and gave the 
paper a new impetus, which would never have 
been accomplished under the easy going Major 
McElrath. One year later Mr. Knight retired 
from the Journal and the founder again as¬ 
sumed charge. On October 29, 1881, the pa¬ 
per was increased in size to a seven column 
quarto. 

During the year 1881 Mr. Knight estab¬ 
lished a second paper in Miles City, the Chron¬ 
icle, but on the last day of that year he pur¬ 
chased the Journal from Major McElrath and 
discontinued the publication of the Chronicle. 
Under Mr. Knight’s ownership the Journal 
was Democratic. During the campaign of 
1882 he ran a daily edition of the paper, hav¬ 
ing associated press news service. The daily 
was continued several weeks after election, and 
was then discontinued, after a life of about 
three months. July 14, 1883, Samuel Gordon 
purchased a half interest from Mr. Knight, 
and thereafter the paper was Republican in 
politics. In September, 1883, shortly after 
Mr. Gordon became a member of the firm, the 
daily edition was again started and became a 
permanent institution. Mr. Gordon became 
sole proprietor in July, 1891, at which time the 
paper was made a six column quarto. 

From a special edition of the Yellowstone 


Journal issued in 1900 we take the following: 

“It is one of the pleasing memories of the 
Journal’s editorial den that at one period ip its 
career a positive engagement was made with 
‘Bill’ Nye to come to Miles City and write for 
the Journal. At that time ‘Bill’ was not as 
famous as he became later on, though he 
was far from being unknown. His health was 
poor, and he was seeking a locality congenial 
to his physical condition. A friend of his, then 
resident of Miles City, and who, being afflicted 
with the same complaint—a pulmonary one— 
had found great relief here, had urged Nye to 
come here. He had replied that he could not 
afford to be idle, and that while he was doing 
some syndicate work, he would like to secure a 
position with a local paper that would at least 
pay his expenses. The matter was presented to 
Knight and Gordon, and though there was at 
the time no necessity for additional help on the 
literary end of the paper, the proposition was 
received favorably, an offer made to the illus¬ 
trious ‘Bill’ and accepted by him, but it never 
came to anything. Shortly afterwards Mr. 
Nye was picked up by a Wisconsin cyclone and 
had his leg broken, and his lengthy convales¬ 
cence and rapidly growing popularity com¬ 
pelled him to ignore his engagement with the 
Journal. Had he come here and stayed, he 
might have been alive yet.” 

As casually mentioned before, W. D. 
Knight started the Chronicle at Miles City in 
1881. This was Custer county’s second news¬ 
paper. Before the end of the year, however, 
Mr. Knight had purchased the Journal and dis¬ 
continued the Chronicle. 

The building of the Northern Pacific rail¬ 
road to Miles City in the early eighties made 
that city quite a prominent one and business of 
all kinds thrived. There was considerable ac¬ 
tivity in the newspaper line and for several 
years the establishment of weekly and daily pa¬ 
pers was of common occurrence. On February 
19, 1882, Major Thompson P. McElrath and 






PRESS OF YELLOWSTONE VALLEY. 


669 


J. W. Cobb started the weekly Press. In June 
of the same year we find that John X. David¬ 
son is in possession of the Press plant and that 
he is running the Miles City Daily Press. The 
daily edition was apparently short lived, for 
we read in a contemporary on February 24, 
1883, that the daily edition is again being re¬ 
sumed, this time as an evening journal. In the 
spring of 1883 T. B. McElrath again became 
the publisher of the Press. Telegraphic news 
was received and the paper otherwise im¬ 
proved, but in June, 1884, the paper was again 
laid to rest, the cause alleged being lack of pub¬ 
lic support. 

The Daily Rustler made its appearance on 
the streets at Miles City April 14, 1883, pub¬ 
lished by E. H. Becker. 

The Daily Record, Democratic, came in 
August, 1884. It was an evening paper and 
was owned by W. W. Carland. 

The Stock Growers’ Journal was estab¬ 
lished at Miles City in 1884. 

The Daily . Gazette was the name of 
another paper which made its appearance on 
the streets of Miles City May 11, 1885. 

The Miles City Independent was started 
August 27, 1903, by the Independent com¬ 
pany, of which Chas. Larsen was president and 
James G. Ramsey, formerly of Glendive, was 
the editor and manager. August 10, 1905, 
Jos. C. Smith succeeded Mr. Ramsey. Later 
J. P. Kirkpatrick became manager, and after 
him B. F. Yerkes. 


DAWSON COUNTY. 

Dawson county’s first newspaper was the 
Glendive Times, the .first issue of which was 
published on August 11, 1881, by W. W. 
Maybee. The paper met with popular ap¬ 
proval from the start and for more than a year 
was the only paper in the county. A daily edi¬ 
tion was put out from June 4, 1884, to Novem¬ 
ber of the same year. 

The county’s second paper was the Yellow¬ 
stone Press, which was established at Glendive 
in the fall of 1882 by Blake & Burdick, in op¬ 
position to the Times. W. W. Maybee, owner 
of the Times, soon after bought G. M. Bur¬ 
dick’s half interest in the Press. In January, 
1883, publication of the Press was suspended, 
leaving the older paper alone in the field. 

The Glendive Independent came into ex¬ 
istence in 1884 and for many years took a 
prominent part in the affairs of Glendive and 
Dawson county. For two weeks during the 
campaign of 1884 a daily edition was pub¬ 
lished. In September, 1892, J. R. Widmyer 
took the management of the Independent and 
made a Republican paper of it. 

The Dawson County Review was estab¬ 
lished at Glendive in 1898 by John R. Stout 
and is still running under the same managa- 
ment. 

The Yellowstone Monitor, of Glendive, 
was started by C. L. Rood, March 2, 1905. E. 
A. Martin purchased a half interest June 1, 
1906, and the paper is now run under the man¬ 
agement of Rood & Martin. 

































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